Rating: 
Summary: Once is a long boring movie Not Godfather or Casino quality
Review: Once wasen't that good at all. I don't think it is even worth the 4hours to watch it. This movie isn't up to the Godfather, Casino, Goodfellas or even A Bronx Tale. Just leave this movie on the rack and forget it. Somes parts in the movie don't make sense. Once is a disappointment.
Rating: 
Summary: Could be a better movie
Review: I watched the near 4 hour version and felt that some parts are still confusing mostly due to the cut from the "original" 6 hour version. The "original" could be as good as "The Godfather" but again why not making a movie as concise as the Godfather ?
Rating: 
Summary: It continually unfolds...
Review: My first experience was the confusing shorter version. A long time fan of Leone-Eastwood movies, I knew he had clearer visions in film and that I needed to search out the longer version. Each time I view it, there's another layer, another nuance... the soundtrack ties it all together & the ending of Max is truly unforeseen. Unlike other movie fans, I can not understand two things.... the attraction to "Citizen Kane" (Puts me to sleep everytime!) and the omission of "Once Upon a Time in America" on everyone's favorite list.
Rating:
Summary: On the HIT LIST
Review: This movie ranks amoung the best. Make sure you have plenty of time to view and that you get the extended version. Watch a couple of times to get the full effect of the film. De Niro at his best.
Rating:
Summary: an excellent gangster flick
Review: two thumbs up. but there is a european virsion thats at least one half hour longer which was'nt released in the u.s.a i wonder if anybody realized this.
Rating:
Summary: The best gangster movie ever made!
Review: I still can't decide if Once Upon a Time in America is better than Once Upon a Time in the West. Even though Once Upon a Time in America is stylistically better, thematically better, has better actors, Once Upon a Time in the West is the perfect Western, indeed the best Western I can imagine it being possible to make. I'm just not sure if Once Upon a Time in America is the perfect gangster movie, although it is certainly my favorite. A lot of people just do not like this movie. People I think (or used to think) had good taste think the movie is too long, too dry, and basically just a big waste of time. But some people who have seen it agree with my view that it is an enormously rich and rewarding film. The problem is that the film is almost four hours long, and can be somewhat confusing with its layers of flashbacks. However, the full story of the film is a large one, and Leone's style is so operatic at this point that it takes much longer than the plot demands. There are many slow crane shots of various streets in New York's lower east side, and many awkward silences and pauses where nothing is physically happening. The action, however, does not seem slow to me. None of Leone's movies seem slow. Leone keeps everything moving quite nicely, yet he pauses to establish the mood with, for example, a crane shot of the bustling New York street, or a scene where Noodles stirs his coffee for a couple minutes, letting the mood become extremely uncomfortable. None of Sergio Leone's Western characters seem to have much emotion in any of his movies. There is emotion, but it tends to be emotion that is extremely repressed, hidden beneath a calm, tough exterior. This film is different. Noodles (Robert de Niro) does not seem to have any emotions, extremely odd for the protagonist of a movie. When Noodles comes home and visits Fat Moe after 35 years away, his first words after seeing Moe are "I brought you back the key to your clock". There is a reason for Noodles loss of affect, as the psychologists call it. His emotion has been buried under the memory of having inadvertently killed his best friends, his soul has clearly died. After meeting Max (James Woods) as a kid, Noodles, Max, Patsy, and Cockeye form a gang. After spending mostof his childhood in jail for avenging the death of a friend, Noodles rejoins Max and the gang,to find Max starting an ambitious climb to the top of the organized crime ladder. Eventually,Max becomes too ambitious, and after prohibition is repealed, seeks to rob the Federal Reserve. To stop him from an obviously suicidal heist, Noodles turns Max in. However,Max and the rest of the gang get into a shoot-out with the police, and Noodles soon hears of the death of Max, Patsy and Cockeye. Noodles can't stop thinking about the call made that killed his best friends, and soon has to flee New York because the crime syndicate he worked for now is trying to kill him. Thirty-five years later, he is still haunted by the memories of his dead friends. He is mysteriously summoned to New York by an unknown person for unknown reasons, and soon discovers a trail of clues that will lead to a great revelation. At the end, there is the final smile by Noodles, doped up on opium, the only time in the movie that he looks completely happy and at peace. Even though this is an earlier Noodles, this is Leone's way of depicting Noodle's return to normality after 35 years of grief. It is the perfect conclusion to this movie. This is a story of a man at war with himself. Noodles is criminal, savage, ruthless, and is sexually animalistic (as demonstrated in the various raping scenes). Yet he is also tender, loving, down-to-earth, and honorable. The center of this conflict is Deborah, who loves Noodles, and tries to turn him away from his criminal side. Deborah is the one pure thing in his life, the one thing that he loves, and when she is about to leave for an acting career, Noodles rapes her. He rapes her because he is mad at her, he is confused, and realizes that this is probably the last time he will ever see her, so he must have sex with now or never. Besides, that is Noodle's instinct, and his sudden moves on Deborah would be quite acceptable with the kind of girl he normally sees. Perhaps he rapes her because he sees in her a purity that he can never have, tries to take it and in the process destroys it. When Noodles' realizes what he has done, he starts on a slow recovery process, gradually becoming less and less criminal, which forces the rift with Max, who is determined to build a huge organized crime empire. When Max and the others are dead, and Noodles flees New York, his bad side has vanished. And when he comes back, he is a changed man. The reason that I feel this is the best gangster movie is because none have the combination of style and substance that this films brings. It's not just about gangsters, its a look inside the soul of Noodles. Robert de Niro gives such a wonderful understated performance that the character of Noodles sticks with you. I can still remember Noodles just by a certain look in de Niro's eyes, a sort of calm depression, a look that has the weariness of the world in it. This is a movie where the mood of repressed sadness will linger long after the film has ended. Very few films are as powerful.
