Rating: 
Summary: The best western ever made.
Review: This is Leone's best film. And the best western ever made. Excellent script, cast and direction. Impossible to find flaws no matter how hard you try. Brilliant marriage of directorial craftsmanship and music. A magical fit. The myth of the wild west, human character, evil, ideals and heroism all bundled up in one package. Leone is calm and more wise now. His previous westerns, good as they may have been, were all too often ego trips with the action intended to impress. This is a relaxed violent film, a slow exhilarating adventure. I would also include it among the best epics ever made.
Rating:
Summary: Simply the best film ever made
Review: It is not possible to find a film better than this one. It's got it all. I have seen this film about 20 times, and every time I end up crying at the end.Everything is perfect, from the casting (Henry Fonda is magnificent),the setting,the story line, and the music. This film is truly bigger then life!
Rating:
Summary: PURE POETRY!
Review: To be honest, words cannot describe the power this film has on anyone who has eyes to see. Hmmmm. this picture has single handidly changed my life. i saw the director's cut while working at a video store and i could not belive what i had experienced. Now, i am out in Claifornia going to film school so i can one day be able to understand what exactly was going on Leone's head when he made this. Without a doubt, this is the greatest film ever made on the face of the earth. Please be advised to get the letterboxed version. other than that, enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Masterpiece ain't the word
Review: I love westerns, but to say this film is absolutely, fully 100%, by far, the for sure greatest western ever made in the history of cinema, would be to demean it. The brilliance of this film transgresses the genre: it is perhaps the best narrative film ever.Of course, this is subjective, but I know you'll all agree. This is one of only a very small handful of films that I can watch over and over again, and still be slapped upside the head the same powerful way each viewing. The characters, although understandably archetypical, are beautifully complex, insightfully cast, and quite brilliantly interwoven. Just think of Cheyenne, the honourable bandit, the compassionate criminal. Holistically speaking, this is one of those very rare cinematic moments where all the elements of a film come together in a magically subtle way that is beyond words. I give it 8 out of 5 possible stars!
Rating:
Summary: Stupendous,colossal,amazing...did I leave anything out?
Review: One of the greatest film achievements ever, in any genre, Once Upon a Time in the West was a financial washout in its initial release, but is firmly established as a classic by now. (Ted Turner should be thanked for exposing millions to this and other Leones through endless reruns, albeit -usually-in butchered pan-and-scan versions.) No director has made such a sophisticated examination of weighty themes like time, memory, and distance seems so artless and immediate. Pulp Proust? Maybe, but this mingling of memory and regret set against a timeless setting towards which progress steams along newly laid rails makes artsy flashback films like Hiroshima mon amour look pretty elementary by comparison. Only John Ford at his best comes close. Other reviews note the great editing, music, etc. Let me just note how great the performances are. Some of this is just a consequence of Leone's uncanny sense of framing and timing - how long and close to linger on a face. But, there are also, simply, flat-out great performances. Jason Robards, as virtually the only non monomaniacal person in the movie, grounds the whole film through his sly, lived-in persona. Henry Fonda's Frank is not only scary, he's scarily sympathetic: his unexpectedly tender "love scene" with Claudia Cardinale makes one's skin crawl with mixed emotions, a more controlled version of another creepy Frank, I'd say, that played by Dennis Hopper in Blue Velvet. Buy, borrow, or steal this movie. But, Amazon (are you listening) you might consider listing what version of the film you are marketing - since this is the greatest widescreen movie ever made, a note about whether your's is letterbox or not is in order!
Rating:
Summary: The Best "American" Spaghetti Western I ever seen.
Review: I have driven through the Monument Valley several times in my life, and Sergio Leone could not have picked a better place to film this version of The Good, Bad, and The Ugly here in American rather than do it in Italy. It is such a beautiful place. I last traveled through it in 1987. Clint Eastwood filmed part of the Eiger Sanction in this location. I saw Fort Apache yesterday with John Wayne and Henry Fonda. Simply put: Bronson plays the Good, Fonda plays the Bad, and Robards plays the Ugly, although he really plays the part of the good, just like Bronson. Claudia Cardinale did a marvelous job by being what she was: A very strong woman looking after her husband's legacy. This is truly my favorite movie for those very reasons. It took me several times to understand the movie, and with close-caption (I am hard of hearing), I can understand it better. I even watched it four times this week. A fifteen-star rating. If I ever go to Hawaii again, I will take this tape with me and watch it where nobody will bother me.
Rating:
Summary: My most favorite movie of all - a must see....3-4-5- times
Review: I rate this movie 5 stars only because that's as high as I can rate it. The hauntingly beautiful music, the superb casting, the entwined story lines. Everything about this movie makes you want to see it again and again. Henry Fonda in his best performance of his life. Jason Robards does a masterful job in his role, and Bronson, the quiet mystery man was great. Possibly the best movie ever...certainly in the top 5.
Rating:
Summary: Something to do with death
Review: "Surprised to see me here." "I knew you'd come." "...Morton once told me I could never be like him. Now I understand why. Wouldn't have bothered him knowing you were around somewhere alive." "So you found out your not a businessman after all." "Just a man." "An ancient race....Other mortals will be along. And they'll kill it off." "Future don't matter to us. Nothing matters now. Not the land, not the money, not the woman. I came here to see you. 'Cause I know that now you'll tell me what you're after." "Only at the point of dyin'." "...I know." -- A work of genius. Only Kurasawa can match this. And no one can match Ennio Morricone.
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Summary: the best westerns were made by an italian!
Review: I don't want to get too long winded in reviewing this great, great film. Sergio Leone is often criticized for being too vulgar a filmmaker, but for all his smoking guns and crude banditos he is one of the only directors with any PATIENCE at all! What other mainstream director could get away with so little dialogue as this movie contains. Leone definitely payed more attention to white sound than most, and Morricone practically deserves director credits in that he scored the music before Leone even shot the first frame. Make no mistake Leone was a progresive, stylistic filmmaker and his work is still worthy of study. But even though Leone is so highly praised for his inventive action sequences and in your face photography, I am still most impressed with his unique attention to beauty, which is most evident in this film. In any case, the final standoff between Bronson and Fonda is the best standoff in movie-western history. Claudia Cardinale is incredibly sexy in this film. Henry Fonda's blue eyes are the only blue objects in the whole film, and, man, he is such an awesome bad guy here!
Rating:
Summary: If you can see only 1 western in your lifetime, THIS IS IT!
Review: Read every review on this movie, then multiply by 1000. Be sure you get the director's cut, not the cheap and grossly inferior shorter TV version. This movie is the ultimate screen experience for ANY movie fan. Words cannot begin to describe the thrill of watching this epic masterpiece. Everything in this epic film is wonderful; acting, music, scenery, direction, photography, sets. To properly watch this film: 1)Hang a quarantine sign on your front door, 2)Unplug your phone, 3)Turn off all pagers and cell phones, 4)Start the popcorn in the microwave, 5) Prepare your favorite beverage, 6) Pee, 7) Press PLAY, 8) Enjoy.
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