How good is DYS?

[Novecento]

Will somebody PM me and tell me what happens in the desert scene? I've seen the newly released version and I don't know what part your talking about.

Just in case no one PMed you: Watch the 2nd disc of the SE DVD where it's explained. The scene involves Juan and his men torturing Mallory (see the previous posts on this thread) but was cut out. Only photographic evidence has been found.

[geoman-1]

As much as it pains me to say it, I think I too prefer DYS to GBU.

In fact I would go so far as to say that the whole "Once Upon a Time" trilogy is superior to the "Dollars" trilogy. And they're both awesome trilogies!

Aren't we all lucky that in the end Sergio decided to direct this one himself!

Very hard to dispute, indeed. GBU and the OUAT films were near perfect. However, DYS took it to
a "whole nuva level".

[Colonel Günther Ruiz]

I LOVE DYS!  As an idealistic liberal turned cynical political outsider, I feel that Leone captured perfectly the uselessness of politics and ideals in a cruel, corrupt world.  Only friendship matters, and even that can betray you.

Many people say that the Dollars trilogy gets better as it goes on and that OUATITW is better than the Dollars trilogy.  I agree with all that but I strongly disagree with people who say that DYS is an "off-Leone."  To me DYS is as good or better OUATITW and the sense of a wasted lifetime and nostalgia for the past that gives OUATIA its magic is also strong in DYS.  The film is a masterpiece, period. 

[Novecento]

I re-watched this on Sunday night with my wife and mother-in-law. It went down really well. My plans to cultivate a taste for Sergio Leone in them is working very well indeed  . They both loved this one as they did OUATIW and GBU.

Unfortunately my wife did not appreciate OUATIA too much when she watched it a while back with me but I'll try it out on her again with her mom who is now very eager to see the final installment of the OUAT trilogy.

Still have to show them FOD and FFDM too.

[Colonel Günther Ruiz]

I re-watched this on Sunday night with my wife and mother-in-law. It went down really well. My plans to cultivate a taste for Sergio Leone in them is working very well indeed  . They both loved this one as they did OUATIW and GBU.

Unfortunately my wife did not appreciate OUATIA too much when she watched it a while back with me but I'll try it out on her again with her mom who is now very eager to see the final installment of the OUAT trilogy.

Still have to show them FOD and FFDM too.

I would say warn them about the Deborah rape scene.  My mother left the room during it.   

[Novecento]

Actually, Mallory had no desire to off his employer.
He set the dynamite to the church because he thought the German and his men were Juan and company.

The real question is why would John want to kill Juan and his extended family?
The answer lies in the desert sequence that was cut from the final product.

Yeh, it took me a while to figure out that it was Juan and company that Mallory was trying to kill. It certainly would have helped if that had been more explicit, with or without the desert sequence.

It certainly doesn't help that it is sometimes, even to my English native speaker ear, difficult to understand what Coburn is saying. I think he's a great actor and I would not have wanted anyone else to play the role but his Irish accent sounds quite off to my, albeit non Irish, ear. It reminds me of him in the Great Escape where he again acts brilliantly but apparently his accent is meant to be Australian!

[Novecento]

I would say warn them about the Deborah rape scene.  My mother left the room during it.  

Good point. I must say I find the scene particularly disturbing myself and tend to fast-forward it. Needless to say, my wife did not appreciate it.

[Colonel Günther Ruiz]

Good point. I must say I find the scene particularly disturbing myself and tend to fast-forward it. Needless to say, my wife did not appreciate it.

Mind you, the scene is supposed to be disturbing...and it is!  But yeah, the scene is still tough to get through.

[LINCOLNS GRANDFATHER]

I actually rewatched this again last night,  and figured out that the explosion at the end was just the dynamite that Mallory had in his duster and not the nitro.

I wondered this myself Joe. The smoke, lighting and eerie wind sound kinda made me think it was the nitro however and the explosion seemed big for dynamite, but also too small for that amount of nitro.
Im gonna stick with the nitro Joe.

[franksgrandson]

for many years DYS was my least watched Leone
but I visit once in a while and it grows on you
till it becomes almost as good as GBU AND WEST
I always get an overwheming feeling of sorrow with this
film
A whole waste of life seems to permiate through the film
violence stops being fun.
the whole film feels like how you feel after killing someone
and that is the mark of a great director.
Coburn and Steiger were fantastic.
But I always wonder about Wallach as Juan

[Just_a_man]

Actually, Mallory had no desire to off his employer.
He set the dynamite to the church because he thought the German and his men were Juan and company.

The real question is why would John want to kill Juan and his extended family?
The answer lies in the desert sequence that was cut from the final product.

I never saw that scene. Can you fill me in on what happened in it?

[uncknown]

I always get an overwheming feeling of sorrow with this
film

it is incredibly powerful despite the narrative flaws. The only SL film that is truly moving.
I once read a piece that said the theme of the film is "All dreams are doomed" and that sure fits.
AT the end of the film Sean is dead- his dream of a united and free Ireland - doomed to fail.
Juan has lost his family, best friend and his dream of going to America - to rob banks!= also doomed.

Morricone's music is most responsible for the emotional weight . A truly remarkable accomplishment for a composer

bruce marshall