For a Few Dollars More

These days about the only reason to buy a hard copy of a film is for the supplemental material. In this case they have done an outstanding job. The two commentary tracks are good - the one by Lucas gets a B+, the other one not so good but has some insights. The featurettes are all worthwhile, and there's enough other stuff that, by the time you're done, you've spent 3-4 nights on this flick. So you get your money's worth, and learn a lot about making a spaghetti western into the deal.

The Man with No Name leaves town on his horse, as Ennio Morricone's "The Vice of Killing" plays. Indio and his gang have just pulled the ultimate bank robbery, and The Man with No Name is after them. In the background, The Man in Black leaves town also, but he takes a different path. He's after Indio, too--and he won't let The Man with No Name do it without him.The movie is Sergio Leone's "For a Few Dollars More" (1965). It is my #2 movie of all time, and I consider it the quintessential Western.From the opening jaw-harp, and the whistling and the bells, we know we're in for a ride. Lee Van Cleef is The Man in Black, and he's actually a good guy. In the first several decades of the Western genre, the bad guys wore black. Leone changed that. Van Cleef made a name for himself playing the bad guy. Leone changed that, too.Leone had never met Van Cleef before making "For a Few Dollars More." According to Sir Christopher Frayling in his Leone biography, "Something to Do with Death" (2000), Leone saw Van Cleef in a photograph and instantly wanted him to play Colonel Mortimer, a.k.a. The Man in Black. Van Cleef had not been in a film since 1962--and he had seemingly vanished from the scene. Leone said, "Well I must see him at all costs because physically when I think of this character I picture him.""For a Few Dollars More" (1965) is the second movie of Leone's "The Man with No Name" trilogy, following "A Fistful of Dollars" (1964) and preceding "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" (1966). It's perhaps the least famous of the three, but I say it's the best. Clint Eastwood excels as The Man with No Name, but I believe Van Cleef steals the show as The Man in Black.They're after the same man--the man with the evil laugh. The owner of The Bank of El Paso is boasting: "Only a complete fool would try to rob us." The Man in Black says: "Yeah. Or a complete madman."Hmmmm. I wonder who that might be....Gian Maria Volonte plays the deranged Indio--and he gets my vote for the #1 bad guy in cinematic history. Indio is worse than Liberty Valance ("The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance," 1962). He's worse than Frank Miller ("High Noon," 1952). He's worse than Luke Plummer ("Stagecoach," 1939). Angel Eyes (played by Van Cleef in "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly," 1966) is awful, but he's a crass, shallow character. Indio has more flair, and he gets more screen time, giving the viewer a chance to know him better.Let's move to another genre. Most of us know Clubber Lange, right? He's Rocky's brash opponent in "Rocky III" (1982). Indio makes Clubber Lange look like Mr. Rogers.We know The Man with No Name from this movie's predecessor, "A Fistful of Dollars." I say again that Eastwood is super in the role. We'd love to see him get Indio...but who is this other guy? Why is The Man in Black after Indio? "For a Few Dollars More" unfolds that.Leone's stories take time to tell. On the 2007 Collector's Edition DVD special feature, "A New Standard (Fraylng on the Film)," Frayling says Leone developed his unique style in "For a Few Dollars More:" "The style of telling stories in a rather elliptical way, so you don't quite know what's going on, you discover in retrospect what you've just seen." Leone's style, with its non-linear story-telling and slowing down of the action, has influenced such movies as the Quentin Tarantino classic, "Pulp Fiction" (1994).Ennio Morricone gives us a soundtrack that runs from the jaw-harp, whistling, and bells of the opening theme, to the majestic chorus of "The Vice of Killing," to the haunting chimes of "Sixty Seconds to What?""For a Few Dollars More" surpasses the more famous "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly." I like Van Cleef better as The Man in Black than as Angel Eyes. I find the story-line of "For a Few Dollars More" to be more compelling than that of "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly." "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" is an ambitious film with some great music, but it doesn't deliver the way "For a Few Dollars More" does."For a Few Dollars More" is a cinematic tour de force, and it ranks #2 on my all-time movie list.

Many consider this to be the best of the three Leone-Eastwood collaborations and that just may be the case. Kino-Lorber did a bang up job (pun intended) with this upgrade that contains shot-by-shot color and picture clarity upgrade. It looks the best I've ever seen it. The sound is quite good as well as you can hear every note of Morricone's magnificent score and every cricket in the night scenes. Tim Lucas does a very knowledgeable job on the commentary track. He doesn't get long winded about behind the scenes wheels and deals that went into making the movie like so many have done on other commentary tracks. He does talk about the movies plot and his scene descriptions are spot on. I especially enjoyed his take on the street scene where Lee Van Cleef and Clint Eastwoods characters first meet and their subsequent shooting contest. Mr. Lucas' commentary helped to clarify the story and some of the plot lines that I never really noticed before. I have to agree with Mr. Lucas that the movie really belongs to Lee Van Cleef. In the first movie of the trilogy Clint Eastwood was the main anti-type hero. Then in the second it was shared by Lee Van Cleef and in the third there was three main characters which probably had a good deal in influencing Clint Eastwood in not making any more movies with Sergio Leone. I also purchased A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS to complete my collection of all three movies on 4k. I must say and agree with other reviews that FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE received the best upgrade. A FISTFULL OF DOLLARS was a big disappointment in that respect. It was as if Kino-Lorber wasn't even trying with that one. If you already have it on blu-ray then don't bother buying the 4k. THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY 4k upgrade does look pretty good. The epic Civil War battle scenes really looked good in this upgrade again with shot-by-shot color and clarity making it look better than ever I would recommend this purchase as well. This movie and its sequel really gave a jump start to Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef's careers as these films shot to (pun intended) international fame almost overnight much to their surprise. The high definition resolution is very good in the final two but as I said earlier don't bother with the first unless you just don't own a copy.

good packing

Excellent film

Semplicemente un classico

I had watched it a few years back but wanted a copy of my own so decided to give this version a try, and I'm indeed very impressed.The movie feather in Sergio Leone's cap. A delight for Western lovers. My favourite movie out of the Dollars trilogy. The chemistry between Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef is amazing. Gian Maria Volonté shines as the arch villain. An interesting storyline with an outstanding soundtrack and cast.The climax duel is one of the best ever, standing right there with the likes of Once Upon a Time In the West, thanks to the twist and Ennio Morricone's music, which makes it a thing of beauty.The Blu Ray presents awesome video quality with some extra content as well. So grab yours and enjoy the ride through the wild west.

吹き替えも、2種類用意されているので、気に入っています。特典の映像も良かったですね。