An existential movie question: by director or by remake?

[barondave]

Just added four pictures to my Netflix queue, and wondered if Live Journal Assembled had any thoughts, since I haven't seen any of these movies in decades. I've been on a Kurowsawa kick for a while now, and a long time ago decided to order Yojimbo with Toshiro Mifune and its sequel Sanjuro at the same time. Somewhat on a lark, I also ordered the spaghetti Western remakes, A Fistful of Dollars and For A Few Dollars More, directed by Sergio Leone starring Clint Eastwood.

Now, the question is: In what order do I watch them. Current queue:
Yojimbo
Sanjuro
A Fist Full of Dollars
For A Few Dollars More

But I could easily see:
Yojimbo
A Fist Full of Dollars
Sanjuro
For A Few Dollars More

Comments?

Comments

[jbru.livejournal.com]

I'd go with the second order if I was watching them in fairly close succession, in order to see how the directors handled the story differently. (I'd also throw in Last Man Standing to the first succession, but I'm a glutton for punishment that way.)

[barondave.livejournal.com]

Hmmm... I've never seen Last Man Standing (the Bruce Willis movie?), but the description sounds about right. I dunno... maybe later. For the moment, I'm still waffling on the order. Depends what kind of commentary A Fist Full of Dollars has... might be fun to compare commentaries as much as it will be to compare movies.

[jbru.livejournal.com]

Yep, the Bruce Willis movie. It's a thinly veiled retelling of Yojimbo.

[jerrykaufman.livejournal.com]

And Battle Beyond the Stars (John Sayles wrote the script) is a thinly disguised retelling of The Magnificent Seven, with Robert Vaughn in roughly the same role. (and both are retellings of The Seven Samurai....)

[barondave.livejournal.com]

Indeed. There are Seven Samurai tropes in many movies, eg Three Amigos. One could immerse onseself in the reverberations of the Kurosawa movie.