[Excerpt from my 2019 Blu-ray Review of For a Few Dollars More]
“Alive or dead, it’s your choice.”
“There is one reason this movie sticks for me so clearly. It's not just the great cast. It's not just great action pacing. It's not just the impeccable direction from Sergio Leone. It's that damn pocket watch/music box plot device! It sets up two critical shootouts, with incredible Ennio Morricone scoring. It starts out with the languid chimes and then all of a sudden the simple tune shifts to a full orchestra complete with pipe organ! It's this mesh of tension-filled storytelling, perfect editing, and singular music orchestration that is just perfect.
This is to say nothing of the traditionally great cast. Eastwood returns as his steely-eyed gunslinger. It's a funny little piece of history that this film legally speaking isn't a sequel! When Leone set out to make the film he left out one of his old producers on A Fistful of Dollars. When that man sued for his share of the profits, a judge sided with Leone who maintained Monco and Joe were, in fact, two different characters - who just so happened to look exactly alike with the same set of clothes. Just a fun piece of random movie trivia.
Coupled with Eastwood is Lee Van Cleef as the revenge-driven Col. Mortimer. Lee Van Cleef was already a memorable performer in iconic westerns such as High Noon and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance along with a bunch of B-movies from Roger Corman's movie machine. For a Few Dollars More is where he got to break out of B-movie jail and being a day-player on random television shows and be a true headlining star. On the surface, Mortimer is a cold-hearted dedicated killer with an assortment of gadgets to bring his markers in, but when the time comes, Lee conveys a deep introspective as his story is tragically aligned with Indio.
When you take a step back and look at Leone's trilogy, most often folks point to the obvious The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly as the best film of the pack. I can't disagree there. It's easily the best-funded, most ambitious, and the best executed of the three. But with that, I do have to admit that For a Few Dollars More is my absolute favorite of the three. I'm willing to concede a nostalgia factor of those first memories of watching this movie with my Dad and him pushing up the volume every time a pocket watch came out. But at the same time, I love its simplicity. It's not a complicated plot at all, but it's executed so effectively that it goes beyond something basic and easy to become a true grandiose classic of the genre.”
Vital Disc Stats: The 4K UltraHD Blu-ray
Kino Lorber Studio Classics completes the trilogy with For A Few Dollars More in a two-disc 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray set. The 4K version is pressed on a BD-100 disc with the 1080p disc coming in on a BD-50 disc. Both discs are housed in a standard sturdy black case with an identical o-card slipcover. No reversible artwork this time around. The discs load to static image main menus with basic navigation structure. The included 1080p disc is not the same one released in 2019 - it has been reauthored without the DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo mix.
KLSC continues its winning streak for 4K releases with another gorgeous example of what the format has to offer - even without HDR. Now, the 2019 disc of For A Few Dollars More was damned impressive removing that dreaded yellow/brown color timing for a cleaner more accurate looking picture than we’ve ever had. Three years later and it looks as though KLSC has gone back and done a few more subtle refinements in the video department. These aren’t dramatic differences and at first I didn’t notice, but spending more time with this new 2160p SDR transfer I started to see these little improvements in whites, black levels and some colors.
With Sergio Leone’s love for people with interesting faces, 4K proves to be a terrific format for this film. The extra detail refinements comes through most clearly when someone’s staring you right in the eyes. Every hair, skin pores, speck of dirt is all right there for you to examine. You can fully appreciate the costume work and the intricate production design. This is a very sweaty movie and you practically bathe in that aroma. Film grian is apparent but natural without appearing overly noisy - between this release and the 4K of A Fistful of Dollars that’s been one nice outcome of a 2160p presentation even without HDR. As I mentioned previously whites are crisp and brilliant without blooming and black levels are rich avoiding most of the serious crush issues that hit past releases.
On the scale of things this is a very good transfer. It might not be the dramatic leap we saw with The Good The Bad and The Ugly or A Fistful of Dollars - but that’s because the 2019 Blu-ray of this film was so damn good. This is just more icing on an already pretty delicious cake.
On the included Blu-ray disc front, it doesn't look like this transfer has been altered if at all. I tried pulling some comparison shots and in all honesty, couldn't detect the slightest bit of difference between them. When I can I will add new 4K-sourced images and hopefully a video sample very soon.
This round of For A Few Dollars More keeps the audio package tight and neat with the same very good DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix but now we have a new DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono mix that easily wins the day. Gone from this package is the DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo track of the past release and in all honesty, it’s not really missed. I liked that track on the previous release but I don’t need it now. The new 2.0 mono track is terrific. It’s clean and clear with crisp dialog that doesn’t come in so hot and heavy as the old Dolby Digital track. It also sounds a lot less tinny and stilted giving the mix more range to roam. Levels are also in much better shape as well. Depending on how you roll you really can’t go wrong. There might not be a ton of surround activity for that 5.1 mix but when it kicks it's pretty great. The traditionalists out there will be glad to have the 2.0 mono track - it’s now my preferred way to experience this great flick!
And just like A Fistful of Dollars - this release of For A Few Dollars More comes packed with essentially 99.99% of the exact same bonus features of the previous KLSC Blu-ray. The only thing that’s missing here is the trailers for The Mercenary and Navajo Joe - so nothing really “missing”.
4K Disc
Audio Commentary featuring Film Historian Tim Lucas
Audio Commentary featuring Film Historian Sir Christopher Frayling
1080p Disc
Audio Commentary featuring Film Historian Tim Lucas
Audio Commentary featuring Film Historian Sir Christopher Frayling
On Location In Almeria and Granada (HD 14:01) hosted by Filmmaker Alex Cox
The Christopher Frayling Archives (HD 19:03)
A New Standard: Frayling on For a Few Dollars More (HD 20:15)
Back For More: Clint Eastwood Remembers For a Few Dollars More (HD 7:09)
Tre Voci: For a Few Dollars More (HD 11:06)
The Original American Release Version (SD 5:19)
Location Comparisons (SD 12:17)
Restoration Italian Style - 2004 (SD 4:55)
Trailers From Hell with Ernest Dickerson (HD 2:52)
Posters & Lobby Cards (HD18:35)
On the Set (HD 6:39)
Color Stills (HD 6:02)
For A Few Pictures More (HD 7:35)
12 Radio Spots (7:35)
Double Bill Trailer (SD 2:04)
Trailer 1 (HD 2:30)
Trailer 2 (SD 2:29)
A Fistful of Dollars Trailer (HD 2:32)
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly Trailer (SD 3:22)
A Fistful of Dynamite (Duck You Sucker) Trailer (SD 3:35)
Death Rides A Horse Trailer (HD 1:34)
And with that - KLSC wraps up their 4K releases of The Man With No Name with the middle chapter For A Few Dollars More. After decades of watching this film, I never ever tire of it. I still hold it as the best of the three films but that’s a slim margin to catalog for a trio of genre classics from a master storyteller in peak form starring the new legendary Clint Eastwood. Kino Lorber Studio Classics delivers another terrific release bringing a bold and beautiful SDR 2160p transfer to disc. While the leap in overall improvements may be subtle, it’s still an incredible looking disc complete with a restored mono track and the same set of excellent bonus features. Once again - Highly Recommended.
