"The Man With No Name" Trilogy

With the exception of The Wild Bunch, one of my favorite films, I've never been much into westerns. The genre just doesn't do anything for me. But I collect VHS tapes, and when I came across a clamshell of Fistful of Dollars for a quarter, well, you know I had to have it. It sat on my shelf for awhile, until two nights ago when I had nothing better to do.

So, I throw it in, and HOLY SHIT is that a good movie! I immediately downloaded the next two before it was even over, I just knew I had to see them.

There's all kinds of neat stuff going on, camera-wise. Morricone's score is jarring, and strange. The bad guys are particularly unlikable, and I now 100% can see the inspiration for Roland, Stephen King's gunslinger character, in Clint Eastwood. Even with a multi-lingual cast, the dialogue somehow comes off sharp (and funny, in many places). Perhaps it's because it was filmed in Italy, but the landscapes are vast and otherworldly - this does not remotely feel like "The Old West" we know from old John Wayne movies, at all. I'm enamored of this atmosphere, and the movie is just wallowing in it.

Anyway, I can't believe I'm just now getting around to these films, but I'm impressed so far. Was wondering if, aside from these three (Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, The Good The Bad and The Ugly) anyone had any good recommendations for Spaghetti Westerns? I'm really enjoying Sergio Leone's style, so maybe I should delve into his filmography?

Sergio Corbucci is another name you should look up for the filmography...he did movies like Django, Companeros, The Grand Silence or The Mercenary.
There is also My Name is Nobody with Terence Hill (Ennio Morricone also did the score for it). And with Bud Spencer and Terence being really famous in Germany there is one of their westerns that I really love called "Die Linke und die rechte Hand des Teufels" (The left and the right hand of the Devil) which seems to be called "My Name is Trinity" in the US.

Joe D'Amato actually did a couple of Westerns early in his career, though they aren't nearly up to the level of the Leone films. They are still kind of fun though, especially Poker Face (or Go Away! Trinity has come to El Dorado as it is sometimes called). I also like Bounty Killer for Trinity, though Jowski would probably disagree with me on that. Again, remember that these are Joe D'Amato films and as such are low budget and kind of silly, but I still think they're fun.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly is actually one of my favorite movies though. I love just about everything about it.

Ah D'Amato's Westerns were so much fun - Pokerface being the best of the D'Amato westerns. I wonder if there are any more of his to look forward to in the future.

I know Fulci made a western with Franco Nero in it that's supposed to be pretty violent and gruesome. I can't remember the name of it right now though.

I always liked the Trilogy too.

They, along with The Quick and The Dead and The Magnificent Seven are some of my favorite Westerns.

There are D'Amato....westerns?

*head explodes*

Thanks for the suggestions, guys, that'll keep me busy. Gonna watch the second one tonight, if I can get the time. Tomorrow will be Good/Bad/Ugly - apparently I downloaded some sort of director's cut because the damn thing is three hours long!

TGTBTU really is the BEST one of the whole Leone trilogy. Also check out Leone's other equally awesome westerns.

Christonabun wrote:

There are D'Amato....westerns?

*head explodes*

Thanks for the suggestions, guys, that'll keep me busy. Gonna watch the second one tonight, if I can get the time. Tomorrow will be Good/Bad/Ugly - apparently I downloaded some sort of director's cut because the damn thing is three hours long!

Indeed. Jowski and I did all of D'Amato's early westerns as part of our Cult Of Joe D'Amato series (shameless plug). Check out the videos ;-)

Yes they were fun. Definitely check out the vids.

Shameless plug with convenient linkl! XD

saw this trilogy one Sunday as a kid, and it gave me a love for westerns that I will never shake.

Actually, that one I had seen. I was struggling to remember some of the Eastwood westerns I had seen, because I knew it had happened at some point (I think I actually have seen TG,TB,TU as a kid as well, but I don't remember it). I'm trying not to cheat and peek at his credits, but I feel like I've seen three or even four other ones that weren't Leone-directed, but had Eastwood. I don't know. I suppose I could be thinking of the tv show Rawhide, which they re-ran on Nick At Night when I was growing up.

I am really, really into these two so far, though - amazing!









Now I sort of want to start a Nick At Night thread...
Patty Duke and Mary Tyler Moore are my dream girls.

Obviously, didn't get to these like I had planned, but I'm gonna retreat back into my hole and just watch movies all day long again, so hopefully tonight.

Stupid life, always making me do things...