Rating: 
Summary: Repelling film
Review: After watching this movie I sought Maltin's oppinion and immediately agreed with his one star, because the film made me nauseous.From young Noodles sitting in the common toilet to let a girl barge in, to the final scene in the opium parlor where DeNiro grins showing crooked, dirty teeth, this movie is a long series of abominable scenes emphasizing filth and squalor, with plenty of shots of decrepit slums, slubbered dwellings and decaying people. The main characters are a bunch of cruel... ready to cheat, murder and rape at any time. Leone's view of humankind is deranged: junk ready for crunching, as happens in that forlorn scene where we are forced to testify garbage mulching. Civilized life has its down side but it isn't useless. Leone's dim view was entirely biased, if not downright psychotic.
Rating: 
Summary: Too Long?
Review: This movie was just too long (227 minutes), I hear it's one of the best gangster movies of all times, but it's not. Joe Pesci comes out in the movie as Franky, but he's never to be seen after his brief appearance. It also drags a lot of time when "Noodles" (De Niro) and his gang are kids, there is one scene where this boy sits in front of a door eating a cupcake, it is almost five minutes long. There are a lot of unnecessary scenes in this movie, I would buy the short version of this movie (only 139 minutes long.) Over all Sergio Leone is a great director and this movie could be a classic if the editing was done properly.
Rating: 
Summary: Sweeping, beautiful, mesmerizing--a masterpiece
Review: What an amazing EXPERIENCE this film is! Once Upon a Time in America takes place during three different eras in the life of its main character, Noodles (Robert DeNiro) -- the childhood slums in New York during prohibition, the 60s and the present day during Noodles'elder years. The story frequently flashes back and forth between these eras, with each scene offering a small, often surprising, piece to a bigger, climactic puzzle. We're introduced to Noodles as a young teen, restless and walking his neighborhood streets in New York. It's suggested that his family life is abusive, and that he walks the streets -- timid, unfocused and dabbling in small-time petty crime -- in order to escape that environment. From there, Noodles is to meet Max (James Woods). Max is a hyper, cocksure petty criminal himself, with aspirations for much bigger payoffs. Max's friendship offers Noodles a sense of direction, in terms of both criminal activities and cruel disrespect/domination of women. As the years pass, obvious differences between the two are evident -- Noodles is happy being a prominent gang figure in his old neighborhood, while Max is always itching to move on to bigger and riskier "prizes." In spite of their differences, we are reminded of Noodles' unwavering, if naive, belief that Max is his honest, loyal friend for life, and that his childhood love interest, Deborah, represents a purity that he's unworthy of. The climax to this film brings together all of Noodles' emotions that we've experienced with him over the decades -- loyalty, betrayal, guilt, grief and shattered ideals. On technical merits, this film is amazing on all counts. The cinematography is breathtaking, especially the sepia-tones streets of Noodles' childhood. Ennio Morricone's haunting score breathes mood and texture into every scene (even Noodles' childhood friends are heard whistling their "theme" or playing it on pan pipe). As is typical with many Italian films, scenes are most often played out with minimal dialogue, leaving the actors' expressions and Morricone's melodies in control of the tale. DeNiro and Woods are perfectly cast in their contrasting roles, as are the young actors who play Noodles and Max as teenagers. Tuesday Weld and Elizabeth McGovern display some of the best work of their careers. Jennifer Connelly is luminous as the young Deborah (McGovern plays the character as an adult). Above all else, though, this is Noodles' story, and Robert DeNiro's understated brilliance has never been so aptly and generously utilized as it is here. Once Upon a Time in America's narrative is not the easiest to follow, but if you're willing to offer the film a bit of patience and an open mind (as the violence is sometimes graphic, and rather demeaning when it involves women), you'll be handsomely rewarded. I personally find it more absorbing than the Godfather trilogy, and, for me, those 3 1/2+ hours fly by quickly. I hope that the DVD will finally see the light of day soon, as this is one of cinema's most underappreciated masterpieces -- for both Leone and DeNiro.
Rating:
Summary: better than the godfather part 2
Review: the godfather is the greatest trilogy ever made no argument needed but the godfather part two is superb for its startling contrast, but as the audience has matured beyond seing these two bit hoodlums as robin hood figures, once upon a time in america is the best film for the mature and modern audience, these men are no angels they show no pity or remorse they get exactly what they deserve in the end or the beginning of the movie, nothing. everything they believe about each other is false and i cant believe that some complete baffoon of a producer destroyed the most poignant scenes in the film just to please a few idiots who couldnt sit still for more then an hour and a half. this is sergio leones best film the emotion and the feeling of a comedy in the shakesperean sense of the word almost enters the summary. but i want to ask you, could you truly ignore the beauty of the ghetto in this film the childhood scenes are definately the best ever caught by a camera, and the system of answers to questions unknown that are thrown at you in the opening scenes of the film only fuel the explosion of senses in the ending sequences. returning to my comments on the godfather part two people are always commenting on the final scene where michael is seated alone in his garden with a look of mental illness almost settling in francis coppola quoted that this was a symbol of how he is left with all of these horrible memories and the movie has shed its skin of heroism and realisation settles in that michael is no longer just filling the old fathers shoes hes replacing them. once upon a time devoted the entire movie to memory and how an old man has to live with the evil he commited as a young man, not only must he dream of it but it has to face it for the last time when a ghost of the past comes to ask him of one last obligation to fulfill. nobody could have predicted the plot twist finale and anyone who said they could is lying. unlike the godfather this film dosent want your respect it wants you not to just follow the trend of quoting every film critic but to question the stupidity of romantic criminal theory in film but to analyse film as more then just an hour and a half of fun but a serious medium for questioning. it leaves you thinking for weeks it is so under rated that it gives the big lebowski blockbuster worthy status in comparison. please watch this if (full version) your tastes expand beyond hollywoods dictatorship on film.
