Once Upon a Time in the West

Rating:
Summary: awesome
Review: I can't believe it. At this price and this kind of dvd picture and audio quality, it's a steal. Buy 2 or 3 and give them away! Maybe now I can rest in peace without caring that this movie didn't make it into the Film Institute's top 100 movies or that Roger Ebert slammed it. It's mine, all mine!

Rating:
Summary: One of the best ever!
Review: After waiting for this movie to come out on DVD, I was beyond impressed with the 2 disc offering. Leone is a master of the art and I pick up more and more with each viewing!

The narration by film historians, directors, and members of the cast add so much to the film, so be sure to watch it once with the commentary turned on!!

Buy this video...you'll love it!!

Rating:
Summary: A cinematic masterpiece.
Review: A must see. Charles Bronson, Henry Fonda, Jason Robards, and Claudia Cardinalle. Currently voted as the number 2 western (of all time) on the international movie data base's website, and it is number 40 of any movie in any genre with an average score of 8.3/10. The first 10 minutes of the movie sells it all, so rather than me give away the plot, buy it, watch it, enjoy it for years to come.

Directed by Sergio Leone and composed by Ennio Morricone, it couldn't fail. It has everything one would expect from a Leone film, from the tight close-ups to the wide panaramic shots.

The DVD itself has been well done, the video restoration is second to none, with only a very minor amount of edge enhancing. A bonus is the film was restored much to it's original length, adding in many minutes cut out of the US version. The widescreen format is amazing. The audio is very clear for what they had to work from, and the fact that they have 2-discs with bonus materials shows how much they cared. Some interesting commentary, and nice features on the second disc. This is one of my favorite DVDs.

Rating:
Summary: The West revealed
Review: This is an excellent movie! The best of all "spaghetti" western. I've never thought of Henry Fonda as attractive but in this film there is a basic animal attractiveness about him. The scenery is as much of a tangible character as the actors, all of whom are exceptional in this film. The way that the shadowy figure is introduced and reappears with growing clarity increases ones need to understand... and then once you do there are no words. Last but not least, the musical score is awe inspiring, playful, and emotional. I can only say see this film, and then see it again. This film is truly a classic.

Rating:
Summary: Hidden Feature
Review: There's a neat easter egg, a modernized trailer of the movie that runs for just over a minute.

Sourced from DVDReview.com: "Insert the second disc of the set in your DVD Player and on the Main Menu of the DVD highlight the menu entry 'Documentaries.' Now press the 'Left' arrow key on your remote control and the title 'Once Upon A Time In The West' will be highlighted. If you press the 'Enter' key now, you will be treated to a very cool - and brand-new - looking trailer for the movie."

Rating:
Summary: Finally
Review: After years of waiting the DVD release of this movie was long overdue. However, it must be said that the visual and sound qualities on the DVD are WELL beyond anything I have ever seen on video tape (either 1/2" VCR or broadcast). Paramount Home Video is to be commended.

The film has an eerily new feel as if it were shot this year. The formerly magnificent scenes are even more breathtaking (through my progressive scan DVD and 64" screen). And the sound remixed for Dolby Digital 5.1 finally establishes the voices and the essential accompanying music in the right place.

This is a stunning effort of restoration and fortunately the effort was lavished on a movie that was worth every bit of it!

Rating:
Summary: here comes the MASTERPIECE - don't miss it
Review: Finally, my package arrived yesterday, and I hardly waited to get back home to watch it. First, the overall image quality, as expected, was excellent...this has become so normal in the digital film world that anything lower than this would be considered awful...so, the image was very good...My real comments were on the extras..here they go:

1) Did anyone get the reason why they separated the main documentary into three parts? I thought that these were three separate films, which separate people had made, and Paramount merged them into one on this dvd.

2) The opening part of the first documentary was excellent...I mean when they separated the screen into four and gave few seconds for each character to speak, and then all gets into the opening theme.

3) Although I truly enjoyed every bit of the three documentaries, I was expecting some more content, such as:

- why not some other significant people like Ennio Morricone, Nino Baragli, Sergio Donati, Mickey Knox, Dario Argento, Claudio Mancini and some other actors, who I know still survive and active in the cinema world, never appeared?
- the time allocated to people like Alex Cox was much more than the necessary duration. Some other people, who were more directly involved with this film, or some other significant critics could have contributed in some of the time allocated for Cox, Carpenter and Milius.
- When I first got the news that Paramount was working on this dvd, I hoped that they would discover some of the never-before-seen materials, like some tv spots, some behind the scene footage, or some real newspaper clips. For example, I remember seeing a short part at a documentary about Henry Fonda, where his then wife shot some 8mm film at the set of the film. There you can see Leone thinking about a scene, and crew working on a setup. That film could have been found from Fonda family. I am sure, OUTIW should have made more impact on tvs or newspapers.
- why did they shoot Gabriel Ferzetti and Cox from way above? I mean, there are times when Cox and Ferzetti speak for minutes and the camera continues to stay still at the ceiling of the room. Do these guys have any defects on their faces?
- why didn't anyone mention about the death of Al Mullock while they were getting ready for the last day of the shooting?
- why didn't the producers of these documentaries think of borrowing more of Leone's own words from other documentaries? There is only one short part taken from the 1984 BBC documentary, but I know for sure, he spoke much more on this film at least two Italian-made documantries, and I am sure these could have been obtained.

