Following the huge success of A Fistful of Dollars, director Sergio Leone wanted to make a sequel. But there were a few obstacles in his way. He had a dispute with Jolly Films, which financed the first film, and he was not happy that he did not get his financial reward after its success.
Also, A Fistful of Dollars had not yet been released outside of Europe because of a copyright dispute with Japanese director Akira Kurosawa over the resemblance to one of his films, Yojimbo.
Finally, star Clint Eastwood had yet to see the finished film but did finally view it when producers shipped a print to him to see in the hope he would sign up for the sequel.
Eastwood agreed when he saw that the budget was three times larger than A Fistful of Dollars, and his paycheck and facilities would be much improved while filming.
To play the part of Colonal Mortimer, director Leone originally wanted Henry Fonda, who turned him down, so he decided to use a then little-known actor named Lee Van Cleef. Van Cleef was almost retired from acting and making money as a house painter at the time. He gladly accepted the offer and was on route to Europe immediately.
Both lead actors knew each other as Van Cleef had appeared in a couple of episodes of the TV series Rawhide a few years earlier.
In the Old West, two rival bounty killers (Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef) hunt the same target: the psychopathic bandit known as “El Indio” (Gian Maria Volonté). The price on his head is high, but one of the hunters harbours a secret personal vendetta. Forming an uneasy alliance, the pair succeed in infiltrating El Indio’s gang… but as greed begets violence, the hunters become the hunted, leading to a final showdown in a circle of death.
The film is slick and brilliantly directed, helped again by the masterful soundtrack by Ennio Morricone. Eastwood and Van Cleef play off each other very well. It is a sweaty and bloody take on the Old West, something audiences were not accustomed to, but it was a huge box office hit.
The film was a vast improvement on the first, from set design to Eastwood’s acting, and most importantly, Leone’s vision. Lee Van Cleef certainly holds his ground, in fact, you could say he almost steals the picture with what Leone describes his look as ” His glance makes holes in the screen.”
The film has been released many times on home video and Blu-ray, but this new transfer is certainly a big improvement on the older releases. Arrow also states that this is now finally, fully uncut.
As is usual with Arrow, they have gone all out with special features on this 2-disc set.
LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS –
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tony Stella
• Perfect bound collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Glenn Kenny, Priscilla Page, Ariel Schudson and Amy Taylor
• Double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tony Stella
DISC 1 – FEATURE
• New 4K restoration from the original 2-perf Techniscope negative
• High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation
• Newly restored original lossless English mono audio
• Optional newly remixed lossless English DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Audio commentary by film historian and Leone biographer Sir Christopher Frayling
• Audio commentary by film historian and critic Tim Lucas
• Original Italian credits and intermission break (separate from main feature)
• Trailers, TV spots and radio spots
DISC 2 – EXTRAS
• A Violent Tale of Vengeance, a newly filmed interview with film historian and critic Fabio Melelli
• No One Shoots at the Colonel, a newly filmed interview with filmmaker and Lee Van Cleef biographer Mike Malloy
• Crafting the West, a newly filmed interview with Giuditta Simi, daughter of set/costume designer Carlo Simi
• Cuts and Rhythm, a newly filmed interview with editor Eugenio Alabiso
• Western Strings, a newly filmed interview with guitarist Bruno Battisti D’Amario
• Timeless Voice, a newly filmed interview with singer Edda Dell’Orso
• For a Few Notes More, a newly filmed interview with Morricone biographer Alessandro de Rosa
• For Ennio’s Dollar Score, a new visual essay exploring the film’s iconic soundtrack by musician and disc collector, Lovely Jon
• Career-spanning hour-long interview with Sergio Leone, never released in full before, filmed by Large Door Productions in 1983. Superb extra showing Leone at ease and being interviewed about a variety of subjects.
• On Location in Almería and Granada, an archive featurette produced and presented by filmmaker Alex Cox
• The Frayling Archives and A New Standard, two archival interviews with Sir Christopher Frayling
• Back for More, an archival interview with Clint Eastwood
• Tre Voci, an archival featurette with Leone collaborators Mickey Knox, Sergio Donati and Alberto Grimaldi
• Restoration Italian Style, an archival featurette on the film’s remastering for DVD
• The Original American Release Version, an archival featurette
• Location Comparisons 1965–2004, an archival featurette
• Alternate credit sequences
• Four comprehensive image galleries
As you can see, it has a vast array of bonus features, old and new, which makes this a must buy for fans of this film and Spaghetti Westerns in general.
FILM – 9 PICTURE – 9 AUDIO – 8.5 EXTRAS – 10
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