THE DANMAN CAN

The best and one of multiple westerns that  Sergio Corbucci  directed,  The Great Silence  (1968) is also one of the bleakest and greatest  Italian Westerns .  Jean-Louis Trintignant  delivers a strong, completely mute performance and  Klaus Kinski  gives us one of his best—intense and nihilistic. Given that women's roles in Italian Westerns tended to be pretty thankless,  Vonetta McGee  has one of the better ones, where she emotes heavily with her striking eyes and takes a stand against tyranny. Though less iconic than his work with that other, more famous, Sergio ( Leone ),  Ennio Morricone  still composed a memorable and rousing score. And that ending is chill-inducing, no matter how many times you've seen the film. Sergio Corbucci Films Ranked

I know that  The Good, The Bad And The Ugly   (1966) is widely regarded as the best of the  Dollars Trilogy  (as well as  Sergio Leone 's best film) and  should  be my favorite, but it's not and never has been. That honor goes to  For A Few Dollars More   (1965) ( review ). I think  TGTBATU  is an excellent film, features some of the best moments of the series (particularly the final standoff, which is one of the all-time great moments of cinema), and deserves all the praise it gets, but it just doesn't hit me the same way the seco nd film does. One of my favorites things about this series is  Clint Eastwood ’s mannerisms, which he maintains throughout all three films, centering around his signature cigars—the chomp, slight roll, and spitting out little bits (not that I endorse smoking).  Lee Van Cleef  is great as the baddie, Angel Eyes, but I still enjoy his character Mortimer from   FAFDM  more....

For A Few Dollars More   (1965) is my favorite of the  Dollars Trilogy . I have always loved this film and it just slightly edges out  The Good, The Bad And The Ugly   (1966) ( review ) for me. Everything about  FAFDM  improved upon what was established in  A Fistful Of Dollars  (1964) ( review )—the score, the shots, the characters, the plot.  Fistful  was almost completely devoid of the famed " Leone  close-up," but that changed with this film—here they take center stage.  FAFDM  ratchets up the tension, the stakes, and even the humor. Clint Eastwood  and  Gian Marie Volontè  return from  Fistful  (along with a few other great character actors). Eastwood again flawlessly portrays the laconic  Man With No Name   (actually Manco or Monco in this seco nd outing) and Volontè  adds dimension to what could have been a stock villain—playing the brooding, scheming maniac El Indio to p...

A Fistful Of Dollars  (1964), like  The Magnificent Seven  ( review ) four years earlier, is a western based on an  Akira Kurosawa  film—in this case  Yojimbo  (1961) ( review ), itself influenced by westerns ( John Ford 's in particular).  Sergio Leone  made a bang with his seco nd film, but would certainly hone and improve his style across his remaining five  films (not including films for which he did not receive a directing credit). This is also the film that propelled  Ennio Morricone  into the spotlight as an in-demand composer of Italian films—particularly the yet to be dubbed " Spaghetti Western ," which this film, for better or worse, helped popularize. His score is unique, memorable, and perfectly compliments Leone's style. The first film in the  Dollars Trilogy  (I prefer to refer to the films this way, as opposed to the  Man With No Name Trilogy , as  Clint Eastwood 's ch...

Kill Them All And Come Back Alone   (1968) (a great title) has to be the most acrobatic western ever made. Dudes are literally leaping through the air, pole-vaulting, backflipping, and swan diving every five minutes. The story is thin and familiar (it's all down to gold, of course), but  Enzo G. Castellari  could direct the hell out on an action picture and this film is a ton of fun. Recommended for fans of  The Dirty Dozen   (1967),  The Magnificent Seven   (1960) ( review ),  The Great Escape   (1963) ( review ), and  The Guns Of Navarone  (1961) ( review ). Enzo G. Castellari Films Ranked

The Hellbenders (1967) is a solid Italian Western, but honestly nothing terribly memorable or gripping. I've seen it twice now and it's entertaining enough, but it's  Sergio Corbucci 's weakest effort (of his films that I've seen). There's not enough action or conflict and the direction isn't as exciting as it should be. Sergio Corbucci Films Ranked

My favorite western.  Sergio Leone ’s direction is masterful, the performances are captivating exercises in restraint, and  Ennio Morricone ’s sumptuous score gives me goosebumps. Sound, music, beauty, and brutality—mixed to perfection. Sergio Leone Films Ranked Top 20 Directors My Criterion Top 10 [Vol. 5]