Rating: 
Summary: Great movie!
Review: I recommend this movie. It is GREAT!
Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece
Review: Don't bother with the shorter, American version...The original Leone version is epic...the music is absolutely beautiful.
Rating:
Summary: AN UNSETTLING BUT WHAT A GREAT AMERICAN FILM!
Review: LAST NIGHT I BORROWED A WELL-WORN COPY OF SERGIO LEONE'S "ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA" FROM A FRIEND OF MINE. IT WAS A FILM THAT I HAVE WANTED TO SEE IN ITS ENTIRETY FOR MANY YEARS. I SAW IT ONCE ON TELEVISION IN A WELL-EDITED VERSION WHICH WAS EDITED DOWN INTO A BORING FILM THAT I NEVER REALLY WANTED TO SEE AGAIN. I POPPED THE VHS FILM INTO MY PLAYER AND SAW ONE OF THE GREAT FILMS OF THE SOUND ERA. THE ACTORS---JAMES WOODS: THIS IS PROBABLY THE FIRST TIME THAT I SAW HIM ACT FULL-OUT AND REALLY FEEL THE EMOTION THAT HE IS CONVEYING TO THE FILM AUDIENCE. ELIZABETH MCGOVERN: I HAVE NEVER REALLY LIKED HER TO THIS POINT, BUT THIS FILM CHANGES MY OPINION OF HER. SHE IS A GOOD ACTRESS. I WILL HAVE TO LOOK UP WHAT OTHER FILMS SHE HAS DONE AND WHETHER I HAVE SEEN THEM. I AM GOING TO GIVE HER FILMS ANOTHER TRY. ROBERT DENIRO: I WATCHED HIM CHANGE FROM THE GREAT ACTOR THAT HE IS AND BECOME MOULDED INTO THE STORY'S GREAT
CHARACTER THAT YOU CAN RELATE TO AS YOU WATCH THE MOTION PICTURE. THIS FILM HAS THE ATMOSPHERE OF THE '20S, '30S, AND '60S. THESE SEEDY SETTINGS ADD GREATLY TO THE FILM. THIS IS ONE FILM THAT YOU DO NOT KNOW THE OUTCOME OF UNTIL THE FILM IS OVER. IT IS UNSETTLING TO SEE HOW THE CHARACTERS USE EACH OTHER FOR SEXUAL FAVORS. THE MEN TAKE THEIR FRUSTRATIONS AND ANGER OUT ON THE WOMEN IN THEIR LIVES FROM ADOLESCENCE TO ADULTHOOD. THE SEXUALITY STARTS AS DISCOVERING AND ENDS AS HURTING THE ONES THEY THINK THEY LOVE. I WAS EXPECTING ANOTHER VERSION OF THE GODFATHER FILM BUT I RECEIVED A REVELATION WHEN I PUT THIS FILM INTO THE PLAYER. WOW! WOW! WOW! A GREAT AMERICAN FILM THAT SHOULD NOT BE SHELVED. REMEMBER THIS FILM AFTER YOU SEE IT! YOU WILL NOT LOOK AT OTHER "SO-CALLED GREAT FILMS" THE SAME, AGAIN. TODAY'S "GREAT FILMS" ARE NOT GREAT---THEY PALE IN COMPARISON TO THIS GREAT, GREAT FILM, "ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA! LONG FILMS ARE MADE TODAY AND THEY SAY NOTHING---JUST A LOT OF FILM BEING USED TO TELL A STORY THAT IN THE END NO ONE REALLY CARES ABOUT A HALF HOUR AFTER THE FILM IS OVER AND YOU HAVE JUST WALKED OUT OF THE FILM THEATER. THIS FILM HAS NO SPECIAL EFFECTS LIKE THOSE OF 2003: YOU WATCH STORY AND REACT TO THE CHARACTERS, INSTEAD OF WAITING FOR THE NEXT SET-UP SPECIAL EFFECT SCENE TO BE REVEALED TO YOU, OVER AND OVER AGAIN. AND, FINALLY, YOU THINK, "WHAT A WASTE OF [amount]WE SHOULD NOT FORGET THE FILMS OF THE PAST: THEY ARE GOOD, MANY ARE GREAT! TWO GREAT STORYTELLING FILMS OF RECENT TIMES ARE "L.A. CONFIDENTIAL" AND "THE USUAL SUSPECTS": BY THE END OF THE FILMS YOU ARE SAYING TO YOURSELF, "WOW! NOW THAT'S A FILM!" WATCH THIS FILM: RENT IT AND YOU WILL WANT TO BUY IT FOR YOUR PERMANENT COLLECTION. OR BUY IT AND YOU WILL HAVE IT TO SEE OVER AND OVER AGAIN. YOU WILL COME TO THE SAME CONCLUSION AS IT DID LAST NIGHT---A GREAT FILM WITH A FANTASTIC CAST AND WHAT A STORY! SERGIO LEONE HAS MADE NOT ONLY THE GREAT AMERICAN WESTERN BUT ALSO THE GREAT AMERICAN GANGSTER FILM, TOO! I WOULD RECOMMEND "ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA" TO EVERYONE!
