To call 'lights, camera and action' on a blog dedicated to all things film, there is no better way to start than with three of the finest films ever made: A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.
Sergio Leone's classic 'Dollars Trilogy' are masterpieces in their own right, which push the boundaries of film-making, not only for the time they were made - 1964, '65 and '66 - they are as groundbreaking today as they were when they went from the script-writer's page to screen.
A Fistful of Dollars was the first of the series, followed by For a Few Dollars More and finally The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.
Although standalone films in their own right, all three movies star Clint Eastwood who takes the lead role as the Man with No Name.
Lee Van Cleef plays a bounty hunter in For a Few Dollars More, while he returns in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly as a cool and calculating killer.
And Eli Wallach completes the trio in the final film as a madcap manic outlaw.
As well as the groundbreaking directing and faultless acting, Ennio Morricone's score for all three films are all works of genius adding to the tension and overall atmosphere.
Word has it that Clint was third choice for the series, but after proving himself in Rawhide, he was cast in the part which ultimately set him on the path to superstardom, where he has been ever since.
Quentin Tarantino is known to be a fan of the Dollars Trilogy and he blatantly steals many of his own directorial traits from Leone, admitting that The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is "the best-directed film of all time".
And the influence of these films doesn't stop there. Although they were inspired by other films (Kurosawa's samurai film Yojimbo and Carlo Goldoni's Servant of Two Masters), the trilogy has gone on to inspire a generation of movies since.
All three are a masterclass in film-making and proof that film-making is an artform.
A Fistful of Dollars - Theatrical Trailer
For a Few Dollars More - Trailer
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
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Towen wrote...
All three are classics but when it comes to the greatest ever western, it has to be Sam Peckinpah's the Wild Bunch. Last year's remake of 3.10 to Yuma wasn't bad either.
Great to see the western had made a comeback on the big screen in recent years.
Posted by: Towen | May 30, 2008 10:08 AM