Overview
At the beginning of the 1913 Mexican Revolution, greedy bandit Juan Miranda and idealist John H. Mallory, an Irish Republican Army explosives expert on the lam from the British, fall in with a band of revolutionaries plotting to strike a national bank. When it turns out that the government has been using the bank as a hiding place for illegally detained political prisoners -- who are freed by the blast -- Miranda becomes a revolutionary hero against his will.
This film is alternatively known as “A Fistful of Dynamite” and a couple of other names (including “Once Upon a Time in the Revolution” which would put it in the “Once Upon a Time” trilogy) and it also happens to be the last of Sergio Leone’s “big six” that I had not seen. I must say that Leone did it again. From the film’s opening sequence I had no doubt that I was once again sucked in. I don’t know of anyone else that can make you feel like you’ve been watching a movie for an hour when it has actually been five minutes.
The movie has many of the same qualities of his other movies – slow, breathtaking panoramas, dramatic closeups and strong characters. However, there are a few differences that set this one apart. While the characters start off as the cold and calculating individuals that mark Leone’s other films, you sense that they are struggling with who they are and their own moral directions. There is a sense of good and evil in this film. Also, as the movie goes along we slowly get a feel for what shaped the characters into what they are in the movie. These revelations are what really gives the movie a unique flavor.
I feel that this movie does not get the credit that it deserves among Leone’s great works.
IHATEBadMovies.com reviews Duck, You Sucker
Movie title: Duck, You Sucker
Movie description: At the beginning of the 1913 Mexican Revolution, greedy bandit Juan Miranda and idealist John H. Mallory, an Irish Republican Army explosives expert on the lam from the British, fall in with a band of revolutionaries plotting to strike a national bank. When it turns out that the government has been using the bank as a hiding place for illegally detained political prisoners -- who are freed by the blast -- Miranda becomes a revolutionary hero against his will.
Date published: 2008-10-27
Director(s): Sergio Leone
Actor(s): James Coburn, Rod Steiger, Romolo Valli, Antoine Saint-John, Franco Graziosi, Rik Battaglia, David Warbeck, Vivienne Maya, Maria Monti, Giulio Battiferri, Poldo Bendandi, Omar Bonaro, Roy Bosier, John Frederick, Jean Rougeul, Corrado Solari, Memè Perlini, Michael Harvey
Genre: Western
My Review
This film is alternatively known as “A Fistful of Dynamite” and a couple of other names (including “Once Upon a Time in the Revolution” which would put it in the “Once Upon a Time” trilogy) and it also happens to be the last of Sergio Leone’s “big six” that I had not seen. I must say that Leone did it again. From the film’s opening sequence I had no doubt that I was once again sucked in. I don’t know of anyone else that can make you feel like you’ve been watching a movie for an hour when it has actually been five minutes.
The movie has many of the same qualities of his other movies – slow, breathtaking panoramas, dramatic closeups and strong characters. However, there are a few differences that set this one apart. While the characters start off as the cold and calculating individuals that mark Leone’s other films, you sense that they are struggling with who they are and their own moral directions. There is a sense of good and evil in this film. Also, as the movie goes along we slowly get a feel for what shaped the characters into what they are in the movie. These revelations are what really gives the movie a unique flavor.
I feel that this movie does not get the credit that it deserves among Leone’s great works.
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My Review - 9.5/10
9.5/10