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Amazon.co.uk Review
Sergio Leone had to be persuaded to return to the Western for Once Upon a Time in the West after the success of his "Dollars" trilogy. The result is a masterpiece that expands the vision of the earlier movies in every way. It could as easily have been called The Good, the Bad, the Ugly and the Blonde as Charles Bronson steps into the No-Name role as the harmonica-playing vengeance seeker, Henry Fonda trashes his Wyatt Earp image as a dead-faced, blue-eyed killer who has sold out to the rapacious railroad; Jason Robards provides humanitarian footnotes as a life-loving but doomed bandit and the astonishingly beautiful Claudia Cardinale shows that all these grown-up little boys are less fit to make a country than one determined widow-mother-whore-angel-everywoman. The opening sequence--Woody Strode, Al Mulock and Jack Elam waiting for a train and bothered by a fly and dripping water--is masterful bravura, homing in on tiny details for a fascinating but eventless length of time before Bronson arrives for the lightning-fast shoot-out. With striking widescreen compositions and epic running time, this picture truly wins points for length and width.
On the DVD: Once Upon a Time in the West on disc is the transfer fans have been waiting for: the longest available version of the film in shimmering widescreen (enhanced for 16:9 TVs) which lends full impact to Leone's long shots of Monument Valley scenery or bustling crowds of activity, but also highlights his ultra-close images as Bronson's beady eyes or Cardinale's luscious pout fill the entire screen. A commentary track is mostly by expert Sir Christopher Frayling, with input from other academics, participants and enthusiasts--it's good on the detail, and Alex Cox winningly points out that one scene bizarrely can't be reconciled with what happens before or after it.
Disc 2 has four featurettes which, taken together, add up to a feature-length documentary on the film, and though overlapping the commentary slightly offer a wealth of further good stuff, plus the elegant Cardinale's undiminished smile. Also included is the trailer, notes on the cast, menu screens with generous selections from Ennio Morricone's score, stills gallery, comparison shots from the film and contemporary snapshots of the locations. --Kim Newman
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
34 of 36 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
'Once Upon a Time in the West' is an opera. Its direction and music tell more than any script could. The film is a calculated, lyrical work of genius and my favourite film. From the off, Sergio Leone has surpassed his 'Dollars' trilogy and has produced a poignant farewell to the Western, before moving on to make 'Once Upon a Time in America'. Orignially made soleley to please the studio, Leone's masterpiece combines some big names on screen (Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson) and off screen (Bertolucci and Argento!) to create a stirring Western that's as ritualistic as a samurai film. Three characters are brought together because they each have a score to settle with stone-cold sadist Frank (Fonda). As the film continues (at a pace which Hollywood audiences would not accept), we begin to realise that Leone is counting down... to death. The characters don't expect to survive and are simply awaiting the inevitable. The pace of the first 10 minutes sets the standard and if you don't like those 10 minutes, switch off - in fact, stop reading now. This is more than a Western, it's a ceremony, played out to Ennio Morrocone's greatest score ever - the film was shot to fit the music! The words "best ever" can be applied to any of the following... 'duel' 'one-liners' 'scenery' 'direction' 'score' 'villian' and anything else that I've missed. Once Upon a Time in the West, there was a DVD collector's edition. This double disc set boasts some superb commentaries from various people (inc. John Carpenter!) and some interesting documentaries. Nevertheless, you buy a film FOR THE FILM! In this case, you pay £15 for the greatest western ever and two and a half hours of beautiful filmmaking.
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Blu-ray
Serigo Leone epic picture "Once upon a Time in the West", is presented in a new meticulously restored version for its Blu-ray release which looks and sounds stunning along with the restored version which is now a "Unrated" cut the disc also has the "Theatrical version" as well which is still rated PG-13, along with similar special features that the region 2 double DVD released in 1999 that version of the film running time was 159 minutes, this time the restored version has a running time of 166 minutes which is closer to the Italian version which had a running time of 175 minutes.
This disc is region-free,the signal type is MPEG4 in full 1080p resolution which shows the features beautiful range colours and the now the greater range of blacks, the actors sun-baked skin now look even more stubbly and sweaty, the sound which is now up-graded to 5.1 DTS Master Audio this jumps out of the speakers, the first gun fight at the railway station which has very little dialogue, is now even more impressive as the sound effects sound like they have been on steroids the gunfire now rattles across your living room, the dripping water and squeaking water wheel create the atmosphere as never before bringing the viewer even closer to the action.
This Blu-ray also has Dolby mono in English as well as dubbed French and Spanish; there are subs in English for the hard of hearing, subtitles in French, Spanish and Portuguese with commentary contributions from Directors John Carpenter, John Milius and Alex Cox and Film Historians Sir Christopher Frayling and Dr Sheldon Hall as well as cast and crew.
The Special features include "An Opera of Violence" "The Wages of Sin" "Something to do with Death" "Railroad: Revolutionising the West" "Locations now and then" Production gallery and the Theatrical trailer in HD.
If you love Westerns this for me is the yardstick to measure by along with the "Wild Bunch" from Sam Peckinpah from the year after, now give us Leone last Western "A Fistful of Dynamite" or "Duck you Sucker" to the same standard please...
