Quentin Tarantino, 2007. ©Weinstein Company LLC/Courtesy Everett Collection
Over the years, Quentin Tarantino has expressed an appreciation for a variety of cinematic trilogies. In fact, he’s such a fan of the original Toy Story trilogy that he refuses to watch the fourth film. He thinks it’s pretty perfect as it stands. So, why mess with perfection?
With that said, Toy Story isn’t actually his pick for the most effective trilogy of all time. Believe it or not, the Pulp Fiction director hangs that distinction on a loosely connected trifecta of Clint Eastwood pictures directed by the great Sergio Leone.
If you haven’t already guessed, I’m talking about the Dollars trilogy. Tarantino revealed that he holds those three pictures in exceptionally high regard during an appearance on Club Random with Bill Maher.
Tarantino passionately explains to Maher, “I think there’s only one trilogy that completely and utterly works to the nth degree and that’s A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.” After Maher briefly interjects, Tarantino goes on to say, “It’s one director’s vision, Sergio Leone, through all movies, but the thing about it is it does what no other trilogy has ever been quite able to do. The first movie is terrific, but the second movie is so great and takes the whole idea, For a Few Dollars More, is so great and takes the whole idea to such a bigger canvas that it obliterates the first one. And then the third one, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, does the same thing to the second one, and that’s kind of what never happens.”
I agree that there are very few perfect trilogies, and even fewer that improve with each subsequent installment. Perhaps the reason the Dollars trilogy is able to do so stems from the fact that the second and third films aren’t proper sequels. They are merely similarly themed films that share a lead actor and a director. The narrative isn’t carried over from film to film. What carries over is the core structure of a nameless anti-hero on a relentless quest to get paid. That allows for a little more creative freedom than a conventional trilogy.
If Tarantino’s appreciation for the Dollars trilogy has you curious to see what all the fuss is about, you can presently find all three chapters streaming on MGM+.
That’s all we’ve got for you, for the time being. Stay tuned to Dread Central in the near future for more hot takes from your favorite filmmakers in the genre space.
Categorized: News
