Manco (Clint Eastwood) and Douglas Mortimer (Lee Van Cleef) are two highly skilled bounty hunters that decide to forge a partnership to take down not only a western outlaw on the run, but his entire posse, to claim the exceptionally large reward on offer. During the mission, however, one of the two bounty hunters showcases his true intentions and meaning for this dangerous chase. Yet another classic Clint Eastwood western that has received a lot of praise since its original release in 1965.

Director: Sergio Leone
Writers: Sergio Leone, Fulvio Morsella, Luciano Vincenzoni
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Gian Maria Volonte, Klaus Kinski

For a Few Dollars More is widely regarded as the second film, and to some the finest film, in the iconic “Dollars Trilogy”, released by director Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood over forty years ago. It’s worth noting that the first instalment of the trilogy “A Fistful of Dollars (1964)” has previously been reviewed on the site and the final installment, “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)” has also been reviewed.

Many before me have noted that one of the primary strengths of For a Few Dollars More, would have to be characters on display and the chemistry between them during the one-hundred- and thirty-two-minute runtime and that’s something I’d tend to agree with. This classic opens with an intriguing introduction to Douglas Mortimer, one of the two bounty hunters on display, and straight away there is more than enough interest into the character to keep you hooked. The same could be applied to Monco too, the character played by Clint Eastwood – but it’s worth noting that this character was one that viewers were loosely aware of from A Fistful of Dollars (1964).

Just like in the previous flick, this was captured in its entirety in Spain – Almeria, to be more precise. It was also shot and filmed without sound at the time, meaning the dialogue and sound effects were once again dubbed over in post-production. A lot of people have also praised the soundtrack that was added to the picture too – this certainly added to the suspense of the flick when necessary and managed to take the film to the next level in terms of quality.

As previously mentioned, Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef adopted starring roles and had more than enough chemistry and screen presence to make each of the characters seem authentic and likeable on the whole. Elsewhere, the support cast was thorough, especially when it came to the group of men the bounty hunters were tracking down. Gian Maria Volonte starred as the primary villain, El Indio, while the much-loved Klaus Kinski also made an appearance.

While the action sequences were a little sparse, they were of great quality, which certainly made up for that. For a Few Dollars More, in my opinion, was marginally better than A Fistful of Dollars, but I’m intrigued to see how impressive The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is, considering the fact that it is widely regarded as one of, if not the greatest western film in history.

“When two hunters go after the same prey, they usually end up shooting each other in the back. And we don’t want to shoot each other in the back.”

Douglas Mortimer – For a Few Dollars More