A Fistful of Dollars (4KUHD) [Blu-ray]

A Fistful of Dollars is easily one of the best spaghetti westerns you can get. The story is pretty simple. A mysterious gunslinger arrives in a town where its citizens are caught up in a rivalry between two rival gangs: Los Rojos and The Baxters. The gunslinger decides to use his extraordinary skills with his .45 to get in good with boths gangs in hopes of walking away a rich man. Sound familiar? That's because A Fistful of Dollars is an unauthorized adaptation of Akira Kurosawa's samurai classic, Yojimbo. Rather than being treated as another pulp film (like so many spaghetti westerns before and after), Fistful is treated with class. The direction and cinematography, while not as defined as director Sergio Leone's later work (I.e The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly, Once Upon A Time In The West, ect.), is still leagues above the work you see in a lot of films today and the music by composer Ennio Morricone is simply amazing. The acting is terrific, especially from Clint Eastwood as the mysterious gunslinger. He hardly speaks, yet he's gone down in history as one of the most badass protagonists in cinema. While A Fistful of Dollars isn't as good as its two sequels, For A Few Dollars More and The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly, its still a great piece of Italian cinema. The film itself gets a 4/5 from me. But what about the blu-ray? Compared to the first two DVD releases, this is a great upgrade. Don't expect anything demo worthy, but colors and detail look fine when you consider that this was a low budget film that wasn't very pretty to begin with. This release also has an optional 5.1 audio track but its hardly an upgrade to the original mono track. The special features are all great as well, the highlight being a TV-only intro that was only shown the first night it aired on American television. However, if you already have the special edition DVD from 2004 then the blu-ray upgrades aren't quite as noticeable. They share all but one of the special features and the video quality is already pretty good on the DVD. Because of this, I'd give this blu-ray release a 3.5/5. All in all, A Fistful of Dollars is a fantastic film and this blu-ray release does it justice. If you still have your old DVD copy of this movie then an upgrade is a no brainer, However, I'd wait for a low price if you already have the 2004 DVD.

Modern westerns owe a lot to Spaghetti Westerns like Fistful of Dollars. Without them we wouldn't have the grit that make so many westerns enjoyable now. Before they came into the States, American Western cinema was very "clean". While they were good and enjoyable in their own ways they never really depicted the violence and greed that made the "Wild West" so wild. The main hero's morals were always good and selfless, and the division between good and bad was pretty much black & white. But in here we see the west in all it's bloody and dirt covered glory. Aside from helping change the scope of Western movies this also stars Clint Eastwood in his now legendary "Man with No Name" character. Who has a very strong presence in the movie that rivals that of John Wayne. The Stranger (Eastwood), rides into a barren border town where two rival gangs wrestle each other for power. Cashing in on boot legging and gun running these two gangs try to the use Eastwood's skills at gun-slinging against the other not realizing that he's actually playing them both to make a lot of money. As for gun play the Stranger is very good at it. He clears out rooms in seconds with well placed shots capable to taking other bandits down before they can even draw. The Stranger is no hero, he's out to get his and owes allegiance to no one. A personal philosophy that more or less works well for him. Despite his stone like exterior though he does have a heart as shown when he actually goes out of his way to try and save a mother. Or his ride back to the god forsaken town to rescue a friend. His actions speak for themselves, he doesn't need any fancy monologues. Probably the best example of what a good Anti-Hero really is. When all is done with both gangs dead in their hideouts he rides off never to be seen again in what would become the iconic ending for all the Dollar movies. His name changes but his demeanor doesn't. This movie is old but if you appreciate film making and westerns in general its amazing what was done with a small budget. Especially knowing about the language barrier that existed between Eastwood and his costars. Despite all that movie is still pretty well edited and the English dubbing is good. Who would have known then that what was originally supposed to be just another B-movie would have such a profound effect on cinema? Great movie, worth watching and owning if not for it's story at least for Eastwood's magnificent performance. Best one in the trilogy I think, but then again they are all great.