Rating:
Summary: One of the very best!!!...
Review: I have seen this movie many, many times, and like all movies that are seen more than once, you find something new in each viewing.In my opinion, this is one of the finest modern day movies made. I am not usually a Sergio Leone fan due to his lengthly excesses in little things like the telephone ringing, or the Bell ringing in "Once Upon A Time In The West" and his less than stunning cinematography and sound quality. Having said all that, I have seen both versions, and prefer the long one. This movie is just plain great! DeNiro is great as Noodles, James Woods as Max does steal the show, and Jennifer Connelly as young Deborah is STUNNING!!!... This is just a steller cast for a steller movie. The musical score is one that almost overshadows the movie, it's a score in the mold of Dr. Zhivago. The haunting flute flows mournfully throughout the movie enchanting you. I can't say enough about this movie, itshould not be missed. I have been awaiting it's release on DVD for some time now. It's sad that "Once Upon A Time In The West" has already been released on DVD, but not this fine film.
Rating:
Summary: DVD Available
Review: The DVD is available in a Region 0 DVD. Unfortunately its a full-screen picture and no extras, but at least the transfer is nice. You can get it at [website name]. That 5 is not a typo by the way, its part of the URL. (Region 0 and Region Free play on any DVD player worldwide).
Rating:
Summary: poetry in motion cinema
Review: To use the term masterpiece in describing this film would be cliche not to mention subjective. However, I will say that it rates as one of my favourites, second only to another Sergio Leone classic entitled Once Upon a Time in the West. OUATIA is, on the surface, a gangster epic which spans three time periods of 20th century America in the life of it's lead character, Noodles (played by De Niro in adulthood). It follows his progression through childhood, young adulthood and into old age. Digging beneath the surface we see that really, it's a story about love and friendship. We are there in Noodles' youth when he falls in love - a pivotal moment which will affect him for the rest of his life - and when he forms close but fateful friendships. We are there when he is confronted by the dilemmas and emotional conflicts, which these divided loyalties bring. We are also there when he has to face the life-long prospect of both a love lost and a friendship betrayed with tragic consequences. The subsequent feelings of nostalgia and remorse are a burden, which rest heavy on the shoulders of our protagonist. His character is not portrayed as either heroic or necessarily villainous, just a man who has made choices in life. Choices he has to live with. Much of the film is set in the character's past. This serves to expound his mental and emotional state in old age as we approach the film's finale. Most importantly, it creates an atmosphere of nostalgia and regret which permeates the whole film, underscored beautifully by Ennio Morricone. Relatively speaking, the film is lengthy and the plot intricate with it's layers upon layers of flashbacks and flash-forwards. Naturally, some people will be put off on their first viewing, as the tendency is to try and make sense of everything going on - to rationalise and make linear the non-linear structure. Any attempts to do so will undoubtedly cause frustration because, just as in life, the film asks as many questions as it answers and leaves some loose ends untied. In reality, the temporal and geographical settings along with the plot are there to add context and framework. They may be the formalities you argue over at the end of the film but are there only as a backdrop to the main themes of love, friendship and regrets. These are the things that remain after everything else has long been forgotten, and it's the indescribably beautiful way in which these ideas are expressed in story-telling format, which creates a film that lives long in the memory. Leone - as in all his films - gives great attention to seemingly small details without, in my opinion, being artsy, pretentious or excessively indulgent. When De Niro's character is stirring his cup of coffee, this becomes a focal point in the film for fully one whole minute, and why not? Leone's films are as much about everyday life as they are about friendship, American capitalism, revolutions, the Old West or any other grand themes you care to mention. The director is constantly reminding us that everyday actions are just as important. They are the 'stuff' of life and deserve just as much attention. It's only when the value of this point is lost that his films may appear to be slow-paced or dragged out. And how does he attempt to convey the depth of human feeling. That which even the greatest of poets find difficult to express? Without trying too hard to articulate, Leone allows for the film's imagery and sounds to achieve that which might otherwise be missed in a thousand lines of dialogue. When the protagonist returns to his old hunting ground after 35 years of absence, we can only try to imagine the emotional