The Man with No Name trilogy is famous for popularizing spaghetti western films, but some aspects of the films have aged poorly.

The Man with No Name trilogy is a set of westerns directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood as a bounty hunter who’s name is never given (though he is given a nickname in each film). 

Each film is very loosely connected, the only constant being the main character, the reusing of several actors in different roles, the same director, and all having excellent music by Ennio Morricone.

All three films are also very long, with most of the time being taken up by establishing shots or shots of people standing preparing to shoot each other. Depending on the person, it can either suck them into the world or it can make a person yelling at the director to get on with it.

The first film in the trilogy is A Fistful of Dollars (1964). 

The plot of the film is rather very simple: The Man with no Name (nicknamed Joe in the film) wanders into a town on the border of the U.S. and Mexico, and notices two rival families, the Rojos and the Baxters. He doesn’t particularly like either, so he decides to play the two families against each other in order to make money from both sides, only for things to get out of hand.

The film itself is a remake of the Japanese samurai film Yojimbo. This turned out to be a bit of a problem, because they didn’t get permission from the original film’s director, Akira Kurosawa. That led him to sue the new film’s makers for breach of copyright, which he won, earning him 15 percent of the worldwide gross.

The film itself feels a lot like a rough draft, or a first attempt. Like, it’s on the right track and it’s clearly well made, but it’s missing something.

For instance they try to make romance between Joe and a woman named Marisol (Marriane Koch), who’s married against her will to one of the Rojo brothers, Ramon Rojo (Gian Maria Volonte). But the romance isn’t well set up, as all it is, is some prolonged glances between the two. And it ends up being pointless anyway, because near the end she just rides off during the night to escape the Rojos, never to be seen or heard of again.

The acting is well done. Clint Eastwood does a great job being intimidating, cool, and always on top of things, even when being beaten up. 

But, there’s a caveat when it comes to the acting. The production of the film was an Italian/Spanish/West German co-production, meaning it was shot silently, with the actors just talking in their native tongues. Then their lines would be dubbed over by different actors depending on the language. In some scenes the dubbing is very well done and one can barely notice. But sometimes the dubbing is so bad it starts to reach old Godzilla movies bad.

The action, while sporting less blood than one would get from a paper cut, let alone a gunshot, is still well choreographed enough to look cool, and shot well enough to know what is happening. 

The ending gunfight in particular is very well done and leaves the film on a very strong note.

The best thing about the film are the main villains, the Rojo Brothers. Each brother is their own flavor of evil. 

The oldest, Don Benito Rojo (Antonio Prieto) is the figurehead of the gang and the most charismatic of the three. The middle child, Ramon Rojo, is the most skilled of three when it comes to gunfighting, and is also the most savage of the three. If he wants something, he takes it; he doesn’t like something, he breaks it. The third and youngest of the three, Esteban Rojo (Sieghardt Rupp), is the wild child, the most prone to violence out of the three.

The first film in the trilogy, while a little rough in some areas, is still a good watch if one is a fan of westerns.

A year later, a sequel rode into town: For a Few Dollars More (1965). 

After the events of the last film, The Man with No Name (going by Monco is this film) is after an infamous bandit named El Indio “The Indian” (played by a returning Gian Maria Volonte). However, while tracking him down he runs into another bounty hunter, Col. Douglas Mortimer (Lee Van Cleef), who’s also after the outlaw, for his own reasons. The two of them, realizing how big El Indio’s posse is, decide to team up in order to bring in the bounty.

The film is better than the original, but it still feels like it’s missing something. 

The inclusion of Mortimer as another bounty hunter was a good idea as it allowed The Man with No Name to work well off another person and show a bit more emotion.

Lee Van Cleef does a great job as Mortimer. Like Clint Eastwood, he has that coolness of the character, but in a different way. Eastwood’s character has that scrappy, home on the range charm, then Mortimer has the prim proper charm, without being stuck up. 

The acting is good all around, but the film still runs into the problem of improper lip synching, but it’s not as bad as the first film.

The villain is sadly not as good as the previous films. He’s just a generic outlaw who really likes his rifle and pocket watch for some reason.

The action is still well done, tense, and competently shot.

The last film in the trilogy is The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (1966) and is hands down the best in the trilogy.

The film takes place before the events of either previous film making it a prequel. It’s the Civil War and three men are after a treasure buried in a cemetery by a Confederate soldier named Bill Carson. 

The Man with No Name (or Blondie, as he’s called in this film),  is The Good, a professional gunslinger who’s simply trying to make his way in the wild west and get paid while doing so. Angel Eyes (played by a returning Lee Van Cleef), is The Bad, a professional assassin who always makes sure the job gets done, provided that he’s paid for his work. And Tuco (Eli Wallach), The Ugly, a notorious outlaw wanted for numerous crimes who only looks out for himself. 

Blondie and Tuco are forced to work together when both of them stumble across information the other needs. Together they’ll have to cross large swaths of land while being chased by Angel Eyes and while there’s a war going on.

As mentioned before, both previous films, while good, felt like they were missing something. This film found what the previous two lacked, Tuco. The character of Tuco adds quite a bit of comedy due to his crazy actions, his personality, and the places he finds himself. 

Throughout the entire film, Tuco is getting himself into trouble (mostly because of his actions), but somehow through wit, quick thinking, and blind luck he somehow always gets away, mostly unscathed. 

Lee Van Cleef was good in the previous film, but here, he knocks it out of the park. He does a great job being a villain who’s intimidating, always in control, and phased by nothing. Although, one criticism is that for large chunks of the movie, he’s nowhere to be seen, to the point where they could have renamed the movie, The Good, (Occasionally) The Bad, and The Ugly.

Clint Eastwood, as always kills it as The Man with No Name, still being the epitome of cool, even during some more emotional scenes.

Thankfully the lip synching has vastly improved. Aside from one minor character who’s only in a couple of scenes, it’s barely noticeable.

The score by Ennio Morricone is the best of the trilogy, either adding to the old west atmosphere or tension whenever there’s a shoot out.

The Man with No Name trilogy is one one rare set of movies where each film is better than the previous.