I like this movie. The story seemed a little cliche'd at times, but the action scenes were fun to watch. It's hard to find movies nowadays where a guy can walk into a room and blow everyone to bits with two handguns (recent ones that comes to mind are The Matrix and Equilibrium). But still, an entertaining movie. Anyone know of any others like this besides some obvious ones (Rambo and such).
sharethis movie is basically the same as a few other movies that came before it, in that there is some drifter that comes through town and plays two gangs against one another.
Yojimbo (1961) is the one that started it all in the movies, and is probably the best of them all. It's a samurai movie taking place in the late 19th century during the downfall of the samurai. It's actually not based on cowboy movies like the person above me said (though Kurosawa was heavily influenced by them), it's based on a book called Red Harvest about a detective playing two gangs against one another.
A Fistfull of Dollars (1964) is the film that made Clint Eastwood famous as the so-called man with no name. It's the same basic premise set somewhere along the mexican border, with Eastwood playing two powerful families against one another.
Miller's Crossing (1990) is quite similar but not the exact copy that Fistfull was of Yojimbo. It's similar such that there is a man playing two gangs against one another to come out alive with the girl at the end, but in thise case he's known to the people in the gangs which makes for some interesting added drama. It's set in the city during prohibition, similar to Last Man Standing but differing on the locale. Written and directed by the Coen brothers.
I love samurai movies, clint eastwood, and the coen brothers, but there is a definite order in which I like these films, and that is Yojimbo, Miller's Crossing, A Fistfull of Dollars, and Last Man Standing. The theme is great and all the movies are enjoyable, but Yojimbo and Miller's Crossing are simply at a higher level than the other two.
It also reminds me a bit of A History of Violence. Both films inform us that the world is a brutal place in which weak men are annihilated by strong ones. Both feature dialogue that is intentionally flat and cliched. I don't like either film but you might give Cronenberg's film a try, unless you've seen it already.
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