Rating:
Summary: My favourite film of all time - an underated De Niro classic
Review: I just love this film. I first saw it back in the late 80's and was just blown away. Here in England this film is practically unknown. The level of detail in the sets provides a truly authentic portrayal of life as a Jewish immigrant in the slums of New York at the turn of the last century. The performances by all of the cast are first rate and the story and dialogue are engaging. The film also has, in my opinion, one of the saddest endings I've ever seen in a film, with an unforgettable scene of Robert De Niro as a shattered, guilt-ridden character who has lost everything, drowning his pain in drugs at the Chinese theatre. I sometimes watch the end of this film when I find myself forgetting just what a brilliant actor Robert De Niro is. I cant speak for the quality of the DVD as it has not been released yet, but the film is an all-time great and I will definitely be buying this DVD as soon as it is released.
Rating:
Summary: The Movie of movies
Review: I won't be long, I only suggest anyone who loves Cinema to watch this absolute masterpiece. See the 4 houres lenght version (the original one, not the one cut by the american producer) and you'll experience what I believe to be the greatest movie ever made, a nostalgic hymn to youth-elderly, friendship-betrayal, violence-love and ultimately to life and cinema itself. By the way its soundtrack is a masterpiece as well (by the great Morricone). Good vision.
Rating:
Summary: Not a gangster movie -- something much more special...
Review: ...a meditation on time, memory, and the nature of cinema itself. Imagine a gangster film written by Proust and directed by Max Ophuls. Leone devoted 15 years of his life to this project; when it was all over (betrayed by America itself, just like Noodles), it pretty much killed him. There are rumors that Leone's intial cut, 40-50 minutes shorter than the "long" (227 min.) version released in Europe, is being restored. I hope and pray this is true. Christopher Frayling's excellent biography of Leone outlines the missing footage -- some violence, and a lot of stuff from the "1968" sections of the movie -- more of Noodles enountering faces from his past, particularly Tuesday Weld and Treat Williams. I always found that the 1968 material seemed rushed and choppy -- hopefully this footage will remedy that and turn "Once Upon A Time In America" into the masterpiece it undoubtedly is.
Rating: 
Summary: It Ain't "The Godfather," It's Better
Review: "The Godfather" may have been a more critical and commercial success, but Sergio Leone's "Once Upon a Time in America" is mesmerizing. Leone's trademark use of dialog less scenes allows the actors' facial expressions coupled with the background music and sounds to convey meaning without words. What distinguishes this film is its effective use of the female leads. Both Elizabeth McGovern and Tuesday Weld are outstanding in their respective parts as the women who come in intimate contact with DeNiro and Woods. Weld shows that she is an actress to be reckoned with as she plays a woman made "loose" by the actions of a young DeNiro. McGovern, also taken advantage by DeNiro's "Noodles," is exquisitely beautiful and plays her part sympathetically and passionately. The young actors portraying the stars' younger selves are superb. New York City locations, costuming, and period detail are flawless as the film spans four decades. European filmmakers, like Leone and Forman, seem to have a truly unique way of looking at America that is satisfying and respectful.
Rating:
Summary: A TRUE MASTERPIECE OF AMERICAN CINEMA
Review: Once upon a time in America, there was a man named Noodles. His life was haunted by a horrible and sometimes unbearable guilt that pounded on his concience and etched a place in his soul. Throughout his adulthood, he tried to forget the pain and agony that he thought that he had escaped. Then came that letter. I cannot even begin to tell you what is in store for you when you watch this film in it's enirity. Leone gives us not a mere taste, but a full helping of Prohibition-era NEW YORK. We can practically smell the city and all of it's inhabitants. The visuals are intriguing, and I wish I could just watch a film of the sets and soundstages. This film has no rival. The dialoge and the story are all drawn out, but this adds to the poetry and the flavor of the charecters and their lives. We get to know Noodles very intimatley, and we feel the ache of pain for him when he finaly comes to terms with what he has done. He is a good man at heart, but his situation made him do the things that he did. He betrayed his friends because he loved them, and we get a chance to feel that love and we sympathize with him, and we can even hear his concience calling him. No ammount of justification can make him feel better. Some wounds will never heal, and after viewing ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA, I can only hope that I never have to deal with that kind of guilt.
Rating:
Summary: A Betrayal Epic That Happens To Be A Gangster Film
Review: In making a film about the effects of guilt and betrayal both real and imagined, Sergio Leone also made a film about the numbing poignancy of the passage of time. Towards the close of the film the sense of waste that infuses De Niro is so great that he can't even be angry, just crushed by heartbreaking sadness. The film is long, the plot is complex, and some elements of the story are rearranged into an emotional vs. a straight narrative order, but the overall effect is extraordinarily efficient; had the story been told without Leone's skillful time transitions and careful narrative choices, this could have been a very plodding six or eight hour movie. Plus, what a marvelous cast -- even the characters on the fringes of the film cry out to be explored (look at how much strange and painful emotional power Tuesday Weld manages to fit into her few key scenes). My only problems with the film are minor technical gaffs (the use of cold cream to try to unsucessfully age an obviously still very young Elizabeth McGovern, etc.), otherwise, this is simply a wonderful, powerful movie. The senses and emotions of the film will linger much longer than the story.
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