the rest of the extras were fine, especially the pictures showing Almeria now and then. Thanks to Don, Marla and Mike. My overall impression was that although the effort should definitely be appreciated, the final delivery still have way to go to whet the voracious appetites of incurable fans like myself. May be, the producers, who may not be deep fans like us, thought this could be more than enough, but I was expecting more from the extras of such a masterpiece. I still think the money I paid is worth the delivery, but could have been much more, and I could have waited another year for these missing pieces.

Rating:
Summary: fantastic movie, a masterpiece
Review: can you imagine this movie could have been so cool almost half century ago? can you imagine that after so many years later, this kinda coolness is just being picked up by other wannabe directors and costume designers? you think x man, matrix are cool, wait to see this movie's natural touch of coolness instead of those pretentious ones. charles bronson was never so cool and so sublime aloft as in this movie. leone simply grasped all the players' best qualities whatever they were endowed and pushed them to their top forms.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best westerns of all time
Review: Once Upon a Time in the West is a classic epic western that can be watched repeatedly and still the viewer finds something new everytime. The movie tells the story of the railroad as it moves farther west. A widow, Jill McBain, owns much of the land where the train will go through, but she is being pursued by a ruthless railroad official and his sadistic gunman to give up the land. At the same time, a mysterious gunman shows up seeking revenge, but we don't know why until the very end. This classic spaghetti western blends familiar storylines from past westerns but gives it a new spin. Director Sergio Leone uses his usual extreme close-ups and wide shots perfectly throughout. The opening sequence with three gunmen, Woody Strode, Jack Elam, and Al Mulock, waiting for Bronson to arrive is classic cinema. For almost ten minutes there is no dialogue, but there is so much there with the natural sounds of the scene. This is a great movie, not just a great western, that gets better with every viewing.

Claudia Cardinale gets top billng as the widow Jill McBain, a rarity in spaghetti westerns. Besides being incredibly beautiful with her big brown eyes, Cardinale can act and is very good here. Henry Fonda gives one of his most startling performances as the sadistic gunman, Frank, who is trying to drive Jill off her land. His introduction is one of the most surprising scenes in movie history. Charles Bronson gives one of his best performances as Harmonica, the gunman seeking revenge for unknown reasons. Jason Robards is equally good as the outlaw, Cheyenne, who joins up with Harmonica to save Jill. The movie also stars Gabrielle Ferzetti, Frank Wolff, Keenan Wynn, Lionel Stander, Woody Strode, Jack Elam, and Al Mulock. The two disc DVD is truly great. It offers a cleaned up widescreen presentation, theatrical trailer, three documentaries about the making of the movie, a featurette about the railroad, a then and now gallery of movie locations, and a still gallery of on production photos. MGM did a great job in releasing this fantastic DVD. Once Upon a Time in the West is a great movie that fully deserves this great DVD release. If you haven't seen it, I fully recommend buying it. Check out Once Upon a Time in the West!

Rating:
Summary: STUNNING NEW TRANSFER OF A VISUAL MASTERPIECE!
Review: "One Upon A Time In The West" is Sergio Leone's epic spaghetti western that pits Charles Bronson - playing sort of the good guy - against evil incarnate, Henry Fonda - as the psychotic Frank. The murder of Claudia Cardinale's entire family at the beginning sets off this power keg of action, coupled with stunning cinematography and a methodical pacing, that only a director like Sergio Leone carry off without coming off as slow or contrived. This is the spaghetti western sublime.
TRANSFER: INCREDIBLE!!! Paramount Home Video gives us a gorgeous looking DVD. The anamorphic transfer is stunning! Colors are sumptuously rendered with the entire landscape a viceral sea of rich golds, burnt browns, deep blacks and wonderful sky blues. Contrast and black levels are bang on. There is no shimmering of fine details, pixelization or aliasing for a thoroughly smooth looking mastering effort. An extremely subtle hint of edge enhancement crops up now and then, but it is so incredibly minute that to even mention its presence seems grossly unfair. The audio is equally impressive. The 5.1 remastering effort brings forth a robust sound in all 5 channels, with a strong base and incredibly integrated sound field. Yes, dialogue is slightly forward sounding but hey, are you really going to complain about that? I wouldn't. Especially since the audio has been restored with zero hiss and the utmost clarity throughout.
EXTRAS: Here too, Paramount impresses. Three documentaries cover the film's development and release from all angles. There's also an audio commentary, the theatrical trailer and some other quickie stuff to maul over.
BOTTOM LINE: This is an absolute must for anyone who loves westerns, movies in general, or has forgotten why it is that North Americans have embraced the medium as their ever-lasting and totally unique art form. YES, can't say it enough, YES! YES! YES! YES!