Yojimbo vs Fistful
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DaVooz — 16 years ago(January 19, 2010 03:10 AM)
Risking to go off-topic here (I learned that I had to go order and watch Yojimbo here): you guys prefer Akira Kurosawa's "The Seven Samurai (1954)" ("Shichinin no samurai") or John Sturges' 1960 "The Magnificent Seven"? I ordered the remake after having seen and enjoyed the Kurasowa one, and learned the remake was actually quite good. Great stuff!
with [cheese] -
atkinso2 — 15 years ago(May 03, 2010 07:49 PM)
The Magnificent Seven has amazing "parts," but I've always felt that the "whole" was kind of haphazardly thrown together.
An incredible score, but used poorly in places. Epic actors, but it seems like they were stuck there because they were mostly somewhat notable rather than for any artistic considerations involving them actually working well together. Introducing you to Calvera but not giving Wallach enough time to shine. Using the caste system tensions in a similar way to Seven Samurai, but without the context necessary to make it all that meaningful.
I still think Magnificent Seven is quite a good film; after all, even if the parts weren't assembled all that well, they're still AMAZING parts. I own the DVD, and would certainly recommend it as a fun Western.
However, I wouldn't say it's on quite the same level as Seven Samurai. That film is an incredible cohesive whole. -
DeuceWild_77 — 15 years ago(October 04, 2010 11:08 AM)
Don't u forget that in 1959 when "Magnificent Seven" went to production the only major star in it was Yul Brynner! the rest of the cast became legendary only later on, NOT at that time. McQueen was well-known but as a TV Star from "Wanted Dead or Alive" not a movie star, Elli Wallach was a supporting but a new promising actor (and he almost stole the movie from the others), Vaughn and Dexter had made a few things, Bronson was a character actor always cast as the indian or the mexican, James Coburn was a new face around and Bucholz made his screen debut.
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Nilgiris — 15 years ago(April 30, 2010 10:21 PM)
Yojimbo - 9 stars
Fistful - 7 stars
I find "Fistful" the les best of Leones westerns.
"Yojimbo" is one of Kurosawas masterpeaces.
I don't care about the reality in gore and blod. I hate Tarantino films.
That kind of ugly brutal reality does not make a good movie; - to me. -
YGoodwriter — 15 years ago(August 31, 2010 07:23 PM)
I think "Yojimbo" and "the 7 Samurai" were better than "Fistful of Dollars" and "Magnificent 7". I sat Fistful and Magnificent before I saw the Kurasawa films, but once I saw the Japanese versions, I was completely in awe. As much as I like Eastwood, Mifune's performance as the wandering Samurai was amazing. And The M7 just isn't in the same class as The 7S.
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j_money77 — 15 years ago(September 04, 2010 11:56 AM)
Yojimbo is by a wide margin the superior work. The style and ideas behind Yojimbo make it better for repeated viewing. I loved the way Kurosawa made the whole movie through the perspective of Sanjuro, even joking about it near the end when he makes the people stop so he can witness the rival gangs slaughter each other.
Fistful plays a lot like just shot out after shot out.
Leone would go on to become a master himself though. I've recently seen Once Upon A Time In The West, which was a great genre-subverting Western, which goes to show you shouldn't write-off any director because of their first movie. -
SeisCinemaSeis — 15 years ago(November 07, 2010 12:34 AM)
Couldn't disagree more. Not only Yojimbo is the original movie; technically speaking is also better (Better directed, acted, edited and photographed). I am not saying AFOD is a bad picture. On the contrary, it's highly enjoyable and a relevant film by itself. However the dubbing was terrible (both in italian and english), the acting was kinda amateurish except for Gian Maria Volont and Clint Eastwood. Sergio Leone stylish direction is already there. Morricone's iconic music too. But they are still in a rough form. Just compare the final showdowns from AFOD vs TGTBTU. Huge difference isn't it?
Yojimbo 9/10
AFOD 7/10 -
Buckaroo-Robot-Monster — 14 years ago(June 04, 2011 04:52 PM)
I fault Yojimbo based on Sanjuro announcing several times from the outset that he plans to clean up the town. That takes away an important plot element used in Fistful which is Joe starting as a neutral character who sees that there is a moral issue he needs to address - like Rick in Casablanca. Could you imagine Bogart as The Man With No Name?
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Big G-2 — 14 years ago(June 07, 2011 10:38 PM)
I fault Yojimbo based on Sanjuro announcing several times from the outset that he plans to clean up the town
But then again, the two warring families in YOJIMBO were much more fleshed out, that both Toshiro Mifune
and
we the audience could see that the town was corrupt right from the outset and immediately needed cleaning up. I never really got that sense in FISTFULL, especially with the Baxter family, who I thought were more-or-less set pieces. In other words, they just didn't seem that menacing. -
facebookblows009 — 14 years ago(September 08, 2011 04:52 AM)
I prefer Fistful of Dollars.
Some of Kurosawa's weakest films were in the 60s. They were good, but not great. He had kind of lost his way and would not make another masterpiece until the 1980s with Kagemusha (1980) and Ran (1985). Yojimbo, like all his other 60s films, is good but not great. I was not very impressed, certainly after his great 50s classics like The Seven Samurai, Ikiru, and Rashomon.
Although A Fistful of Dollars copies from Yojimbo, it was still groundbreaking and started a whole new genre of film; which of course was the Spaghetti western. It basically changed film and had a significant affect on the film industry. I think it is a more interesting and exciting film than Yojimbo. Yojimbo kind of gets confusing and loses its way. -
adinfinitm — 13 years ago(May 01, 2012 10:56 PM)
I gotta agree with you. Apart from some exceptional acting, Yojimbo's main strength is in it's inherent simplicity. The characters just flowed naturally. AFOD is not a bad movie but following Yojimbo's style didn't work out well in many instances. For example in the scene where Eastwood announces that he wants to be hired, for the first time, seems so made up in comparison to that of Yojimbo's.
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jon_s_chan — 13 years ago(May 22, 2012 10:08 AM)
Yojimbo was better than Fistful and I don't think it is even close. The reason many like Fistful as much of not more is because of Clint Eastwood's style/stardom. We love the guy for his style, but Toshiro Mifune, we do not care much for his style.
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A_Fistful_of_Pennies — 13 years ago(September 19, 2012 09:04 PM)
My username comes from this film, but believe it or not I slightly prefer Yojimbo. Both are classics. I feel Yojimbo gets the edge because that was Kurosawa at the absolute top of his game. This film has the obvious signs of a master, but Leone didn't hit his full stride until For a Few Dollars More.
Actually Leone and Kurosawa directed my two all-time favorite films, Once Upon a Time in the West and Seven Samurai. We are talking about two masters who made several masterpieces.
I think the only wrong answer to this question is that both films are bad. I think we can all agree these movies kick ass. -
bwjazzorch — 11 years ago(June 23, 2014 07:52 PM)
Leone certainly establishes his trademark style with "Fistful" and ends up creating a new genre of film. That is nothing to dismiss, but in virtually every aspect, Yojimbo excels. Eastwood is not in the same league as Mifune, for instance. In fact, the supporting players in Yojimbo are stellar, not just Mifune. As typical with Kurosawa, his film shows a wider range of the human experience, including humor, which Leone's film does not. I enjoy both versions, but the original surpasses the imitation.