Disc Reviews
For A Few Dollars More 4K Review
The second (and arguably the best – That’s right!) of Sergio Leone’s Dollar’s trilogy gets another 4K mount courtesy this time of Arrow Video. If you look at previous versions of this release on DVD and Blu-ray, you will see that there has been an impressive focus on the film’s restoration and supplemental material. This is no different. It’s all here, the transfer is as good as you want it to be, and there are even a few added extras making it the most impressive version of the film yet.
This classic western film concerns the lives of two bounty hunters. Eastwood and Van Cleef make for a fun pairing, each with very different agendas. Eastwood is eyeing the prize in the amount of dollar bills, whereas Cleef’s character has his eyes set on a much more valuable prize for himself: revenge. Of course, they two lock horns early on as they threaten to get in each other’s way, and there are some fun men measuring off against each other before they finally decide to team up. Once the two finally get their act together, they set off in pursuit of a recently escaped killer and his gang – each head has a bounty on them, making for a decent haul should the two of them pull off infiltrating the gang and eventually taking them down. By the end, you can rest assured that this alliance between the two will come done to a final confrontation involving them both and head villain Inigo. And what a finale it is.
The film has dazzling visuals, landscapes, close-ups, very interesting supporting actors, and extras who all have faces that pop off the scream (Leone really knew how to get interesting looking faces, and not forgettable pretty faces). The score from Ennio Morricone is also one of his best.
The Dollars trilogy has been released multiple times on all most formats. With DVD we certainly saw the inclusion of some of the archival bonus material still available here. Sir Christopher Frayling in particular has given so much to these films in terms of keeping them alive in the public consciousness and providing a lot of support with the restorations, documentary work and of course his own commentary track.
Arrow favourite, Tim Lucas has also delivered a more recent commentary effort. There is also quite a selection of new interviews from crew members and historians to make anyone who already owns the film want to buy it again.
Please also be aware that Arrow has already released the previous film in the Dollars trilogy, A Fistful of Dollars ,a couple of weeks before this release, and in a few weeks time you can expect from the finale of the trilogy The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Everyone has their personal favourite of the three, but we recommend you at least watch or rewatch this middle chapter as it’s worth just may be more than you anticipate/remember.
Anyone familiar with the Kino Lorber 4K version will see that all of the hefty extras that were on there are here (again, most of which were ported over from the MGM DVD). Arrow does provide several newly filmed interviews with critics, historians, biographers, but notably the film’s editor and the guitarist who worked with Ennio Morricone. That should mean something to anyone familiar with the music. In short this is the best package the film has thus far.
Steven Hurst
4K ULTRA-HD LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tony Stella
• Perfect bound collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Glenn Kenny, Priscilla Page, Ariel Schudson and Amy Taylor
• Double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tony Stella
DISC 1 – FEATURE (4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY)
• New 4K restoration from the original 2-perf Techniscope negative
• 4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
• Newly restored original lossless English mono audio
• Optional newly remixed lossless English DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Audio commentary by film historian and Leone biographer Sir Christopher Frayling
• Audio commentary by film historian and critic Tim Lucas
• Original Italian credits and intermission break (separate from main feature)
• Trailers, TV spots and radio spots
DISC 2 – EXTRAS (BLU-RAY)
• A Violent Tale of Vengeance, a newly filmed interview with film historian and critic Fabio Melelli
• No One Shoots at the Colonel, a newly filmed interview with filmmaker and Lee Van Cleef biographer Mike Malloy
• Crafting the West, a newly filmed interview with Giuditta Simi, daughter of set/costume designer Carlo Simi
• Cuts and Rhythm, a newly filmed interview with editor Eugenio Alabiso
• Western Strings, a newly filmed interview with guitarist Bruno Battisti D’Amario
• Timeless Voice, a newly filmed interview with singer Edda Dell’Orso
• For a Few Notes More, a newly filmed interview with Morricone biographer Alessandro de Rosa
• For Ennio’s Dollar Score, a new visual essay exploring the film’s iconic soundtrack by musician and disc collector Lovely Jon
• Career-spanning hour-long interview with Sergio Leone, never released in full before, filmed by Large Door Productions in 1983
• On Location in Almería and Granada, an archive featurette produced and presented by filmmaker Alex Cox
• The Frayling Archives and A New Standard, two archival interviews with Sir Christopher Frayling
• Back for More, an archival interview with Clint Eastwood
• Tre Voci, an archival featurette with Leone collaborators Mickey Knox, Sergio Donati and Alberto Grimaldi
• Restoration Italian Style, an archival featurette on the film’s remastering for DVD
• The Original American Release Version, an archival featurette
• Location Comparisons 1965–2004, an archival featurette
• Alternate credits sequences
• Four comprehensive image galleries
For A Few Dollars More 4K is out on 26th May 2025