Big disappointment

Rating: 4/10 (14 January 2003)

I almost fell asleep watching this movie, despite being a huge Sergio Leone fan. Steiger sounds Cuban rather than Mexican, Coburn loses his Irish accent every time he raises his voice, and the action scenes are a big disappointment. The "Dollars" trilogy and "Once Upon a Time in the West" are not only four of the best Westerns ever made, they are four of the best films ever made. Period. But "Duck You Sucker" aka "Fistful of Dynamite" isn't in the same league. It's no wonder Leone gave up on the genre and didn't direct another movie for thirteen years.
Leone's trademark style, with breathtaking visuals and intense, brooding characters is completely missing from this film. The story doesn't have any focus, and there's a whole lot of bad dialogue. The film actually has more in common with Leone's plodding debut, the abysmal "Colossus of Rhodes", than it does with his Eastwood/Bronson westerns. No style, no substance, and none of the great humor of his previous films, I strongly suggest you skip this and go rent "Keoma" instead. Now there's a real 1970s Spaghetti Western.