From: R_BURNS@unhh.unh.edu (Robert   Burns)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.current
Subject: Fistful of Datas is anything but like "Fistful of Dollars"
Date: 17 Nov 1992 03:33:10 GMT
Organization: University of New Hampshire
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	I have no idea why 'Fistful of Datas' was named such, except for the
mere trifle that there were indeed a plethora of characters that looked like
Data in the deck's program.  So why didn't they call it "Blazing Datas", or
"The Magnificent Seven Datas", or anything else like that, as equally corny.
Well, I guess Fistful of Datas sounds best, manages to link up the episode to
the genre best.  The comparison is in name only, as well as three other points:

	1.  Worf somehow creates a phaser-proof shield, in accordance with the 
steel plate The Man With No Name straps on in 'Fistful of Dollars', which blocks
Ramon Rojo's bullets at the heart.  A phaser-proof shield!  Shhhyyeaa!!  Now,
I am an avid fan of Space Opera and its manifestations in the forms of Star 
Trek, Star Wars, et al. but this warping of the natural laws seemed a little 
illogical, given that its only function was to provide a plot device link 
between 'Fistful of Dollars' and its Trek counterpart.

	2.  In 'Fistful of Dollars' there was indeed a prisoner exchange.  Yet
the only analogy that can be made here is that one of the Datas was the other
Data's son.  John and Big Mama Baxter do get their son back in the Leone
classic, and Data gets his Data back in due fashion.  Yet the protagonist, nor 
his allies, were even involved in the exchange!  It was merely a trade-off 
between two overgrown gang families.

	3.  Both Troi and The Man With No Name demanded 500 dollars for their
services.  Yet Counselor Troi's request makes no sense within the context of the
episode, assuming it was supposed to stand on its own context, for Sheriff Worf
ends up getting many services from her, i.e. watching the prisoner, helping him
in the big showdown, saving his butt, et al.  without EVER GETTING HER MONEY!!!
Contrast this with the Eastwood character during the whole first part of the 
movie, who did nothing without the assurance he would get more money out of the
endeavor somehow.


Now, while the differences are far too many to ever be mentioned here, I will
mention a few.  
	1.  Assume Eastwood's character is to be compared to Sheriff Worf.

		a.  The Man With No Name is unaffiliated with the law.
		b.  The Man With No Name never drew first.
		c.  The Man With No Name never got into a brawl (in 'Fistful of
		    Dollars' anyway).
		
	2.  Assume Eastwood's character is to be compared to Drifter Troi.

	        a.  The Man With No Name smoked a cheroot, not a full cigar.
		b.  In 'Fistful of Dollars', Eastwood never fires a two- 
		    handed gun, such as a rifle.  In fact, that's what 
		    distinguishes him from Ramon, the rifle slinging bad guy.
		c.  The Man With No Name was paid AFTER he did his job.
		d.  The Man With No Name never interrupted any fights on
		    purpose, but let most Rojo-Baxter or Rojo-Mexico fights go
		    on, unabated.

	3.  The Eastwood character never steps into anyplace called Deadwood.
	    On the contrary, most Sergio Leone place settings were fictional,
	    but for two, El Paso and Tucumcari, NM, both featured fictionally
	    in 'For a Few Dollars More'.

	On the whole, 'Fistful of Datas' does a minor disservice to Leone's
masterpiece, ironically an adaption of a Japanese samurai movie, 'Fistful of
Dollars', in that it does not even touch the main theme of 'Fistful of Dollars',
or any Leone western, which is that of everything is considered in threes, of
which Eastwood refers to when he explains his situation in 'Fistful of Dollars',
where I believe he says (tell me if this is wrong):

	"Rojos over {t?}here, Baxters over there, and me right in the middle."

Instead, 'Fistful of Datas' is the traditional good guy-bad guy set up,
something Leone rarely touched, and mostly avoided in his Eastwood trilogy.
With a little more work and a little more thought, the writers could have put 
out a psuedo-spaghetti western more like the original, and thus more interesting
to watch.

Needless to say, though, on the whole, the episode was comical and entertaining.
Forgive me if I sound like a whiner, it's just that I'm a great fan of the Leone
westerns, and hate to see their names tarnished.

						-R. J. Burns

----    "This train WILL get off at Tucumcari."
					-Col. Douglas Mortimer,
					  played by Lee Van Cleef
					  in 'For a Few Dollars More'.