I could do without some deleted scenes.

[The Firecracker]

I dont know about all of you but I think it was a good thing that Villega's torture sequence was left out. Think about it, the scene where John finds out who ratted everybody out excels because it was a total surprise when you saw that it was villega who told on everybody. If the torture sequence was left in the film, the surprise would be over.

Do you agree or disagree?


One deleted scene I would like to have put into the film is the scene after John blows Juan's stolen stagcoach up and Juan forces John through the desert with no water. That would have been nice to see. To my knowledge this scene has never been apart of the film ever, not even at the Roman premiere.

[Tim]

  Maybe cause it's too similar to the scene in GBU with Blondie and Tuco.  If Leone was trying to make new movies that were different from the Dollars trilogy, it mighta been necessary to cut that scene.

  Either way, I've never seen the full version of FOD, just the cut version available on vhs.  Just another reason to see this one get a region 1 dvd release.

[Banjo]

I can't get enough of these deleted scenes Firecracker-it prolongs the brilliance.The extended SE GBU has done the unthinkable-made the best film ever made BETTER!

[The Firecracker]

I can't get enough of these deleted scenes Firecracker-it prolongs the brilliance.The extended SE GBU has done the unthinkable-made the best film ever made BETTER!

i agree.

But that torture scene was better left out. It just takes away from one of the best scenes(if not the best)  in the film. The scene where Villega is discovered as the traitor.
"That night in the rain"

[dave jenkins]

Yeah, but you could still have had the reveal of Villega as the traitor, and saved the torture scene for a flashback. I would have liked this, actually, because we would have had both the shock of the discovery and later a scene that would have re-established our sympathy for the doctor. Of course, Leone pretty much did that with the scene between Villega and Mallory on the train at the end, so the torture scene wasn't absolutely necessary. But torture is an important element of the betrayal theme, and I think an audience better appreciates the issue when they've had their faces shoved in it.

[The Firecracker]

Yeah, but you could still have had the reveal of Villega as the traitor, and saved the torture scene for a flashback. I would have liked this, actually, because we would have had both the shock of the discovery and later a scene that would have re-established our sympathy for the doctor. Of course, Leone pretty much did that with the scene between Villega and Mallory on the train at the end, so the torture scene wasn't absolutely necessary. But torture is an important element of the betrayal theme, and I think an audience better appreciates the issue when they've had their faces shoved in it.

well I dont know. We already have Mallory's excellent flashbacks to contend with. Having another flashback to a completly different character would be over kill.

[Banjo]

Why not do what Monty Python did with the Meaning Of Life dvd,they had the directors cut with newly inserted scenes under the special features.

[The Firecracker]

Why not do what Monty Python did with the Meaning Of Life dvd,they had the directors cut with newly inserted scenes under the special features.

that sounds like a better idea.
Or at least put the deleted scenes in the special features section rather than having a "directors cut".

[Poggle]

See if you could find the deleted scene in this:

[The Firecracker]

See if you could find the deleted scene in this:

The one with James Coburn on the floor face down.

this would go well in the "trivia" section actually.

[Tim]

  I like those lobby cards Poggle, where'd you find them?  I've been looking a lot recently at moviegoods.com for all kinds of posters/lobby cards from older movies.

  They've got some great stuff although I don't think I'd be willing to plop down the money for most of it.  Still, its a good site, if a little slow sometimes, if you're looking for movie memoribilia.

[The clint]

These scenes will never be part of the film, simply because they don't exist anymore, and where never seen in the film anyway. It's long enough as it is in its 157 minute version.

[The Firecracker]

It makes sense that they should have kept the "forced desert walking" scene because it would give John more motive to want to kill Juan in the "blowing up of the church" scene.
The scene alone is very strange in the picture, why would he want to kill Juan and his sons just because they are following him? It just paints John in a bad light. And without the desert scene it will remain to paint John in a bad light.

[The Firecracker]

These scenes will never be part of the film, simply because they don't exist anymore, and where never seen in the film anyway. It's long enough as it is in its 157 minute version.

we are just debating if they were to be put back in(with the exclusion of villega'a torture sequence). I see no harm in that. There is really no reason to bring us back down to reality, it is a debate forum after all.

"Once Upon A time in America" is much longer than this film do you think that movie is "long enough" or just "too long"?

[The clint]

Quote from The Firecracker (sorry I don't know how this quote system works around here): "It just paints John in a bad light. And without the desert scene it will remain to paint John in a bad light."

Not as bad as the scene where he strangles the chicken on the train, though. Now that is one scene that ought to be cut.

Regarding your question, I think A Fistful of Dynamite is almost too long. It is mostly uneven though, mostly due to obvious hasty re-editing (Just look at the scene when Juan jumps off the train into the arms of the revolutionaries, the frame flips and we've probably missed about 2 minutes of footage for no apparent reason (unless Leone just forgot to shoot it and discovered it in the editing room, which I think is unlikely)). The final flashback scene was fine on the Laserdisc but it is just too drawn out in its extended version.

Did the Roman premiere include the final flashback in the first place?