Yojimbo vs Fistful

It's true, I saw Fistful first and then Yojimbo. But then I went on this insane Japanese cinema blitz and watched every Kurosawa, Ozu, and Mizoguchi movie I could get my hands on! Four died, seventeen wounded in my wake.

Or "Manco" in Few Dollars more.

So Eastwoods charector goes from Joe to Manco to Blonde. Hmm, I smell a new thread!

I've just watched Fistful of Dollars again, and my opinion that Yojimbo is the much better film has been reinforced.

I would also mention another remake, Last Man Standing from 1996, starring Bruce Willis. It is set in the Prohibition era, with the opposing gangs being Italians and Irish. It's not a bad movie, as I recall, but it's been many years since I saw it.

I saw Yojimbo after I saw Fistful and I loved it. I love most Kurosawa films anyway, but that story seemed very inventive. Plus, Kurosawa has a knack for getting suspense without montage: there is a climactic scene involving an ancient pistol that was excruciatingly tense.

The only thing regarding this aspect I found that sucked in Fistful over Yojimbo is that in Yojimbo you see the results of injury (i.e. blood spurting out of the victims, arm getting chopped off) this makes it seem more realistic while in fistful, the guys just grab their heads and spin around and fall over.

That scene with Gatling gun and Ramone just made me pull my hair out.

You don't see a single bullet-impact in Fistful but I guess that's part of the spagetti western style.

The Magnificent Seven has amazing "parts," but I've always felt that the "whole" was kind of haphazardly thrown together.

An incredible score, but used poorly in places. Epic actors, but it seems like they were stuck there because they were mostly somewhat notable rather than for any artistic considerations involving them actually working well together. Introducing you to Calvera but not giving Wallach enough time to shine. Using the caste system tensions in a similar way to Seven Samurai, but without the context necessary to make it all that meaningful.

I still think Magnificent Seven is quite a good film; after all, even if the parts weren't assembled all that well, they're still AMAZING parts. I own the DVD, and would certainly recommend it as a fun Western.


However, I wouldn't say it's on quite the same level as Seven Samurai. That film is an incredible cohesive whole.

I think "Yojimbo" and "the 7 Samurai" were better than "Fistful of Dollars" and "Magnificent 7". I sat Fistful and Magnificent before I saw the Kurasawa films, but once I saw the Japanese versions, I was completely in awe. As much as I like Eastwood, Mifune's performance as the wandering Samurai was amazing. And The M7 just isn't in the same class as The 7S.

I fault Yojimbo based on Sanjuro announcing several times from the outset that he plans to clean up the town. That takes away an important plot element used in Fistful which is Joe starting as a neutral character who sees that there is a moral issue he needs to address - like Rick in Casablanca. Could you imagine Bogart as The Man With No Name?

I think the duels in all three Dollars movies were classic. TGTBTU was certainly the best one, but the other two were epic as well.

I agree with you RRS about the relative merits of Fistful, Seven Samurai, Ikiru and Yojimbo and as a result of reading this comment added Kagemusha and Ran to my Love film list.

I gotta agree with you. Apart from some exceptional acting, Yojimbo's main strength is in it's inherent simplicity. The characters just flowed naturally. AFOD is not a bad movie but following Yojimbo's style didn't work out well in many instances. For example in the scene where Eastwood announces that he wants to be hired, for the first time, seems so made up in comparison to that of Yojimbo's.