Who likes Spaghetti Westerns?

I just ordered 'The Man with No Name' trilogy from Amazon. I've actually never seen any of these movies from beginning to end, just some bits and pieces of 'A Fistful of Dollars' and 'The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly'.

I'm not a big fan of the genre, but I finally got tired of everyone telling me how good these movies are, so I've decided to see for myself .

I also ordered 'Pale Rider' as well. I caught a piece of it of it on cable a few weeks ago and liked what I saw. It's not a "Spagetti" Western, but it's another movie I've wanted to see for a long time.

I'm a huge fan of these movies - but not to the extent that I've seen them all, or have any desire to do so.

My own personal favorite - by far - is The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. It's basically a masterpiece of epic proportions, and it can't be named without mentioning the score by Morricone which lifts the movie in a way very few scores do.

The movie is one classic scene after the other, and the characters are magnificant all-round. Eli Wallach as Tuco is probably the deepest and most fascinating of the lot, and his interaction with his brother is just one example of how the movie can go from machismo western action, to touching and heartfelt scenes.

Yeah, it's THAT good.

Would you recommend watching the trilogy in the order they were released, or should I watch TGtBatU first? It seems that many people consider it a prequel to the earlier two films.

Well, it really depends on how much of a completionist you are.

If you're not really into the genre, I think it might be better to just watch that one - because if you don't enjoy it, I very much doubt you'll enjoy the others.

You can always go back afterwards and watch the whole trillogy - because TGtBatU can be seen over and over, if you're into that sort of thing.

TGtBatU is also my favorite, but as a second it's definitely 'A few dollars more'. With Lee Van Cleef and Clint Eastwood in it you see two of the main actors from TGtBatU in this movie. The man with no name isn't that great imo, but it's still enjoyable when you like this kind of movies. I wouldn't recommend it to someone who doesn't.

Definitely see For a Few Dollars More too.
I actually like it the most of the trilogy. TGtBatU is overall more epic and probably more complete experience, but FaFDM has at least equally great style and smart storytelling. What makes it my favourite is its humor and fantastic chemistry between Eastwood and Van Cleef. I don´t quite find equally satisfying equivalent in TGtBatU for neither.
Really, both films are great, so, seriously, see both .

And if you haven´t already, Once Upon a Time in a West is a must see too.
Everything about that film is perfect.

I agree with DArtagnan about Morricone, his scores are usually great, but his partnership with Leone is simply unrivalled. Not even by the Hitchcock/Hermann one imo.

I wouldn´t say I like spaghetti westerns, but I really, really like Leone.

Regarding the first one, it´s overall rather light on the elements which make the other two great, so it´s quite skippable. It´s also a remake of Kurosawa´s Yojimbo, which, on the other hand, I´d really recommend watching.

DeepO said:

And if you haven´t already, Once Upon a Time in a West is a must see too.
Everything about that film is perfect.

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This?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Once_Upon_a_Time_in_the_West

Yep. That´s the one. One of the best films ever, that is .

as far as italian westerns go, my favorites would probably be corbucci's django (franco nero) and the mercenary (nero, jack palance) as well as sollima's the big gundown (van cleef and tomas milian) and damiani's a bullet for the general (klaus kinski) - although he would probably argue it being called a spaghetti western. others that deserve mention would be the great silence, sabata, and keoma - all which usually are in competition with leone's film over best western of the italian sort

i went on a 'western' movie marathon sometime last year, catching all three of 'the man with no name' movies plus a few others such as 'high plains drifter', 'outlaw josey wales' and rounding off with 'pale rider'. good stuff all of them, especially if you're into the genre.

too bad, there's no similar quality games set in western themes.

JDR13 said:

This?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Once_Upon_a_Time_in_the_West

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Leone was a genious!

This is my favourite movie - and it's the start of the Once Upon a Time Trilogy which is totally different to the dollar trilogy. The dollar trilogy is fast paced action with one cynical climax after the other. The first one is a remake of Kurosawa's Yojimbo, as is another movie you've probably seen: Last Man Standing, with Bruce Willis. The 2nd has a bigger budget, a second star (Lee van Cleef, the perfect italo western actor) and is both more mainstream and more spectacular. Repeat and multiply for the 3rd. The trilogy ends with arguably the best showdown ever shot. The first might seem a bit old nowadays, but imagine what an impact it must have had on a moviegoer used to seeing John Wayne and James Stewart in the clean Hollywood westerns.

