Duck, You Sucker aka A Fistful of Dynamite

True Leone fans will not want to miss yet another quirky,baffling, and funny twists and turns in this movie.

Duck You Sicker is an ode to the lost cause.The movie begins with a quote by Mao about the violence of revolution. The class struggle that motivated Mao is brought up in the opening as Rod Steiger, a poor drifter, is picked up along the road by a luxury coach full of rich people who demean the lower class as animals and condemn the reforms of the Mexican Revolution. The passengers soon meet the poor face to face and they’re very angry, have guns as well and are led by Steiger. When he meets James Coburn who is an explosives expert he believes that he can take his dreams of robbing the rich to a new level. Coburn turns out to be a real revolutionary however. The two make a great comparison between Steiger the bandit and Coburn the idealist. They have some great back and forth moments especially at the start with Coburn setting off one stick of dynamite after another to dissuade Steiger from talking to him. Coburn is also always able to pull a fast one on Steiger which provides some comedy to the drama as well. Their relationship reminds me of the one between Clint Eastwood and Eli Wallach in The Good, The Bad and the Ugly.The theme of the lost cause comes up halfway through the film with bodies lying all over the ground and then a mass execution of Coburn’s comrades. It reminds him of a past failure he had at revolution.Overall this is another great spaghetti western by director Sergio Leone.

Truth be told I don't like this film. It reminds me about everything I hated about the 70s and more. I'm going to get high minded, and I really don't want to, but I'm going to vent anyway. After the second world war Hollywood became extremely paranoid about things like Nazis, fascism and antisemitism. And then comes the 1960s and we have a lot of social uphevals about civil rights and realizations about mental health and social mental health; i.e. sociology and how psychology (and psychiatry) applies to that.Okay, so what does this have to do with Steiger and Coburn in some turn of the century Pancho Villa western? It applies because the film is designed for the following;A) let men vent their anti-hero fantasies by showing Steiger (ostensibly the villain) become the hero, and Coburn (ostensibly another burnt out would be hero) become the villain with a past to make up for his failed past.B) let men vent their action / blood lust fantasies with the action sequences.C) in this way possibly allay or otherwise pacify those inner desires by showing villains becoming heroes with the film's plot and ending.In short, this is a huge schmorgazgborg of male audience manipulation. It's what 1970's (post 1960s) movies (and even today) are all about. And it's why you get a lot of stupid stuff on the screen. Movies have always been dumb, but they used to be fun without all the bloodshed, martial arts, gun fire, "superpowers" or in the 1970s the re-invention of the western and criminal gang movie genres with the anti-hero being the "hero" in the film.Me, I shrug my shoulders at it. Truly I want to give thing two-stars with an urge to give it one star because of what I just wrote here. I say that because where movies prior to the 1970s were always stupid on a number of levels, they didn't take themselves very seriously, didn't experiment with the audiences' emotions and reactions therefrom, didn't think that we were all going to turn into psychological monsters because of what Hollywood put up on the screen (in contrast to their hyper-paranoia and fear based on what was perceived as Nazi Germany using film as a tool to allegedly steer their society in a very negative direction). Movies were dumb, but the directors knew that, and so did everyone else, so they made them fun with musicals, comedies, and just stories that entertained without trying to become a tool for societal manipulation.And that's the ambition behind films in the 1970s and even today; an attempt to manipulate and inspire or let people live out their fantasies through visual stimulation.Well, as a heterosexual male who loves a good shoot-em-up film, I thought this movie was garbage, but it's got enough technical merits that makes me feel like I'd be reviewing it out of sheer spite for sociologists, psychologists, and psychiatrists the world over (whom I do hate with a passion), but am trying to be as objective and critical as I possibly can in this review.This film came out in the era that gave us Star Wars, the Godfather, Marathon Man, and a host of other films that were designed, tailored, and otherwise formulated as tools for societal manipulation.If that good or bad? Eh, you be the judge. But, as I often contemplate and post on other forums, I wonder what Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and who also penned the Constitution with input from all the other founders, would think about sociologists, psychologists and psychiatrists delivering the message that all violence, no matter the context, is bad, and that society needs junk psychology cinema like this to let males live out their fantasies. What would they think?Well, I think if you look at crime statistics and compare them with movies you'll find little correlation, and ergo the theory about films being societal tools of manipulation being way overplayed. Henceforth the reason this film is stupid, garbage and just otherwise a piece junk.Having said that, it is well acted, well shot, and even though it has the stench and reek of a 1970s "artsy" film meant to manipulate society, technically it's well put together. Ergo, three-stars instead of the one-star that my inner American patriot-sympathizer wants to put down.See it once, and see what you think.

