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There’s a “masterpiece” western streaming on Amazon Prime – and subscribers have insisted it “deserves a rewatch”. Set during the 1910s Mexican Revolution, it follows outlaw Juan Miranda and Irish soldier John Mallory, who meet under tense circumstances and later become heroes of the revolution.
Part of an unofficial trilogy, the film is considered one of director Sergio Leone’s “most overlooked” works. Starring Rod Steiger, James Coburn and Romolo Valli, the film is Duck, You Sucker!, unofficial sequel to Once Upon a Time in the West and prequel to Once Upon a Time in America.
The movie was originally released in 1971 and has since been rediscovered by critics and fans alike.
Slant’s Keith Uhlich said of the trilogy: “Duck, You Sucker is the real jewel of the set, the missing connective tissue between Leone’s great Once Upon a Time in the West and Once Upon a Time in America.
“Taken as a whole, this second trilogy charts the coming of industrialisation, the fall of the American West, and the rise and fall of the American gangster, though it is always—first and foremost—one man’s intoxicating fever dream of a society in flux.”
One Reddit user praised the film: “It’s actually my favourite Leone probably because of the ending. I’m a sucker for a doomed hero. I first saw it as a teenager with my dad and was completely wrecked by the ending.”
Someone else said: “It’s one of my favourite Leone films, probably something to do with the age I saw it. I love Rod Steiger in anything but in this he’s excellent.”
“Extremely underrated. I don’t understand why this one is never talked about given that it’s Sergio Leone’s final western. I believe it to be just as phenomenal as his other works […] There are some pretty deep messages and unsettling scenes that serve to critique the concept of war and how noble ideas can ultimately lead to nothing,” another reviewer echoed.
