Once Upon a Time in the West

Rating:
Summary: Claudia Cardinale Is A Piece Of Ass
Review: This film has the best soundtrack ever recorded. Also, Claudia Cardinale is a piece of ass. This film is beautifully photopgraphed. Also, Claudia Cardinale is a piece of ass. Henry Fonda plays the most evil villain in movie history. Oh, and by the way, Claudia Cardinale is a piece of ass.

Did I mention that Claudia Cardinale is a piece of ass?

Rating:
Summary: Once Upon A Time In The West
Review: I believe that this movie is the best western, if not the best movie ever made. It has all the classic themes, good versus evil, worker versus bosses, the love of money, the disdain for money, a gallant quest, honor,glory,heroism, self sacrifice. I saw this Movie the week it opened, twice a night for 7 nights, I am so happy to see it available on DVD.
I would urge all the fans of this film to spread the word, see this film, it has as much meaning today, as it did in 1969,
IOL.

Rating:
Summary: THE GREATIST WESTERN EVER MADE!
Review: The construction of the trans-continental railroad steaming forward at the tip of a bullit. I remember reading somewhere that Clint Eastwood wanted his film "Unforgiven" to include everything he liked about westerns. He must have used "Once Upon A Time" as a map (no offense to Clint as "Unforgiven" is my second favorite western.) Ironically, I think it was Eastwood who was to play the Bronson part, but for reasons i'm unaware of was unable to. This film has everything. Outstanding in every way, and Henry Fonda cast against type is the icing on the cake. Simply spectacular. If you don't realize this movie is a pure masterpiece before the final showdown, you will after. If you've never seen it do yourself a favor and watch! You won't regret it. I loved this movie the first time I saw it and each subsequent viewing brings new appreciation for the depth of its story and symbolism. Pure cinematic pleasure.

Rating:
Summary: A Masterpiece...!!!!!!
Review: Every once in a while you'll read a book or listen to a record or see a film that transcends superlatives.

Once Upon A Time In The West (OUATITW) is solidly entrenched in that very select grouping.

Sergio Leone's epic and sprawling tribute to the American West of the latter half of the 19th century is so magnificent that there are no words to do it justice.

I've always felt that this film is not only the greatest film of its genre (with The Good, The Bad and The Ugly running a close second), but it might very well be the very best film ever made of ANY genre. Period..!!

Sergio Leone has captured the grandeur of the American's west's landscape better than any other director before him, including the great John Ford. For anybody who has ever driven the highways of Utah or Arizona around Monument Valley, it's impossible to look at those vistas without seeing Leone's vision or hearing Ennio Morricone's indescribably beautiful and haunting soundtrack.

I don't think there has ever been a collaberation between a film maker and a composer that has generated the artisitc genius and magic that these two gentlemen have conjured up. Morricone's music has become an integral partner of Leone's magnificent movies - The Good, The Bad & The Ugly, Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More - that it would be impossible to separate them.

Leone has created a magnificent story about three men, a woman and the land.

Henry Fonda spent a lifetime creating memorable characters, however, his portrayal of Frank, the hired gun of a ruthless railroad baron is perhaps his most riviting role. The early scene of a father and his children being shot and killed by a group of duster-clad men is very very powerful. However, nothing prepared the viewer when the camera slowly panned around and there was Henry Fonda looking down at his next victim - a young boy - who has witnessed the massacre.

Charles Bronson as Harmonica is wonderful casting as well. I can't recall seeing Bronson in a performance later in his career that matched his performance.

And I would be remiss if I didn't mention Jason Robard's riviting performance as Cheyenne. Robards brings an incredible amount of depth to his performance of a wanted outlaw who is feared by everybody - but still recalls that his mother made a great cup of coffee - hot, strong and good..!! The scenes between Robards and Claudia Cardinale, the widow, are some of my favorites moments in the film.

It always struck me as ironic that it took an Italian director to creat a movie about the west that probably captured it better that any other director - before or after him.

I grew up watching American westerns and seeing characters that were always clean shaven, for example, with perfectly white teeth and walking around in well fitting, clean clothes and living in immaculate little homes.

Sergio Leone gave us a west where the men were always in need of a shave. Their clothes were tattered, at times, and didn't always fit perfectly. The buildings were ramshackle at times. And it was a violent time where life was oftentimes very cheap.

I've seen this movie dozens of time and it never fails to have an emotional impact on me.

It was this film that solidified my love of the American west and compelled me to move to the region from Toronto, Canada many years ago.

It was this film that enhanced my fascination and love of the history and culture of the American west of the 19th century.

This is an epic motion picture by a brilliant filmaker that deserves all of the accolades it has received over the years.

Thanks Sergio for this gem..!!

