Rating: 
Summary: friendship
Review: i think this is one of the best movies ever made,not only is it a movie about gansters,but about childhood friendship,and first love,and trust amond friends.yes it is a little long.but without the long version you really miss a lot from the movie.and the music score unbelevible,the music is hunting.and the scenes are unforgetable,when nooldels and debra first kiss,when dominick is killed,when nooldels first comes back after 35 years and is an old man.and when he sees fats for the first time again.the movie is filled with great scenes.this movie is very under rated.it should have won a number of awards.oh yes and the scene at the train station,with the steam from the train, and nooldels ,seeing debra leaving him again..what a movie.
Rating:
Summary: The last great movie.......
Review: I saw " once upon a time in américa" when i was young in a french cinema in paris...since that time, the film never leave me...It's the last great movie .....It'is part of my life.Story, actors, music......are first rate.......and leone 'directing is....wonderful. Willy from arras FRANCE
Rating:
Summary: Once Upon a Time.....is a Masterpiece
Review: My father back in 1990 told me to see this movie. It was on local TV and ran for 2 1/2 hours with commercials. It was aweful. It made no sense and was weak. I then saw the long version and wondered why the American version was cut short. This film is a masterpiece. The music is so awesome, I defy anyone to find a movier with music that lasts over the full movie. Leone in a brilliant manner, alternated with flashbacks. The scene when Robert DeNiro is an old man carrying a briefcase and then a frisbee comes his way and then the scene changes from being an old man to a young man carrying a briefcase is reminiscent of the scene in 2001: A Space Oddessy, when the ape throws a bone in the air and it turns into a spaceship. This move showed what bootleggers were really like back in the 1920's and 1930's. The ending in which Robert DeNiros character "Noodles" finds out who Christopher Bailey is, is superb. Christopher Bailey was a charecter who made contact with an older "Noodles" and "Noodles" had no idea who he was. If you see this movie, see the long version. If this movie was released in full version in 1984, it was have won many academy awards. In my opinion, this film ranks among the 20 greatest ever.
Rating:
Summary: Once in My Lifetime
Review: This Film is the best Film of all time. In my own agreement I have never been more moved in a Film as I have been with this one. I have seen more than 25000 films in my life. As none can compare to the Director Sergio Leone. He made this project as passionate and real. The musical score is as rivoting, and lovely. I have for once in my lifetime seen what Film Directors can do to a person's soul. At least in my Lifetime. Love Kathi...
Rating: 
Summary: flawed, yes...but a masterpiece?
Review: Yes, you do need to watch the full length version to understand what Leone was trying to do. (Also to understand what's going on, since the theatrical release was so badly edited it doesn't make sense.) I guess if you're willing to do that you qualify as a film buff; so then try asking yourself whether this movie needed to be four hours long. Take "Casablanca" for example. One hour and forty-two minutes. Anyone think it would have been better with the addition of an hour or so SHOWING Bogart & Bacall's time in Paris? And another hour and a half of, say, Sam tuning his piano, Rick verrry slowwwly paging through the sheet music of As Time Goes By, the ground crew preparing the plane for takeoff (one of them taking a break to play ATGB on an ocarina, thanks Ennio)... I don't mean to directly compare the two, I'm saying that the accumulation of endless details does not necessarily add to a film's effectiveness. Works against it, I say. Sorry this review goes on so long...think of it as a "meditation" . . .
Rating: 
Summary: A little over rated...
