While it's now hailed as a classic, the film initially received negative reviews from critics when released in the United States. Philip French of The Observer derided the film as laughable and went on to add that, "A Fistful of Dollars looks awful, has a flat dead soundtrack, and is totally devoid of human feeling." Likewise, Bosley Crowther of The New York Times called it a cliched, campy parody and lambasted Clint Eastwood's performance by stating, "He is a morbid, amusing, campy fraud". It some received a critical reevaluation along with the rest of the trilogy.

Film

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