A Fistful of Dynamite

Original title: Giù la testa

1971
AA
2h 37m

IMDb RATING

7.6/10

39K

YOUR RATING

James Coburn and Rod Steiger in A Fistful of Dynamite (1971)

Play trailer3:36

2 Videos

96 Photos

Spaghetti Western Tragedy Western Epic Drama War Western

A low-life bandit and an I.R.A. explosives expert rebel against the government and become heroes of the Mexican Revolution.A low-life bandit and an I.R.A. explosives expert rebel against the government and become heroes of the Mexican Revolution.A low-life bandit and an I.R.A. explosives expert rebel against the government and become heroes of the Mexican Revolution.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.6/10

39K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 win & 2 nominations

Videos2

Photos96

+ 88

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Sergio Leone offered the role of Juan Miranda to Eli Wallach, but Wallach had already committed to another project. After Leone begged Wallach to play the part, he dropped out of the other project and told Leone he'd do his movie. However, the studio already had Rod Steiger signed. Leone offered no compensation to Wallach, and Wallach subsequently sued.

Goofs
In the train, the automatic pistol that Juan Miranda uses is a Browning GP35. As its names suggests, this model became available in 1935 (so a contemporary of the aforementioned MG42).

Quotes
Juan Miranda: What's that?
John H. Mallory: It's a map.
[Juan lies down on top of it]
John H. Mallory: It's your country you're lyin' all over, there!
Juan Miranda: [drowsily] Hm-hm. Not my country. My country's... me and my family.
John H. Mallory: Well, your country's also Huerta, the governor, the landlords... Günther Ruiz and his locusts... this little revolution we're having here.
Juan Miranda: [alert] A revolution? "Little revolution"? Please, don't try to tell me about revolution! I know all about the revolutions and how they start! The people that read the books, they go to the people that don't read the books, and say "Ho-ho! The time has come to have a change, eh?"
John H. Mallory: Shhhh...
Juan Miranda: [mimicking John] Sh, sh, sh, sh, sh, SHIT, SHUSH! I know what I am talking about when I am talking about revolutions! The people who read the books go to the people who can't read the books, the poor people, and say, "We have to have a change." So, the poor people make the change, ah? And then, the people who read the books, they all sit around the big polished tables, and they talk and talk and talk and eat and eat and eat, eh? But what has happened to the poor people? THEY ARE DEAD! That's your revolution! Sh... so, please... don't tell me about revolutions. And what happens afterwards? The same fucking thing starts all over again!
John H. Mallory: [exhales] Whew. Hmmm.
[throws a book he was reading into the mud: Mikhael A. Bakunin, The Patriotism]

Crazy credits
A quote from Chairman Mao regarding the nature of revolutions was removed from original English prints out of fear that audiences would misinterpret the quote's use as an endorsement of communist revolution. The quote was later put back into uncut prints.

Alternate versions
The new 5.1 remix of the soundtrack on the restored Region 2 Special Edition release uses incorrect music cues for several scenes including the restored long flashback scene at the end, and edits out two expletives, one is uttered by Juan while talking to himself before attacking the bridge, the other spoken by John on the train. Both of these are intact in all other restored versions. The title of the restored version is now "Duck You Sucker" while the title on the cover remains "A Fistful of Dynamite".

Connections
Edited into Spaghetti Western Trailer Show (2007)

User reviews185

Review

Featured review

10/10

Another Sergio Leone masterpiece... Duck You Sucker!!!

A FISTFUL OF DYNAMITE aka DUCK YOU SUCKER (5 outta 5 stars)

I think this is Sergio Leone's third greatest movie... right after Once Upon a Time in the West and The Good, The Bad and the Ugly. Most Leone fans rank this film a lot lower... but I think that's because they are only familiar with the shortened two hour version. Also, for the record, I absolutely loathe the re-titling... A Fistful of Dynamite... how lame! At least the original Leone title, Duck You Sucker was... distinctive. Even the French title (translation: Once Upon a Time... The Revolution) is kinda classy. But AFOD??? Gimme a break! This movie has absolutely nothing to do with A Fistful of Dollars so why even try to make the comparison?

Anyway, I loved this movie when I first saw it in the theatre in 1972 (age 12). I am pretty sure that what we saw at the time was the lengthy, uncut version... and I don't remember being bored at all. (The most common complaint about this movie is that it is slow and boring... heck, that's the most common complaint about EVERY Leone movie.) Rod Steiger and James Coburn play Sean and Juan, respectively a poor Mexican bandit and a fugitive Irish terrorist... who meet up in Mexico and become involved (against their wills) with revolutionary warfare in that struggling country. The movie is exciting, funny, dramatic, suspenseful and, well, just plain brilliant. This is Ennio Morricone's greatest film score and the way it meshes with Leone's visuals is simply amazing... particularly in my favourite scene... the bank heist. Juan and his young sons break into the Bank of Mexico, shoot it out with the guards and go from door to door, searching for gold and finding only political prisoners, until finally... oh, I can't give it away! See it for yourself. This is a movie filled with classic scenes: Coburn's arrival on the "motorsickle" and his confrontation with Steiger's gang... Steiger and Coburn with their machine guns... Steiger's final act of vengeance (which is severely chopped to bits in the short version... robbing it of its vicious power). Its been said that Steiger's comical accent is stereotypical and insulting... but I say NO! He is playing one of the richest and most complex characters of his career... with some of his greatest speeches ("And what happens to the poor people? They are DEAD!"). Not to slight James Coburn, who also does a fantastic job, but Steiger is the star of this one.