Rating:
Summary: Arguably the Best Western Ever
Review: Who could ask for more: An eerie hamonica playing, lightning fast shoot, enigmatic and Hawk-eyed Charles Bronson as the mysterious Westerner. Henry Fonda as the ruthless, evil, and conniving epitomy of the western bad guy. Jason Robards as the gang leader of the duster-clad Cheyenne gang. And Claudia Cardinale as the bodacious, luscious, temptress who came to the West to find a new life only to arrive and have her world turned upside down. All of the stars hover around Claudia, while the cripple "Mr. Choo-Choo" moves ever closer to completing the American transcontinental railroad. While the main theme is interwoven around these characters, there is more than meets the eye as Sergio weaves us through Western landscapes, scenery, seedy towns and Western myth to bring us a compelling and thoroughly watchable western epic. I found all of his spaghetti westerns fun to watch but this one really jumped out and hooked me. This is my pick for the best Western of all time (and just FYI - I rank Lonesome Dove as #2 but the book is MUCH better). Watch this move and enjoy it. I am sure it will get into your blood as well. ...//Bobb

Rating:
Summary: At last!
Review: I write this only for remark the work did by Ennio Morricone for the score in this movie, is nothing less than incredible! working with the screenplay before the shooting, he composed all the music, after that, Leone adapted the shooting and acting process to this unforgetable score for recreate this powerfull music!!! this movie is a piece of ART and an enormous achievement for all the people involved in it! I'm glad to see this movie coming in DVD!

Rating:
Summary: The Western of all Spaghetti Westerns
Review: You feel like you gotta hold your breath while panning the entire expanse of the landscape on this amazingly photographed motion picture. Every man's face is a canvas of brazenness. Every rock is a minor character. The words are scarce because the natural scenery says so much by being so austere and the characters rather act than talk.

Rating:
Summary: The wait for the greatest spaghetti western is finally over
Review: I have had this film on the notification list longer than any film (over 3 years) but it shows that there is a God in heaven and all my Amazon compadres are rejoycing as much as I. This is the greatest western if not the greatest movie ever made, especially the greatest film to not even been nominated for an Oscar....I have seen a Regions 2 release that belong my son's Air Force buddy while they were station in an undisclosed location just east of here, if you know what I mean and the print was excellent, it was in English but Italian subtitled. But November 18 will be Christmas in this household. This is the only film that I ever seen that I cannot find a flaw with and praise it more with each viewing. The first time I saw it I was 18 years old during my senior year in 1979, thought it was a routine but very good western until 18 minutes into the film when Sergio Leones camera swooped outside from the McBain house and halted on a tight shot on the youngest child and then Ennio Morricone's music kicked in with that electic guitar and orchestrial instrumentation and wordless choir and I knew then that there would never be a better film. Good and Evil, Sex and Violence, Love and Hate, God and Love is all in the contents of this masterpiece. My only complaint and this will be a selfish one is that I have seen the film and researched it so much that I would love to do the commentary on the commentary track....this will make the ultimate present for any loved one. I hope that his followup ONCE UPON A TIME...THE REVOLUTION AKA A FISTFUL OF DYNAMITE will be released shortly as well....GOD BLESS US EVERYONE

Rating:
Summary: The best western of all time!
Review: I haven't seen the DVD version yet, but in my opinion, this is the best western of all time! Henry Fonda said he really enjoyed playing the dark character he plays in this film. The characters that Charles Bronson and Jason Robards play are very special, and of course there is the incredible and beautiful Claudia Cardinale!

Henry Fonda ... Frank
Claudia Cardinale ... Jill McBain
Jason Robards ... Manuel 'Cheyenne' Gutierrez
Charles Bronson ... Harmonica

I am getting this as soon as it comes out on November 18, 2003.

Rating:
Summary: A Provisional Five -- But What an Opportunity!
Review: When I sit down and argue with friends of mine about the greatest western ever made, it's often Leone's *Once Upon a Time in the West* that becomes the sticking point. There are American classicists who argue for *Red River* or *The Searchers*, and those are two great films. But what Leone does (with a great script) is distill not just the western, but, in fact, the whole experience of Americans into essentials. Does it take someone who's "outside" the system to catch that? Maybe... Nick Ray did the same with *Johnny Guitar*, a quirky film that shares some themes with OUaTitW.

Its operatic construction is so perfectly Italian (and musically classical) that there are distant echoes of parody. But then, when you begin to assimilate the cast, from the cameos in the surpassingly brilliant pre-credit sequence into the unparallelled "bar" scene, into the railroad-building sequence, into the tense and contempt-full scenes with Henry Fonda and the RR boss, you realize that you're in the presence of an almost perfect distillation of what the western is all about. Others have done grand things: Ford, Hawks, Cimino, Ray, Eastwood, Altman. But Sergio Leone gets everything in there. I first ran into this in high school, when my high school teacher William Blackwell showed us snippets of OUTW in a film class, and it has haunted all of us in that class ever since.

Of the filmic competitors, only Mel Brooks (yes, I know) can compete -- and it's in a different version. I love this film, even while snickering at its occasional campiness. And think about the year of its creation (1968; a year later in the U.S.) ... the greatest year in the history of the 20th century. I have hoarded my VHS version, in pan-and-scan, until today, and the announcement that the DVD is coming out is just great news. May it be a great and reputable presentation -- in letterbox as it must be, and with opulent extras! We fans await nothing less. And will accept nothing short of that!