Rating of
3/4
"A Fistful Of Dollars" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 02/22/12
The introduction of the iconic man with no name saw Clint Eastwood catapulted to international stardom in this remake of Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece Yojimbo. Of course there's a certain irony in the fact that an Italian remake of a Japanese film shot in Spain would be the birth of the modern western, but the elements combine to fit the setting of the old west perfectly. The script has taken rather a trim in comparison, this film concentrating on machismo and gunplay rather than the more artful and character driven original; the result is that Eastwood's gunslinger comes across as more of a cynical operator than Mifune's aimless but moralistic samurai, and the build up has a brisk, almost rushed feel about it. But this film is all about the showdown at the end which, combined with Morricone's unforgettable score, is classic Leone.
