Washburn's Top 5 of the Day

The Top 5 Westerns by Sergio Leone That You MUST See Before You Die

5) A Fistful of Dollars (1964) - So this is the one... the one that started it all for the rise of Spaghetti Westerns, and even more importantly, Clint Eastwood as one of the most bad-ass characters in all of movie history: The Man With No Name. Now of course, this opposing hero is called Joe, mysteriously, in this film, but is not named in the other two films at all. In this chapter, The Man With No Name is a wanderer who stumbles upon a small town that is on edge because of two crime bosses who are constantly fighting over control of the town. Eastwood's estranged hero sees an opportunity to make some serious dough, and allies himself with BOTH crime bosses and wittingly plays them against each other. Famous ending sequence: Eastwood uses an iron door from an old cast iron wood stove as under-armor which successfully blocks the enemies bullets.

4) Duck, You Sucker! (1972) - This is the one with the best title, that is for sure, unfortunately, the U.S. release was re-named A Fistful of Dynamite, to correlate with the more well-known Eastwood flick, A Fistful of Dollars. Of course, neither have anything in common. This long western catalogs the rough times revolving around the Mexican revolution. James Coburn stars as an explosives-happy Irishman whose famous line, "Duck, you sucker!" is heard before he detonates his arsenal of dynamite. He befriends an unlikely Mexican hero (who is a crook, bandit, and fervent revolutionist) played by Rod Steiger. All in all, very exciting, although I feel it is too long and drawn out to be in the top 3.

3) For a Few Dollars More (1965) - Now we see Leone refined. He honed his western skills in this one, playing off the success and grittiness of A Fistful of Dollars. Again, we have Eastwood as The Man With No Name (he goes by the strange name Monco in this one); this time he is a bounty hunter after an entire gang of criminals lead by a mad-man named Indio. Unfortunately for Eastwood, another bounty hunter is after this gang, but not for the money, for revenge. Lee Van Cleef, who is totally bad-ass, plays Eastwood's counterpart in this one and is just as talented with a gun. Famous scene: The shoot out at the end is so suspenseful, "when the music stops... shoot." See it if you like classic spaghetti westerns.

2) Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) - This is where it gets difficult. These last two films are both gems, but I have to go with Once Upon a Time in the West at number 2. This film is epic. It has a slew of great stars, such as Henry Fonda who plays Frank, one of the more evil villains in all Leone films, Jason Robards as the fun-loving, and ultimately likable, gang-leader Cheyenne, the sexy-yet-tough Claduia Cardinale as the female lead, Jill McBride, and of course, the imposing, mysterious, and deadly vigilante, Harmonica, played by seasoned bad-ass, Charles Bronson. This movie follows so many story lines, but they ultimately converge. The movie's opening is so amazing, a dialogueless sequence of long shots and extreme close-ups, that marks the arrival of Harmonica. Awaiting him are three thugs that work for gang-boss, Frank. Harmonica dramatically and effortlessly disposes of these three badies, thus setting the tone. Another story line is that of Jill McBride, who is arriving at a small western village in hopes of meeting her new husband and his family, what she finds instead is a masacare, Frank having gunned down her husband, and her young step-children. Another story line is the unlikely love that blossoms between the recently widowed Jill McBride and wise-cracking gang-leader Cheyenne. All in all, it is a masterpiece, a great movie from beginning to end. It is long, but it flows well. Famous shot: A close up shot of an on coming steam engine that seems to roll right over the camera on the tracks. Great shot.

1) The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (1966) - This is the biggy. This one is the best. Again, we return to the famous Man With No Name trilogy, and this one is the conclusion (and there is no better way to go out!). The star is Clint Eastwood in his most memorable, heroic role (The Good). He is once again joined by Lee Van Cleef, who, this time, plays a sadistic manhunter and hitman named Angel Eyes (The Bad). As comic releif, we see Eli Wallach as Tucco "The Rat" (who is very obviously The Ugly). Sergio Leone nailed it all with this effort. Everything from the sweeping landscape shots to the emotional musical score to the superb, witty dialogue, to the famous three-way shoot-out scene at the climax is a masterstroke of filmmaking. This story is set in the west during the later years of the civil war. Union and Rebel battles create the backdrop for the main story about the previously mentioned three men all looking for a secret stash of money and trying to out-do one another along the way. This time, Eastwood's character goes by the name of Blondie.