This is a great 4k UHD version of Fistful of Dollars. Kino Lorber nailed it. I’ve seen this movie a bunch of times, on streaming as well as digital download. But this is the best it’s ever been. The widescreen image is crisp and sharp, but true to film with natural grain. And I don’t mean there’s “noise” in the picture, I mean clean natural film grain as the movie is intended to be. No sign of AI upscaling (no waxy skin). Really enjoyable to watch. And equally as impressive, the audio is fantastic. If you have surround sound, it utilizes it well. I was pleasantly surprised at how great this movie from the 60s sounded. This movie is very music heavy (which is classic and awesome), and the bass really comes through where it should: subtle but present. This is easily one of my favorites I’ve ever purchased on 4k. I also got The Good The Bad and The Ugly to watch next. And obviously, I’ll make sure I get the KL release of For A Few Dollars More. Just buy it!

One of my favorites to watch. I think I've seen it a thousand times LOL. He just played the part so well, and he was very good with firearms. A lot of the "draw" and fire shots were sped up to make it look like the character had a fast draw, but Clint was very good at this and already had a pretty fast draw.

This review is of the single disc single film Jan 2011 Bluray. This is a very well restored print of the first 1967 theatrical release. If you don't know about it, Fistful of Dollars is a very cleanlooking gothic-ey Western concerning a powerstruggle between three men, Ramon(Volonte), Joe(Eastwood), and John(Lukschy),with sexy Marisol(Koch) caught in the middle. There is a main storyline with other ones coming off it. I've been a massive genre film fan ever since seeing House Of Wax in 1955, and my genre isn't hard to define. I don't like Westerns, but Fistful Of Dollars in all it's glory, with it's Italian Horror imagery and it's seething claustrophobic graveyard tension, is one of my favourite films of all time. Why then 4 out of 5? For all the apparent visual perfection of the new Bluray, the source for this print is unavoidably flawed through no fault of MGM. A guy says to another "tell me what you know" and there is then a clumsy music jumpcut which is also a clumsy visual cut, because the very next frame shows the other guy centrescreen with blood all over his face, neck and chest when nothing has happened; the first punch is simultaneously thrown. A little later the same first guy says "he won't feel anything", and music from the following Chapter is then cleverly superimposed on this previous one, the second cut therefore being better disguised than the first. To fully appreciate FOD you have to have been in there, enthusiatically, right at the start in early 1967, read the right reviews, in my case one of many sources was the fullpage review in South Wales Echo, and then not baulk at the film's violence and tension when watching it, because some of it's effects were not surpassed until Inside in 2007, making the film 40 years ahead of it's time. Against a background of 1960s copyright Law FOD was originally released in two versions so different they could be considered separate films. The FIRST print, now the current Bluray print, was originally cut, for timing purposes not content, by heavily editing a brawling scene which originally went on for 9 mins if you include the eye thing and the painful placing of barrels for a trap. The SECOND print, which seems to be currently inaccesible on DVD VHS or BR, slows the pace right down in these scenes, introducing a singularly edgy thread of tension which pervades the following Chapters. This second version, which is a few minutes longer, edits for lengthy gunplay and a long crawling-about scene, again for timing reasons not content. The second film was very popular in the 1960s and 1970s, but a deal was done which resulted in it getting lost in France in 1982 after the vhs studio (not MGM) had prematurely butchered the film because of the burgeoning hysterical anti-violence campaign which eventually led to obscene publication Acts being passed. I sincerely believe that MGM can track down these reels in France and restore this second film on Bluray as the 'extended theatrical' print, therefore making megabucks and keeping serious filmfans happy. MGM may, or may not, want to tidy up that jerky FF door.

Great product! Fast shipping!!

Great edition of a classic movie, arrived new and well packed.

Great movie

Love this classic spaghetti western from the 60's, 2 👍!

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Bonjour , très bon ,célèbre western que casiment tout le monde connaît ! s .Leone a su diriger les acteurs pour faire un rendu atypique pour l époque ,plans, montage ect.. de très bonne facture! 50 % du mérite lui revient et les 50 autres aux acteurs qui tiennent les premiers rôles car tous ces derniers sont américains , Clint Eastwood ,Lee v cleff ainsi que dans ses autres westerns henry fonda ,Charles Bronson, Elie Wallach et défait par leurs talents , et ce qu ils dégagent made in usa font les autres 50 % de la réussite de ces westerns de s. Leone . Évidemment la musique est un bonus car très adaptée à ces narrations de ces westerns americano spaghetti ! Sachant qu a part quelques autres qui sont pas mal ,part d autre réalisateurs italiens , un grand nombre important d entre eux sont plutôt ratés ! Donc c est vraiment un coup de maître, mais rare hélas ! Dance genre notamment ! Rendre César ce qui est à César de toute part c est le mieux je pense !! A revoir avec toujours beaucoup de plaisir ! Des 11 ans je dirais ! Cordialement 🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🤠🤠🤠🤠🤠🤠

