For A Few Dollars More (1965)

Theatrical Poster
Source: Wikipedia

The Man With No Name meets the Man in Black to fight for a bounty killing.

While The Man In Black (Lee Van Cleef) is out hunting for a $1,000 bounty killing, The Man With No Name (Clint Eastwood) is searching for his $2,000 bounty suspect. They both return to collect their reward, and end up taking on a new job - chasing the most ruthless gangster in the West.

Indio (Gian Maria Volonté) is wanted for numerous bank robberies along with a string of other violence charges, and this has lead to a bounty of $10,000 being put over his head. Unbeknownst to him, two experienced bounty killers after him, but Indio has a plan to rob the most secure bank in El Paso.

This would be the only film from the Dollars Trilogy (between A Fistful of Dollars and The Good, The Bad And The Ugly) that isn't an Empire 5-star rated film. So, in order to complete the trilogy, I decided to watch this one anyway to satisfy my need for completion to see why it wasn't awarded the prestigious five stars.

Compared with A Fistful Of Dollars, For A Few Dollars More is a far more developed film, albeit a completely different story. The stories lead into each other though (although you don't need to watch the first to understand the second), as The Man With No Name continues his bounty work which we are introduced to in the predecessor.

The introduction of The Man In Black - Colonel Douglas Mortimer - helps to prove that Eastwood's Man With No Name - this time referred to as Manco - is not as omnipotent as he appeared in the first film. That said, Eastwood's character still retains the mystery as the number of lines he is given are few and far between. We never learn much him, but that doesn't stop us admiring his quick hands.

For A Few Dollars More also uses the same iconic soundtrack as its predecessor and, while its whistling can become irritating, it is one of the key driving forces behind the film as the camera flicks between characters during the agonising stand-off.

Personally, I prefer this film to its predecessor. Maybe its because I knew what to expect, but its probably more likely that Sergio Leone was given far more freedom to express his unique characters.