Featuring Rod Steiger as Eli Wallach

Rating: 9/10 (24 June 2007)

If the title of this movie didn't convince you that you were about to see something off-the-wall, the opening scene will. It starts off with one of Sergio Leone's trademark extreme close-ups of ants scurrying around a tree. Then you see water falling on it. After a few seconds of this, the camera pans back and you see...Eli Wallach? No. Rod Steiger with his pants down to his knees. He pulls and zips them up because what you're watching in the opening sequence is him urinating on that tree.
Yes, I knew I was looking at Rod Steiger but he did a very convincing job playing Eli Wallach in this movie. James Coburn's Irishman seemed a little cool-headed for an Irishman. Also, there's this one scene where Leone does extreme close-ups of people's mouths while they were eating. That was a little gross, but what the heck? Just a minor gripe. It's still vintage Leone. He takes his time telling a great story and, as usual, the facial expressions of the characters tells a lot of the story without them having to say anything. And the story is very well constructed. And the new DVD version is fantastic. A great story told by a great story teller. And of course, let's not forget Morricone with his great music. (SEAN, SEAN, SEAN). 9 out of 10.