A Fistful Of Dollars

For our Remakes & Hot Takes series, we're showcasing remakes and adaptations we love. Some are revered, some are controversial, all are worth another look. See what else we have in store for you here. Drawing inspiration from Akira Kurosawa’s classic samurai film YOJIMBO, Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone crafted a low-budget Western in 1964 that would go on to spawn one of the greatest cinematic trilogies of all time. Capturing lightning in a bottle, Leone hired an affordable TV star named Clint Eastwood to play a stoic gunfighter who wanders into a small town torn apart by a war between two rival families. With Eastwood’s magnetic screen presence, Leone’s impeccable eye, and a legendary score from Ennio Morricone, the resulting film was a major success, both artistically and financially, and served as a harbinger of bigger things to come from its talented team.