Tarantino has never hidden this one and the film quotes it openly:
- Morricone is used directly on the soundtrack, not imitated
- The extreme close-up on eyes before a killing, held far past comfort
- A standoff staged in a cemetery, which is where Leone's ends
- Chapter headings and a revenge list, so the plot is a structure rather than a mystery
What Tarantino changes is the genre underneath: Leone's grammar applied to a Japanese sword film, which is itself where Leone got A Fistful of Dollars from.