This disc is region-free,the signal type is MPEG4 in full 1080p resolution which shows the features beautiful range colours and the now the greater range of blacks, the actors sun-baked skin now look even more stubbly and sweaty, the sound which is now up-graded to 5.1 DTS Master Audio this jumps out of the speakers, the first gun fight at the railway station which has very little dialogue, is now even more impressive as the sound effects sound like they have been on steroids the gunfire now rattles across your living room, the dripping water and squeaking water wheel create the atmosphere as never before bringing the viewer even closer to the action.
This Blu-ray also has Dolby mono in English as well as dubbed French and Spanish; there are subs in English for the hard of hearing, subtitles in French, Spanish and Portuguese with commentary contributions from Directors John Carpenter, John Milius and Alex Cox and Film Historians Sir Christopher Frayling and Dr Sheldon Hall as well as cast and crew.
The Special features include "An Opera of Violence" "The Wages of Sin" "Something to do with Death" "Railroad: Revolutionising the West" "Locations now and then" Production gallery and the Theatrical trailer in HD.
If you love Westerns this for me is the yardstick to measure by along with the "Wild Bunch" from Sam Peckinpah from the year after, now give us Leone last Western "A Fistful of Dynamite" or "Duck you Sucker" to the same standard please...
65 of 70 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
The best spaghetti western ever made, arguably the best western and one of the most glaring omissions from Channel 4's recent 100 best films.
From the wonderful crescendo of the opening scenes (the longest start to a movie without a word of dialogue?) to the eerie, bewitching harmonica strains of Charles Bronson, this is a piece of film-making you will remember for a long time.
Henry Fonda was famously cast against type - since Twelve Angry Men in '57 he had played numerous whiter-than-white roles - and the American cinema-going public were shocked at the cold and vicious Frank...
Jason Robards is great as the laconic, amused middleman, Charles Bronson dark and quiet doing what he does best, the impenetrable, mysterious, native-American stranger.
Anyway, what with Leone's lingering, photographic landscape shots, the fact that the score was played on set so that the actors and cameras could move with the music and the choreographed, dance-like gunfight scene at the end (Fonda, filmed from behind at foot level, taking off his black jacket, dropping it to his right and slowly stepping to his left - a movie moment!), this really is an all-time classic.
A film for Friday night, a few Mexican beers, darkened room and preferably a big wide-screen TV...
From the wonderful crescendo of the opening scenes (the longest start to a movie without a word of dialogue?) to the eerie, bewitching harmonica strains of Charles Bronson, this is a piece of film-making you will remember for a long time.
Henry Fonda was famously cast against type - since Twelve Angry Men in '57 he had played numerous whiter-than-white roles - and the American cinema-going public were shocked at the cold and vicious Frank...
Jason Robards is great as the laconic, amused middleman, Charles Bronson dark and quiet doing what he does best, the impenetrable, mysterious, native-American stranger.
Anyway, what with Leone's lingering, photographic landscape shots, the fact that the score was played on set so that the actors and cameras could move with the music and the choreographed, dance-like gunfight scene at the end (Fonda, filmed from behind at foot level, taking off his black jacket, dropping it to his right and slowly stepping to his left - a movie moment!), this really is an all-time classic.
A film for Friday night, a few Mexican beers, darkened room and preferably a big wide-screen TV...
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Leone's Operatic Masterpiece
Sergio Leone's epic 1968 masterpiece Once Upon A Time In The West is an outstanding piece of cinema, and, for me, ranks as probably the greatest (and most poetic) visual work ever... Read more
Published 9 days ago by Keith M
A perfect movie in every way
I understand why people rave over this epic masterpiece. When I saw it I quickly became fascinated with everything it showed me. Read more
Published 25 days ago by Alexander Johansson
Opera of Violence and Cool
Once Upon a Time in the West is the best film by Sergio Leone and one of the best westerns ever made. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Janis Livens
There were three men in her life. One to take her... one to love...
Sergio Leone's monumental epic 'Once Upon A Time In The West' ranks among the five or six all-time Western masterpieces. Read more
Published 1 month ago by S. F. husseiny
very poor
i was very disapointed in this the story is to long and drawn out i have much better westerns than this one
Published 1 month ago by roy
A comment about the Commentary
I sometimes read reviews where people say they love the film but then give it 1 star because they don't like the blu-ray conversion or because a certain scene has been cut etc. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mr. R Robertson
Haunting film, haunting sound track
For me, this epitomises everything that makes watching a film worth while. A cracking story, fantastic acting, an enigmatic hero, vicious baddy, feisty heroine, amazing sets,... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Four Violets
Trish
Bought this DVD secondhand and watched it this afternoon. Great western and Charles Bronson was brilliant in it.Can recommend it to anyone who enjoys westerns. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Trish
A masterpiece
Sergio Leone is famous for the atmosphere and tension he manages to create in his films and there is an abundance in this one. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Mr. G. Snowball
Leone Loveliness
Theres a few western classics that are a must have,and this is one.the blu ray looks stunning for a 43 year old film ive never seen it look so good. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Pablo Leone
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