You couldn't ask for more from a quality period piece Spaghetti Western, from the great Sergio Leone himself (of the Good, Bad, and Ugly fame)!!!James Coburn (Our Man Flint, In Like Flint, Bite the Bullet, Harry in Your Pocket, etc.) and Rod Steiger (Doctor Zhivago, In the Heat of the Night, The Illustrated Man, etc.) really do make this Period Piece shine! Many people will consider it a 'B' movie, but those folks are quite probably under 40 years of age and never grew up watching The Greats (Gregory Peck, Burt Lancaster,Marlon Brando, Paul Newman, Jimmy Stewart, Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, Carol O'Connor, George Kennedy, Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, John Wayne, Slim Pickens, Robert Mitchum, Ben Johnson, Ricardo Montalban, Christopher George, Caesar Romero, Basil Rathbone, Tyrone Power, Clark Gable, Steve McQueen, Richard Boone, and many, many, more).More's the pity, because such individuals are missing the FOUNDATION of modern film and acting; back when TALENT held sway and hard work was rewarded with fame and money, rather than the Smoke and Mirrors of most modern Hollyweird actors (the names of the Greats was when Hollywood really WAS Hollywood: a quality place where imagination and dreams became real), who are 'media-ized' into 'stars'. There are no longer any actors under 45 years of age who can be compared to the earlier generations of actors, and no one under 40 is a 'star' in the classic sense.Duck You Sucker has drama, action, historical accuracy in a dramatized manner but WITHOUT losing the sheer brutality of it. Should you want to see another example of how one of the many Mexican Revolutions were carried out, go no further than Peckinpah's 'Wild Bunch'. The actor playing the Mexican General really was alive during the Revolution and supposedly participated in one, in 1923 against Obregon.Coburn and Steiger were so talented, they could put humor in scenes that would have been impossible for most other actors; their individual styles, body language, facial expressions, ALL matched the scenes in which they were front and center, often playing off each other to the highest effect.Duck You Sucker is a great example of superb acting by both primary and secondary actors, and the script does a great job of giving both actors the leeway they needed to get their jobs done to such a degree, that this film remains part of every Western film fans' libararies and recommends!Well worth the two and a half hours to watch it......you'll be watching it again and throughout the coming years!

I enjoy the director's previous films, so I rented this one. Good for a rent, not for a buy

I love westerns, but for some reason it’s taken me 40 years to get around to watching this classic. For some reason it doesn’t get the same publicity and other westerns. Having said that, it was well worth waiting for because everything about this film is 1st class. It starts off in an almost light hearted way but takes on a darker, more serious note half way through. The acting is brilliant. I love James Coburn and the development of his character, along with Rod Steiger’s makes for captivating watching. The story and mood is further enhanced with an amazing musical score by Ennio Morricone, especially ‘Inventions For John’. I’d put the soundtrack right up there with The Good The Bad and The Ugly. An equally excellent supporting cast, fantastic sets and locations with a strong storyline make this film a must for any Leone fans. It won’t disappoint

In my humble opinion a great film by a director on top of his game.I first saw the shortened version on TV years ago, and thought it was brilliant. Now with this fully restored version, its even better. What I had forgotten was the wry sense of humour which pervades this film, especially in the first half, up until the 'bank raid', when after that the seriousness of its subject matter takes over. However what takes you through this film is the two main characters and the interplay between them, plus Juan (Rod Stiger's character),becoming the reluctant hero of the revolution.Its a more subtle fim, than the 'man with no name' trilogy, and marks Sergio Leonie's shift to a more complicated narrative and it demands more from the viewer, but I would argue is all the better for it. He repeats this interplay of main charcters in Once upon a time in the West, and finally Once upon a Time in America, which his is 'Masterwerk'.All I can say, is at the price I paid for it, the quality of its reproduction, plus the extras, never mind how good the film is itself, makes this DVD a bargain.If your a Leonie fan its a must for your collection, if you curious, buy it anyway, you'll not be dissapointed, and if you like it, I suspect like me, will end up watching it on rainy days, when you have a few hours to spare and want to lose yourself in a great movie.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST ANOTHER ICONIC FILM BY SERGIO LEONE AND I AM VERY PLEASED TO HAVE ALL THE FILMS HEDIRECTED IN MY COLLECTION. A GREAT MOVIE AND, OF COURSE, THAT WONDERFUL MUSIC BY ENNIO MORRICONE.ARRIVED EARLIER THAN EXPECTED AND IN VERY GOOD CONDITION. WILL CERTAINLY USE THIS SELLER AGAIN. THANKS!

Every new edition of this classic gets better, another great Italian film.There is more depth to this story than the title(s) indicate, pay attention to the restored flashback sequences. Other than being a Sergio leone film, it has no real connection with his 'Dollars' trilogy, and is actually an ingenious, and troubling, look at the morality and motives of revolution and civil war, in the guise of an adventure.

Liked film a lot nice to see it in 4k buy it Great action........