Semplicemente un classico

このレビューは、輸入盤「Fistful of Dollars [Blu-ray] [Import] 」のレビューです。 追記：２ ４Ｋレストア盤が出ました！ 追記に追記で申し訳ありません。 ファンの方なら先刻御承知の事と思いますが、２０１８年５月２２日に「A Fistful Of Dollars: Special Edition (Blu-ray)」４Ｋレストア盤が北米では発売になっています。 ちなみに２０１７年には「続・夕陽のガンマン」が４Ｋレストア盤で発売になっています。 そして「夕陽のガンマン」が今年２０１９年３月に発売予定です。 「荒野の用心棒」の４Ｋレストア版は、小さな画面で見ると４Ｋレストア盤特有の黄ばんだ感じの色合いが特徴ですが、大画面で見ると黄ばみが感じられないキレイな画質です。 もともと撮影がテクニスコープなのであまりキレイな状態ではなかったことを考えれば、これが限界という感じもします。 とにかくファンならば買うしかないでしょ！ 残念ながら日本のAmazonnさんでは、検索してもヒットしません。 自分は輸入盤業者を通して購入しました。 とにかく特典映像も多く、買って損はない１枚でした。 追記：１ 日本盤が出たけれど！ 日本盤（版）が発売されましたが、やはりこのディスクも貴重ですね。 オープニングのタイトルは、日本版はイタリア語のタイトルです。 このディスクは英語版です。 ファンとしてはどちらもコレクションしたい逸品だと思います。 自分は英語版のタイトルに馴れ親しんでいたこともあり、こちらのバージョンの方が好きです。 と言うことで、こちらも購入できるのなら購入しておいた方が良いと思います。 またトリミングの差が出ており日本盤の方が画角が広い感じがします。 左右上下の情報量が日本盤の方が多いのが特徴ですが、色が少し濃くきつめな感じがします。 ※ここからは旧レビュー：日本盤が出るまでは！ ファンとして仕方なく購入。 ＤＶＤ同様に、ブルーレイの日本盤の権利も何処ぞの会社がネックになり、発売が期待されないので購入しました。 おそらく発売があってもＤＶＤと同じ歴史を繰り返すのではないでしょうか？ 汚いうえにカット版！ とにかく安かったので、日本語字幕や吹き替えもないのを知りつつ期待せずに購入しました。 ディスクを入れると日本語表示が出て来て、『あれっ？日本語だ！』と思わせ期待をさせますが、再生が始まる前の注意事項のみ日本語が表示されるだけです。 収録内容には、いっさい日本語字幕は出て来ません。 画質の面では満足のいくモノでした。 流石！ブルーレイと言う感じ。 オープニング後、小石が落ちている地面のアップのカットを見ただけで、その隅々までハッキリ見えている状態には涙ものでした。 ただしテクニスコープでの撮影のため、フィルム・グレインは多少見えてしまいます。 しかしその粗々しさがマカロニ・ウエスタン風であまり気になりませんでした。 画質は、何処ぞの会社がＤＶＤで出したカットされた汚い画質ではなく、『荒野の用心棒 完全版 スペシャル・エディション』を更にパワーアップした感じです。 考えてみれば、輸入盤で字幕がなくて吹き替えがなくても、内容を理解出来るほど何度も見ているので、台詞を熟知しているため特に問題にはなりませんでした。 その他の収録されている内容は『荒野の用心棒 完全版 スペシャル・エディション』とほぼ同じです。 確か、コメンテータリーを含めて１１種類だったかな？ まぁ、とにかく本編には満足の行く内容でした。 ファンなら買っておくべき１枚だと思います。 日本語字幕と山田康雄さんの吹き替え入りの日本盤が、早く発売されることを期待したいところです。