A Fistful of Dollars (1964) / Yojimbo (1961)
Akira Kurosawa was at it again with his riffing off John Ford westerns (and film noir in general) with Yojimbo (1961), his tale of a mercenary samurai selling his services to two rivals before settling down to witness the inevitable destruction. So it’s probably a tad hypocritical to accuse Sergio Leone of lacking originality with his fairly faithful remake. And yes, while strictly speaking, A Fistful of Dollars is an Italian-German-Spanish spaghetti western, it does star Clint Eastwood and was released in the U.S. (indeed, it was a United Artists publicity campaign that referred to Eastwood’s character as the “Man with No Name.”) Throw in that score, along with violence that lingers long after the end credits have rolled, and you just have enough time to catch your breath to learn that the Man with No Name actually did have one in the original script. And it was as American as they come: Joe.
Top 10 Hollywood Remakes
- Let Me In (2010) / Let The Right One In (2008)
- Some Like It Hot (1959) / Fanfaren der Liebe (1952)
- 12 Monkeys (1996) / La Jetée (1962)
- The Magnificent Seven (1960) / The Seven Samurai (1954)
- Scent of a Woman (1992) / Profumo di Donna (1974)
- Solaris (2002) / Solyaris (1972)
- The Departed (2006) / Infernal Affairs (2002)
- A Fistful of Dollars (1964) / Yojimbo (1961)
- The Birdcage (1996) / La Cage aux Folles (1978)
- Funny Games (2007) / Funny Games (1997)
