Don't mock mah horse..he don't particularly like it..squint!

A FISTFULL OF DOLLARS is the jumpstarter for Clint Eastwoods acting career and is considered one of the old western classics because it began the era of the spaghetti western. It's one of the first to portray the main character as neither a goodguy or badguy, he's just a wanderer in search of quick money(at least that i've seen). It's pretty ironic that one of the all time great american westerns was filmed in Italy, where it was also a big hit.

The man with no name(Eastwood) journies into a town where people are constantly known to pop up dead. The town has two intelligent yet ruthless bosses(Baxter and Rojas) who are relentlessly trying to gain complete control of the, for the most part, abandoned town. Eastwood uses his quick wits and even quicker draw, to pit both families against each other while at the same time providing his help to whomever pays him the best. But his kind nature eventually takes the best of him as he decides to help a kidnapped woman get back to her son and husband.

This movie was based upon the Japanese film YOJIMBO, directed by kurosawa, which has the same premise but with swords. I haven't seen YOJIMBO so i can't really compare how similar they are but i hear they are just about exact replicas of each other with the exception of setting.

I readily agree with most people about this movie and think it's a western classic. It started Eastwood's career and lead to numerous sequels and wanna-bes. Eastwood does a great job and you can easily see why his western characters are so loved by fanatics of this genre. His character is the silent, tough, intelligent, goodlooking, cigar smoking hero with the squinted eyes. Similar to characters that Chow Yun Fat plays in his Hong Kong movies but not exactly the same.

Overall this movie is an instant classic that has beaten the test of time and is still a popular action movie even though it came out in 1964. It has many qualities that make up a good action movie from ruthless villains, a tough-as-nails hero, a damsel in distress, and a gritty showdown between Eastwood and the badguys. If your a fan of westerns or just plain good action movies then watch this movie and you will begin to understand why Eastwood became so popular in such a short amount of time. Be sure to check out YOJIMBO because it's always a good idea to watch what other movies are based on....besides if not for YOJIMBO we probably wouldn't have spaghetti westerns.(i know i haven't seen it but i will now hehe)