pain he's been feeling throughout this time. When Fat Moe asks the question "What have you been doing all these years?" his reply is "I've been going to bed early." This tells us as much as we need to know about the previous 35 years. After all, how could you hope to articulate or quantify the great sense of loss he must have felt in all that time? To add anymore on the subject would undermine it completely and I think the director fully appreciated this. Instead, we draw our own conclusions from both the haunted look in De Niro's eyes and from Morricone's reverential orchestral score which is at times so mournful, but always sweepingly majestic. The potential of film as a medium to leave you believing you have witnessed something truly profound is seldom fulfilled to the extent I believe it has been with this film. It could not have had nearly the same impact on me had it not received the input of both Leone and Morricone. Together, they have collaborated to produce a cinematic experience, which transcends far beyond the sum of their individual contributions. A partnership forged in film to rival the likes of that forged by Lennon and McCartney in music, at least in recent decades. Morricone's genius is a match for Leone's and sometimes leaves you wondering, which came first, the story or the music. There is no doubt they both inspired each other to reach unprecedented heights in their respective fields and I would strongly recommend to all readers who have persevered so far that you watch all the films they have worked together on. 9.9/10 (well..., nothing's perfect! but this comes closer than most)
Rating: 
Summary: Sergio Go Home
Review: If you think just Leone's westerns are intolerable, try this psuedo-American gangster monstrosity on for size. Clear plenty of time on your schedule, though; with intermission it's four hours long. All of his failings as a film-maker are magnified by the extra time: a complete lack of pacing, a totally unintelligible story line full of papier-mache characters, bad dialogue, too many meaningless close-ups, and yet another insufferable musical signature - this time on a pan-flute, God help us. As Americans I suppose we should be flattered at this type of mimickry but we make better westerns and gangster pictures than a foreign imitator can make. The lesson of Leone's career should be film what you know.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome Movie, 100 % great
Review: The movie is excellent. The cast is wonderful. I personally love Robert De Niro in this film. it is a true classic of the mob. I am a fan of0 mob movies and this is in the top ten. It is about Jewish kids who grow up in the Bronxs. De Niro is the best man for the movie, to make it 100 percent great. This one of the final movies Sirgio Leone made.
Rating: 
Summary: Robert DeNiro somewhat saves this boring film
Review: There was a very good reason why this movie was ignored by the Academy Award voters: Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in America is awfully slow and tedious. What worked for Clint Eastwood and the spaghetti westerns fails miserably in this instance. The actors are often compelled to utter lines which border upon the ridiculous. It is only the magnificent acting of Robert DeNiro as the hoodlum Noodles and the hauntingly beautiful score composed by Ennio Morricone that makes it worthwhile to endure the experience. There are admittedly some fine performances from the likes of James Woods, Treat Williams, Danny Aiello, Tuesday Weld and a much younger Jennifer Connely, but it is DeNiro's brilliance that almost saves the film. He easily carries out the demands of portraying a man in his retirement years. I had to constantly remind myself that DeNiro was probably only around thirty-five when he played this part. Once Upon a Time in America is supposedly about the Jewish hoodlums of the early 20th Century. However, the 1999 modest HBO production "Lansky" starring Richard Dreyfuss is vastly superior. Warren Beatty's 1991 movie Bugsy is also a fantastic look at this almost forgotten era. Jewish males for the most part were involved in criminal enterprises for merely one generation. These men made sure that their sons were not going to follow in their footsteps! Sergio Leone did not seem to truly comprehend their motivations. Moreover, did he even care? Leone seems to lack the empathy required to look into the souls of others. The Clint Eastwood western adventures were completely imaginary akin to a Greek fable. American Jewish gangsters were real flesh and blood human beings. Leone makes them out to be not much more than cartoon characters.
Rating:
Summary: An Epic Film
Review: Once Upon A Time In America is yet another masterpiece from the old master, Sergio Leone. The story is intricate, fascinating, and well-crafted. The cinematography is excellent. The acting? Incredible! The soundtrack, by Ennio Morricone (an old collaborator of Leone's), is one of the best EVER. This movie deserves to be in the collection of any Robert De Niro fan; of any James Woods fan; of any gangster movie fan.
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