Rating:
Summary: Several more words on my favorite movie of all time!
Review: I have recommended this movie to numerous friends so far...and I have yet to here from ONE of them saying that this is not one of the BEST movies they have ever seen. The frequent question I was asked was why they NEVER heard of this great movie before! I just recommened this movie to a new colleague. He is a PhD and generally don't like to watch movies. Yet he told me recently that he watched it with his wife the past Sunday and IMMEDIATELY watched it 2 more times in the following 24 hours. The 3rd time they watched it, both of them burst into tears and had a long long talk that night about life. They immediately ordered the soundtrack and bought one copy of laserdisk from EBAY's auction site. This is what great movies do to ordinary people's life.
Rating:
Summary: One of the few greatest, if not the best, movies ever made!
Review: This is a 5 star PLUS movie! Come on guys! This movie did not win the best picture Oscar in 1984, or did not even get nominated. The whole Academy was doped, or, as they say, they don't have any taste. This one should have won best picture, director, screenplay, acting nods for De Niro, James Woods (best performance in his career), score (Morricone, hey, the man was robbed later for Cinema Paradiso again!), cinematography, art direction, and editing, EASILY. MocGovern, Connerly gave their best peroformances so far in this movie. And all the young actors are so damn convincing. There is not a minor role not well acted, not a scene not worth chewing. After watching it more than 10 times, I feel more haunted by it. This is indeed a larger than life experience. It really teaches you the meaning of life. I rate this one above 'the godfather'. 'Casablanca', 'gone with the wind', and 'citizen Kane' were close to being my favorite America movies of all time, but this one is the best movie of all time from any nation. And I take in account movies by Fellinni, Scorsese, Bergman, Hitchcock....Loene is well underrated. This one is HORRIBLY underrated, along with his other two masterpieces, 'once upon a time in the West' and "the good, the bad and the ugly'. This is the movie that you have to see at least 3 times in your life.
Rating:
Summary: A breathtakingly moving, operatic and life changing movie.
Review: The first time I saw "Once Upon a Time in America" was on TV and I only caught the last scene when Noodles enters the Opium Den, inhales the opium and lies back and smiles. I was mesmerised. I instantly went out and rented the movie. What I saw was the greatest movie ever made. "Once Upon a Time in America" is the Sistine Chapel of movies. For anyone who has experienced friendship, betrayal and loss, this movie will touch you like no other. The hold this movie has on you will not leave you long after it has finished. It almost has an hypnotic effect on the viewer. It is a truly mesmerising and enchanting movie. No review can do this film the justice it deserves. Those who attempt to criticise it are simply missing the point. You don't criticise perfection.
Rating:
Summary: "No trouble. Kid stuff."
Review: Never watch the 148 minute version, for it is in shambles and cuts out many important scenes. The 226 version is the best, although the last 15 minutes of the first half hour is slow, but it is well worth it. I, and I know I speak for many, long for the release of the 250 minute version. De Niro, Woods, McGovern, Scott Tiler ( young Noodles ) and Rusty Jacobs ( young Max ) all should have gotten Oscar nominations--but awarded to De Niro, McGovern and Jacobs--who I think gave an outstanding performance. It also should have won for best picture and Sergio Leone should've gotten best director. Along with Ennio Morricone's music score and Tonino Delli Colli's cinematography. This truly is the greatest gangster film of all time. It did in one movie what the Godfather did in two.
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