Review: An epic tale of jewish kids in turn of the century new york who begin a life of petty crime that blossums into large scale organized crime. The movie is told using flasbacks beginning with an aging robert deniro as noodles arronson who relives the past from the days of his youth. This is a story about friendship and commraderie but director sergio leone never let's the film get too sentimental. These guys are very violent ruthless men and you never are allowed to forget that. In one important scene noodles rapes his childhood sweetheart the woman he claims to love. There are several key scenes in the movie that seem to get the point across. First these kids are doing small time stuff and eventuallly their crimes become a threat to the local toughs a gang run by a guy called bugsy. Noodles and his best pal max take a pretty good beating for their intrusion but they continue to work the area and the reprisals become much stronger. In a most important scene the youngest and smallest of the gang gets shot to death but noodles retaliates against the rival with a knife. This lands him in jail for some time and as the story moves to the next level we see an adult noodles leaving prison only to rejoin his pals who have now reached the big time. At this level the gang is bold enough to double cross the mafia on a jewel heist and take control of a major labor union but that is not enough for max who is planning a crime that dwarfs those exploits. You're crazy replies noodles to max' idea and which causes max to become angry and almost strike him. "Don't ever say i'm crazy" max said. Of course he was crazy. Noodles has the difficult decision to decide whether he'll support his friend or not. A decision that could mean life or death. Will noodles help his friends or will he double cross them to save his own skin. Noodles is ruthless but he is also practical and he frequently is at odds with max' emotional decisions. There are a few more twists and turns and some real surprises. This is a fine film with solid writing, acting and a realistic ambience. You do feel part of the life and times of the characters. The story line is solid though the flashback method can make it frustrating at times to follow. For that reason this is a good movie to own so you can see it several times in which you'll appreciate it more. The reason i think it's not quite worthy of 5 stars is because of the length. I have seen the film in both it's cut up length and the full. You simply can't watch it with half the scenes removed so the full length version is the only way. Still there is no need for the movie to be so long. Many scenes drag on without much purpose. Noodles in the mausoleum, noodles with his childhood sweetheart in the restaurant ect. As a result the movie doesn't move along fast enough getting too bogged down with insignificant details. Still a very fine film and one of the best from the 1980s. Certainly worth owning. .................socks
Rating:
Summary: The most excellent movie of all times.
Review: Robert De Niro and James Woods best performance ever. Nothing after compares to this movie. The music is outstanding. The picking of the characters was most excellent as to where the children looked identical to the adults, and the makeup as when they were older was superb.
Rating:
Summary: One of my absolute favorites
Review: I saw this for the first time as a kid on HBO, and I can't remember at the time if it was the edited version or the good version. If you've read the other reviews of this film here then you know all about the different chops this film has had in its history. Certain scenes of course left indelible images on my fragile young psyche. More importantly, the incredible film score wormed its way into my subconscious and slowly began to reemerge as I grew older and realized the genius of Ennio Morricone.
I had actually kind of forgotten about the film until college, where I insisted on renting it with various friends, and then when I found Amazon years later and realized I may not have been seeing the whole thing all these years I knew I had to have it. When it came in the mail I popped it in the VCR immediately and relived all of the amazing moments of the film, with renewed appreciation and a more mature understanding.
Everything about this film is perfect. The acting is wonderful on all fronts, the music score is absolutely haunting--some of Morricone's best themes, in my opinion--the editing is incredible, and the sets are breathtaking. I want a drink at Fat Moe's!
As others have said, the film's four hours goes by extremely fast. I never look at my watch once no matter how many times I see it. The cutting back and forth between time periods and the use of music to accentuate the changes never ceases to mesmerize me.
The only drawbacks I can possibly name about this film would be one choice of music that to me dates the film and sticks out--and that is Yesterday by the Beatles. The other is Leone's depiction of women in the film. The women are either whores or they are abused and exploited. However, I never for a minute disbelieve the characters the way they are set up, and really the men in the film don't win any awards for being good people, either.
Unfortunately not everyone will like or understand the film, despite how incredible it is. It encompasses a huge range of emotion and humanity within its chosen subject of organized crime. Don't miss this one. I would choose this over the Godfather series for a desert island movie every time.
Rating:
Summary: Once Upon A Time In America
Review: I give the motion picture itself 5 stars, the studio's 1987 VHS two-tape release 4 stars, and the DVD version ZERO. Why? Because Warner Home Video inexplicably has not yet seen fit to release this magnificent motion picture in the much superior (compared to VHS) DVD format. "Once Upon A Time In America," particularly in its long version, is a masterpiece. I'm certain that with enough effort put into producing a fully loaded DVD release, Warner Home Video would see a return on its investment, especially if recent Oscar winner Jennifer Connelly's debut acting role in it were publicized. How about it Warner? The ball's in your court now. Share this movie experience once more with the film public, this time on DVD.
Rating:
Summary: A truly American epic!!!
Review: Superb acting, an outstanding story, captivating music, true-to-life scenes and impeccible directing....Sergio Leone at his finest. This is truly an American epic. Jerry Leone (not related!!!)
| 
