Between the spaghetti western epics Once Upon a Time in the West and Once Upon a Time in America, Sergio Leone made a film initially called Once Upon a Time...the Revolution—a title changed for reasons unclear to Duck, You Sucker (Leone claims he thought it was a common American phrase), and later, to A Fistful of Dynamite. Occurring in the aftermath of the Mexican revolution, the film pairs Rod Steiger's Juan, a Mexican bandit, with James Coburn's Sean, a fugitive IRA rebel and explosives expert. With more than a casual nod to the films of Sam Peckinpah, "the resultant mix of dreaminess, violence and politics is a bit unwieldy, but it sticks to your ribs." (NY Times) Terrible pan-and-scan broadcasts on television do no justice to the widescreen wonder of Leone's canvas, and an additional 20 minutes restored to the film make this a must-see in the theatre!
1972, color, 2 hours, Italy