The Once Upon a Time Trilogy on the other hand is slow, superbly written and acted and low on action. If you really need to compare it think The Godfather trilogy. The middle part has more action and is more chaotic, but that's the exception. All three movies have a message, while the dollar trilogy is just fun.
Once Upon a Time in the West's opening sequence is unique, for example. Here's a summary (not relevant for the main story): 3 gunslingers are waiting for the the train with their victim. Waiting, credits, waiting, a fly comes, credits, some waterdrops hit the ground, credits, waiting, credits, train arrives, victim is found, a oneliner, bangbang. The whole thing takes 18 minutes! And it's great. The whole cast is superb. Fonda is at his prime; Bronson, Robards and Cardinale have never been better. The few action scenes are full of surprise and suspense.
It is possible that you'll simply find Once Upon a Time in the West and Once Upon a Time in America boring and an hour too long. So make sure you're in the right mood.

If you like UuaTiA make sure to watch an unoffical Leone movie shortely thereafter:
My Name is Nobody. With Terrence Hill (without Bud Spencer) as Nobody who wants to become Somebody and Henry Fonda as aging gunman who wants to get out. Leone makes a parody on his most famous movie, including the perfect ending for his last western.



There are dozens of good italo westerns hidden in hundreds of mediocre ones. Let us know when you need more.

A Fistful of Dollars is considered the first spaghetti western so you might want to start there: or the movie its based on Yojimbo. Its much closer to the movie its based on than The Magnificent Seven is to Seven Samurai.

There is a lot to be said about Spaghetti Westerns reviving the genre as Westerns had reached their peak with the intellectual Westerns of the 1950's with Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda.

I saw a great documentary The Spaghetti West a few years back where we learn that Kurasawa made more money from Fistful of Dollars than any other film he made and it may be why tGtBatU was so heavily promoted by Leone et al. Other interesting factoids was that it was Eastwood himself who broke the Hollywood Standards and Practices convention of the shooter and the man he kills not being allowed in the same frame by simply not telling the director about it.

I love these movies like Fistful of Dynamite but the non Eastwood or Leone ones (like movies with Klaus Kinki or Bud Spencer) rarely get played in NA.

Like Bollywood films, for each successful film there are about 5 really bad clones and eventually the genre lapsed into exploitation films or self parody.

I am a fan though not a rabid one. I think 'Once upon a time in the West' is just about the greatest western ever made. Henry Fonda is just aces, as the villain. Of the Eastwood ones, probably 'The Outlaw Josie Wales', and his directorial effort in 'The Unforgiven'. All of these seem to me to transcend the Western as such and have this sort of mystical quality about them. For an ensemble 'The Magnificent Seven,' a self admitted rip-off of the 'Seven Samurai.' Finally 'The Sons of Katie Elder,' and 'The Man who shot Liberty Valence.' Not spaghetti westerns all, I know but my favorites. For the best portrayal I thought Val Kilmer's Doc Holliday was just surreal, though the movie 'Tombstone' is only average, the shoot out at the OK Corral is well done.

I have never been a big fan of westerns ... but I *AM* a huge fan of movies with awesome soundtracks. And of Clint Eastwood. And of Sergio Leone.

I love all three of these, but Good, Bad & Ugly rates as one of my all-time faves.

Tuco: (trying to read a note) ‘See you soon, id…’ ‘id…’ ‘ids…’
Blondie: (Taking the note) ‘Idiots’. It’s for you.

Not a real enthusiast, but I tend to like standard-bearers of most genres. Pale Rider was cool as hell.

among the 80s western, i quite liked 'Young Guns' and its sequel with it being based on a real-life legend and all. though in the sequel the Bon Jovi soundtrack was a bit tacky for my taste.

If we're talking modern westerns, then I have two current favorites:

The Assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford.
The Proposition.

Both are incredible, but my personal favorite would have to be The Proposition. More or less the perfect movie, at least if you're into harsh and bleak stories. Special mention must go to David Wenham for playing one of the most delightful bastards I've seen.

continuing the modern-day westerns, Viggo Mortensen was spectacular in Appaloosa.

Adding No Country for Old Men to the bunch of mentioned good modern westerns.