Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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59 of 62 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Leone's Greatest Achievement "Frank sent us", 11 Sep 2003
In Sergio Leone's epic Western, shot partly in Monument Valley, a revenge story becomes an epic contemplation of the Western past. To get his hands on prime railroad land in Sweetwater, crippled railroad baron Morton (Gabriele Ferzetti) hires killers, led by blue-eyed sadist Frank (Henry Fonda), who wipe out property owner Brett McBain (Frank Wolff) and his family. McBain's newly arrived bride, Jill (Claudia Cardinale), however, inherits it instead. Both outlaw Cheyenne (Jason Robards) and lethally mysterious Harmonica (Charles Bronson) take it upon themselves to look after Jill and thwart Frank's plans to seize her land. As alliances and betrayals mutate, it soon becomes clear that Harmonica wants to get Frank for another reason -- it has "something to do with death." As in his "Dollars" trilogy, Leone transforms the standard Western plot through the visual impact of widescreen landscapes and the figures who populate them, as Harmonica appears out of nowhere and Frank chillingly commands the center of the frame. The opening credit sequence of three Western toughs (including Woody Strode and Jack Elam) preparing to kill someone at a train station wittily yet artfully plays off Leone's fixation with faces and locales and the epic effect of his meticulous narrative pace. The sense of suspended time speaks to the concerns with past, future, and history that drive the plot; Jill oversees the literal tracks of "Progress," while Frank is undone by the past he shares with memory-driven Harmonica. Fonda's presence and the Monument Valley location further point to the Western movie past of John Ford, as Leone "quotes" Ford's signature buttes and exposes the dark reverse of Fonda's staunch Wyatt Earp in My Darling Clementine (1946). After the success of the "Dollars" films, Paramount gave Leone the money and freedom to make his monumental saga as he wished; when Once Upon a Time bombed, Paramount chopped 25 minutes to speed the pace, but to no financial avail. Those 25 minutes, and the film's critical stature, have since been restored, but Leone's directorial career never quite recovered. At its full length, Once Upon a Time in the West is Leone's operatic masterwork, worthy of its legend-making title.Needless to say, this dvd is a must have. After this the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy seems trivial and insubstantial. This my friends is true cinema, art for arts sake, not just money making. This film has to be seen to be appreciated. Sheer Class. Convinced?
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26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A masterpiece!, 24 Oct 2003
Director Sergio Leone's sprawling epic amounts to an elegiac vision of a crumbling "Wild West" beset with greed and self interest. Acting highlights include Charles Bronson's best every performance as a brooding avenging angel, Jason Robards world weary convict and even Claudia Cardinale is good as the feisty widow. Whilst Henry Fonda casting as a baddie was necessary for a powerful act of murderous cruelty early on, he is not this always convincing in this against type role. Ultimately I just didn't buy him as a baddie!!! The cinematography is stunning, the direction is skillful, sets have been constructed with an almost faultless attention to detail and Ennio Morricone's soundscape is arguably the best of all time. The film has its flaws though - most notably the story itself which could have been more crisp. I also found the relationship between the Henry Fonda and the Jason Robards characters confusing. This film,however,is more than just a story! For me the best highlight comes early when the charisma of the actors mesh with the skill of the director in a stunning landscape to create tension that you can almost touch. This scene also includes the longest credit sequence of all time. The DVD extras are fine too - include a brief history of Sergio Leone from his biographer, interviews with most of the leading cast and also Leone himself. Whilst you don't have to be a lover of westerns to enjoy this it is a recommended purchase for the lover of great films.
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32 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Once upon a Time in the West, 28 Aug 2003
By A Customer
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...
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