Once Upon a Time in the West

Starring:Henry Fonda, Claudia Cardinale, Jason Robards, Charles Bronson, Gabriele Ferzetti, Paolo Stoppa, Woody Strode, Jack Elam, Keenan Wynn, Frank Wolff, Lionel Stander, Michael Harvey (III), MarilÃ¹ Carteny, Stefano Imparato, Giovanni Ivan Scratuglia, Claudio Mancini, Dino Zamboni, John Frederick (II), Frank BraÃ±a, Antonio Molino Rojo
Director: Sergio Leone
Studio: Paramount
Product Type: DVD

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The so-called spaghetti Western achieved its apotheosis in Sergio Leone's magnificently mythic (and utterly outlandish) Once upon a Time in the West. After a series of international hits starring Clint Eastwood (from A Fistful of Dollars to The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly), Leone outdid himself with this spectacular, larger-than-life, horse-operatic epic about how the West was won. (And make no mistake: this is the wide, wide West, folks--so the widescreen/letterboxed version is strongly recommended.) The unholy trinity of Italian cinema--Leone, Bernardo Bertolucci, and Dario Argento--concocted the story about a woman (Claudia Cardinale) hanging onto her land in hopes that the transcontinental railroad would reach her before a steely-eyed, black-hearted killer (Fonda) does. (The film's advertising slogan was: "There were three men in her life. One to take her ... one to love her ... and one to kill her.") Meanwhile, Leone shoots his stars' faces as if they were expansive Western landscapes, and their towering bodies as if they were looming rock formations in John Ford's Monument Valley. --Jim Emerson

Customer Reviews:

My all-time favorite western!.......2007-06-20

I never really cared for westerns until I saw this movie. I became hooked on spaghetti westerns, and in my opinion, this is the best of them all! The storyline is certainly different, and the ending is somewhat of a surprise. The main characters really stand out: Charles Bronson, Jason Robards, Claudia Cardinale, and Henry Fonda. The music is haunting, and that was what really hooked me.

The Best Spagetti Western To Date.......2007-06-12

Once Upon a Time in the West From start to finish,is by far the best spagetti western ever made to date. It Stars Henry Fonda as a ruthless outlaw. Along with a pose' he murders and destroys his way through every town he and his gang enters.He shows his victims no mercy, not a drop of sympathy is in his bones. He'll make your blood run cold. Henry Fonda is at his acting best! You have never seen him like this! He encounters a mysterious traveler who plays a mysterious melody on a Harmonica. The traveler seems to be looking for him. Why? Here's where the real edge of your seat action really happens. Finally time to reveal what everything means. Right down to the mysterious song played on the harmonica by the traveler througout most of the movie.
Since this film was made other westerns that followed, used Itlalian director Sergi Leone's touch, i.e. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly etc.)

BEST of the spaghetti Westerns.......2007-06-08

Sergio Leone made his indelible mark with the three Clint Eastwood films, but this is his best work, even though Clint is absent. Not to worry. "Once Upon A Time" features a wonderful all-star cast. Avoiding the overdone goodguys vs bad guys cliche, Leone casts perpetual goodguy Henry Fonda as one of the sleaziest amoral villains you'll ever see. And Fonda doesn't disappoint in the role. The so-called goodguys are actually not so good, but they're played brilliantly by Jason Robards and Charles Bronson. Claudia Cardinale is striking as the libertine. Even the opening scene focuses on Jack Elam and Woody Strode - two of the best character actors to appear in any Western.

The plot meanders through a number of twists and subplots, requiring the viewer to follow all of the action between gunfights. Leone challenges the conventional concepts of loyalty, friendship, and alliances. Highly recommended.

Formidable, operatic western.......2007-05-30

"Once Upon a Time in the West" is director Sergio Leone's formidable and unique vision of the old west as grand opera. In Leone's work, as in opera, subtlety is replaced by exaggeration, i.e., the villians in his creation are all over-the-top, almost cartoonishly evil while the ingenue/heroine is both pretty and boring to the extreme. The movie's musical score, as in opera, is as important or even more important than dialogue in conveying the story. In fact, words are rarely uttered in this western tale.

I'm not always comfortable with Leone's antagonists and protagonists because the audience never really gets to know or understand them. They are presented more as abstractions of good and evil than they are as fully developed, three-dimensional human beings.

And Ennio Morricone's idiosyncratic score, while elaborate and memorable, sometimes seemed too languid or pretty to suit the violent action in a western. But perhaps Morricone was aiming for irony.

Overall, "Once Upon a Time in the West" is an unusual and gorgeous- looking western very much worth a glance or two.

Poetic and Truly Original.......2007-03-30

"Once Upon a Time in the West" is one of the best films in the Western genre and also the most fun to watch due to its look and style. The movie is directed by Sergio Leone. I'm familiar with Leone's work, but have never seen any of his films. "Once Upon a Time in the West" bares the unmistakable signature of a genius though and I look forward to watching many more Leone films in the future. The film has one of the greatest opening scenes I've ever seen; lasting 13 minutes, the film opens at a train station where three men anxiously await the arrival of the train. They're waiting for someone. After Leone slowly builds the tension (and I don't know about a director that could do it better), the train arrives and a man (Charles Bronson) gets off of it, playing a harmonica. He's supposed to be meeting with a man named Frank, but we learn that Frank is attending to some other business. Soon, the three men there to meet the man are dead; And because of Frank (Henry Fonda, in one of his strongest performances), a family of 4 is dead. Then the young lady set to marry the father of the family, who is actually already married to him, arrives and is shocked to find everyone dead. The police think they know who did it already and are quick to point the finger at Cheyenne (Jason Robards), after all...He left his "signature" there. I don't want to say much more about the plot (and there is much more; The film is 2 hours and 45 minutes)...When you look at all the westerns in the history of cinema (mind you, I haven't seen another Leone film) and say which one you think is "the most well-made," this film has to pop up.
It's not the most entertaining western film (there are long stretches with no dialogue), but it is certainly one of the most suspenseful, colorful (not just in the literal sense), and most compelling of the genre. The performances, especially those of Fonda, Robards, and Bronson are superb. It's also clear while watching the movie how influential it has been on other filmmakers. You can even see more than echoes of this film in "Kill Bill Vo.2." Explaining just how unique a film like this is in writing is difficult, but I recommend that any true fan of cinema see this movie. Any true fan of western movies has probably already seen this movie, but I mean a true LOVER of cinema needs to see this. It's one of the few western movies I can think of off the top of my head that can deservedly be labeled a masterpiece.

GRADE: B+

Average customer rating:

Once Upon a Time in the West [Region 2]
Starring: Henry Fonda , Claudia Cardinale , Jason Robards , Charles Bronson , and Gabriele Ferzetti
Director: Sergio Leone
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

( O ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B0000A5BSZ

Average customer rating:

General | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

( O ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B00006LIGM

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