Final scene - thoughts!

[Cal]

Don't get me wrong, I love this film. However, this is a fairly new board and I need to start some discusions  

So.....

Did anyone feel the final scene may have been a bit over the top and unrealistic? I think Clint was taking a huge chance confronting 'Johnny Wels' with just a plate of metal over his chest. I mean, c'mon, one hit to the head and that's all she wrote, no? In all the other films, including this one, Clint takes on 3, 4, and even 5 men at once single handedly with hi pistol. Why not confront him armed and simply take him out? Just seems a bit risky the way it was played out if you ask me. But truly enjoyable none-the-less.

[Cusser]

Seemed unrealistic to me - what if Ramon got pissed and decided to shoot him in the head - there were other ways to get within shooting range.  I did like the appearance after the smoke cleared.

[mondo]

You have a valid point regarding a safer approach and shots to the head.  However, it was clearly established earlier in the movie that Ramone always aimed for the heart... and never misses.  I think the purpose of the plate was to taunt Ramone....my 2 cents

[Sabbath]

I think Leone went for a kind of mythic surrealism, like Kurosawa, where the anti hero does something outrageously risky to psyche out the villain. He knows that Ramon will go for the heart shot, not the head. Ramon has to prove a point. Leone is never realistic if you think about it. No way he could shoot several men at once with a pistol, the way he gets the guys around Ramon at the end.

[KC]

Not only is it clearly established that Ramón will always shoot for the heart ... and is arrogant enough to assume he can't miss, and will therefore be spooked if his "victim" keeps getting up and keeps trudging closer ... but "Joe" needs a device that will enable him to get within pistol range of Ramón, AFTER Ramón has emptied his rifle.
 That's my take, at least.

[Concorde]

One very important detail y'all are overlooking is that, earlier in the story, Ramon repeatedly shot up an old suit of armor (in full view of Joe's observant eyes), thus demonstrating exactly how/where he'd place his rifle slugs.

Ramon also must have got the double shock of his life when Joe finally revealed the sheet of makeshift armor concealed under the poncho. Ramon's first shock was realizing how he'd been duped...and second was realizing that, this time, somehow an enemy warrior's armor had actually withstood his bullets.

[caius]

what was the armour made out of? he found it in an old mine, but i can't think of any metal that he would be able to carry that could also with stand bullet fire.

[cigar joe]

iron from the side of a mine ore car.

[caius]

Why don't all people in westerns always wear iron??  Less would die, brining budgets down dramatically.

[Concorde]

Because bullet-proof vests like that are very heavy...and wearing a sixgun and cartridge belt already puts enough extra weight on a body.

[nighteagle]

Hi,
the shield was made of soft iron cut from a water tank in
the cave. Yes it can resist easily 44-40 slugs from a Winchester. In fact, these bullets fragment on impact or blossom out, without leaving even a dent on iron surfaces.
The problem is another one: in real life the splinters from a blossoming lead bullet would penetrate under the chin of the person carrying such a device, heavily injuring him.
But we are talking here of a movie that uses the same mythical elements of narration as old Greek sagas (Ulysses, Achylless etc.) : remember Leone is Italian and not protestant anglosaxon! His movies carry his cultural and
mythological roots, and nothing else....  Nighteagle

[Il Tramonto]

I don't mind that it isn't very realistic, seeing how this is a Spaghetti Western and many liberties are taken in order to provide maximum entertainment. But I was let down the first time I saw Fistful of Dollars because there was no type of shoot-out like in FAFDM or GBU with the rising of the Morricone music as the 2 leads face off eachother. But I have grown to love all of Fistful, including the magnificent ending and I have no complaints.