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Features: DVD, Widescreen, Aspect Ratio 2.35:1, English, French, Spanish, Subtitled, Dubbed
A stranger in San Miguel (Clint Eastwood) becomes involved in a vendetta between two families. Playing one family against the other, he rescues a beautiful woman from captivity.
"...a strong premise and a gripping storyline." Damian Cannon, Movie Reviews UK
"Amusing, violent, and very stylish." Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide
"A landmark Western that established the Clint Eastwood persona...wholly original..." The Motion Picture Guide
Editor's Note
The first true Spaghetti Western follows the exploits of a nameless drifter (Clint Eastwood) who wanders into a town torn apart by greed, corruption, and revenge. The clever, tough-talking gunslinger then plays the town's two feuding families off each other to his own benefit. As members of each family are planted in the ground, the gold in his pockets gets heavier and heavier. This violent remake of Akira Kurosawa's YOJIMBO made Eastwood a star, and sparked two sequels--FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE and THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY--to form what is now referred to as the Man with No Name trilogy. All three films starred Eastwood, featured Ennio Morricone's distinctive musical compositions, and were directed--in a wonderfully gritty style--by Sergio Leone. Although the film was not released in the United States until 1967, it was produced and released internationally in 1964.
| Features | Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound | | Audio: French, Spanish Dolby Digital Stereo | | Dubbed: French, Spanish | | Interactive Menus | | Scene Selection |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: TCFHE/MGM |
| Release Date: 5/12/2009 |
| Running Time: 100 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1964 | | Catalog ID: 107738 | | UPC: 00027616077387 | | Number of Discs: 2 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: Italian | | Available Audio Tracks: English [CC], English Dubbed, English, Italian, Spanish Dubbed | | Available Subtitles: English, French, Spanish | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Widescreen 2.35:1 |
| Cast & Crew | Clint Eastwood | | Gian Maria Volonte | | Joseph Egger | | Marianne Koch | | Akira Kurosawa - Based On Screenplay By | | Alfonso Santacana - Editor | | Arrigo Colombo, et. al. - Producer | | Carlo Simi - Art Director | | Ennio Morricone - Original Music By | | Federico G. Larraya - Cinematographer | | Massimo Dallamano - Cinematographer | | Roberto Cinquini - Editor | | Ryuzo Kikushima - Based On Screenplay By | | Sergio Leone - Director | | Sergio Leone, et. al. - Based On Story By | | Sergio Leone, et. al. - Screenplay |
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| | Professional Reviews | Sight and Sound
"...Leone exploits the full width of the screen in dramatically composed shots of the antagonists..." 01/01/2001 p.65Uncut
"[T]he DOLLARS movies look nothing like any western before or since." 05/01/2005 p.142 ReelViews 8 of 10
"Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars is notable for two things: it was the first of a new motion picture subgenre that flourished during the mid-to-late-'60s and it boosted the image of one of America's most durable stars. When A Fistful of Dollars reached Italian screens bearing the title of Per un Pugno di Dollari, it introduced the world to the Spaghetti Western. That appellation, an insult that quickly caught on and became a label, resulted from pejorative press references disparaging the movie's Italian background. A Fistful of Dollars also jump-started Clint Eastwood's big-screen career. While this was not his first movie role, at the time when he agreed to top Leone's marquee, he was best known for the TV series Rawhide...While it's true that some ""important"" films turn out to be dull when viewed in retrospect, A Fistful of Dollars is thoroughly enjoyable, with the obvious flaws serving only to enhance its capacity to entertain." - James Berardinelli
DVD Times 9 of 10
"Although it wasn't the first Italian Western, A Fistful Of Dollars was the film which first began to define the conventions of Italian Westerns. The films which preceded it had been straight transpositions of the American style; Sergio Leone's film made a break and the result is something which still has the exciting sense of a filmmaker discovering a whole new way of doing things...A Fistful Of Dollars remains, forty years on, cracking good entertainment...it never seems rushed and Leone's world view - that cruelty and pain are pre-eminent and moral goodness is either exploited or crushed - already comes across very clearly. His later films are more complex and ambiguous - there's nothing here to match the moral shadings of Colonel Mortimer or Cheyenne - but if it's a great piece of action filmmaking you want, then A Fistful Of Dollars certainly provides the goods." - Mike Sutton
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