Violent, but pretty good

Rating: 7/10 (14 December 2003)

A Fistful of Dynamite' has the usual elements of a Sergio Leone movie. He made this movie after his Dollars'-trilogy and the best western I know, Once Upon a Time in the West', and before his great crime movie Once Upon a Time in America'. Compared to those five movies this movie is not that big a deal, but compared to most other movies this is actually pretty good.
The story has the Mexican revolution as background. The two heroes are Juan Miranda (Rod Steiger) and the Irish Sean Mallory who is a wanted criminal in his own country. At first they are not really fond of each other but you know in a story like this that will change. Mallory is an expert with explosives and that gives some of the better explosion-sequences I have seen on a screen.
The story is pretty standard but with Sergio Leone as the director it becomes a little more than that. The movie opens with a delightful sequence where Juan steals from some rich folks who just insulted him in many ways. The first sequences between Coburn and Steiger are great as well. Like I said we have the familiar Leone things here. The close-ups do their work and the music by Ennio Morricone fits the movie perfectly.
The movie is very violent, with lots of on screen explosion, war violence and executions, but that is the period of time and the background that is chosen. It helps the movie to be more convincing. In the end this is simply a very good movie by probably the best western-director that ever lived.