Director: Sergio Leone
Screenplay: Sergio Leone
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Gian Maria Volonté, Mara Krup, Luigi Pistilli, Klaus Kinski, Josef Egger, Panos Papadopulos, Benito Stefanelli, Robert Camardiel, Aldo Sambrell, Luis Rodríguez, Mario Brega
Country: Italy, Spain, West Germany
Running Time: 132m
Year: 1965
In the Old West, two rival bounty killers (Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef) hunt the same target: the psychopathic bandit known as “El Indio” (Gian Maria Volonté). The price on his head is high – but one of the hunters harbours a secret personal vendetta. Forming an uneasy alliance, the pair succeed in infiltrating El Indio’s gang… but as greed begets violence, the hunters become the hunted, leading to a final showdown in a circle of death.
Made with a much higher budget than its predecessor, For a Few Dollars More expanded the canvas of Leone’s mythic, feverish vision of the western and further developed his unmistakable authorial signature. Fully uncut and newly restored in sumptuous 4K with a plethora of new and archival bonus features, the Man with No Name returns in deadly style.
To say he started by directly ripping off Kurosawa, by comparison, For A Few Dollars More is indulgent and ambitious. Maybe even better, with a looser narrative largely not having to pay rent to either its Japanese granddad or its immediate predecessor. In truth, whatever high bar Leone set for himself, he exceeded. He would do so again with The Good, The Bad and The Ugly before achieving some kind of miracle state to pull off Once Upon Time In The West.
But even here, while Leone flexes skills that would only become more profound in future, For Few Dollars More is damn near perfect. With minimal callbacks to the first film, adding a second bounty hunter and broadening the scope, it’s everything we would want from a sequel. Eastwood remains the laconic epitome of cool, even more so now sharing the screen with Lee Van Cleef. Klaus Kinski stands out, nimbly handling humour and danger in his role as a henchman. Really, we don’t talk about how funny these films are. We also don’t talk enough about Gian Maria Volonté. Returning from A Fistful of Dollars as a new character, he’s such a fantastic villain.
For A Few Dollars More is the film in which we start to see the real Sergio Leone. It’s lyrical, in the fine tradition of Italian Realism and a profound musicality gives it heart.
Note how the pocket watch is part of the staged film and its score. The resulting storytelling through mise en scene is extraordinary. Leone is as much a musician as a director; every element contributes to something. And it helps having one of the greatest actual musicians sharing the journey. Ennio Morricone, like Leone, was yet to do his best work. Still, his score for For A Few Dollars More is still one of cinema’s greatest earworms.
VIDEO
Following on from an impressive A Fistful Of Dollars, Arrow’s restored 4K transfer for For A Few Dollars More is even better. Perhaps a benefit of an improved production all round; the original film was a grainy mongrel. Lighting and detail bloom with sharp, fresh life in this first sequel. It’s never looked better. Skin tone is especially impressive, while detail in long shots and scenes at dusk are gorgeous.
AUDIO
This presentation is formidable. There are two original mono choices; unavoidable distortion in some high notes means there is also a softened choice with ‘academy roll off’. There is also a magnificent 5.1 remix. The barrage of sound effects, and especially Morricone’s theme, positively soar.
You can’t undervalue Morricone’s scores and here the presentation is beautifully sharp with a fidelity to rival any previous recording I’ve heard.
EXTRA FEATURES
This is another fantastic range of extras for film fans. Archival pieces with the great Sir Christopher Frayling remain prominent, and Alex Cox is here too. For newer stuff, there’s a next generation kind of feel as contributors pick apart the legacy of the film. It’s excellent, generally entertaining and incredibly expansive.
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tony Stella
- Perfect bound collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Glenn Kenny, Priscilla Page, Ariel Schudson and Amy Taylor
- Double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tony Stella
- New 4K restoration from the original 2-perf Techniscope negative
- 4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
- Newly restored original lossless English mono audio
- Optional newly remixed lossless English DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Audio commentary by film historian and Leone biographer Sir Christopher Frayling
- Audio commentary by film historian and critic Tim Lucas
- Original Italian credits and intermission break (separate from main feature)
- Trailers, TV spots and radio spots
- A Violent Tale of Vengeance, a newly filmed interview with film historian and critic Fabio Melelli
- No One Shoots at the Colonel, a newly filmed interview with filmmaker and Lee Van Cleef biographer Mike Malloy
- Crafting the West, a newly filmed interview with Giuditta Simi, daughter of set/costume designer Carlo Simi
- Cuts and Rhythm, a newly filmed interview with editor Eugenio Alabiso
- Western Strings, a newly filmed interview with guitarist Bruno Battisti D’Amario
- Timeless Voice, a newly filmed interview with singer Edda Dell’Orso
- For a Few Notes More, a newly filmed interview with Morricone biographer Alessandro de Rosa
- For Ennio’s Dollar Score, a new visual essay exploring the film’s iconic soundtrack by musician and disc collector Lovely Jon
- Career-spanning hour-long interview with Sergio Leone, never released in full before, filmed by Large Door Productions in 1983
- On Location in Almería and Granada, an archive featurette produced and presented by filmmaker Alex Cox
- The Frayling Archives and A New Standard, two archival interviews with Sir Christopher Frayling
- Back for More, an archival interview with Clint Eastwood
- Tre Voci, an archival featurette with Leone collaborators Mickey Knox, Sergio Donati and Alberto Grimaldi
- Restoration Italian Style, an archival featurette on the film’s remastering for DVD
- The Original American Release Version, an archival featurette
- Location Comparisons 1965-2004, an archival featurette
- Alternate credits sequences
- Four comprehensive image galleries