Rating: 
Summary: I like the spaghetti westerns
Review:
Sergio Leone made some good films. This one has Henry Fonda as the bad guy, Frank, and Charles Bronson as "Harmonica," with the stunningly beautiful Claudia Cardinale as a former lady of the evening who has the misfortune to marry a man who is murdered at the beginning of the story, Joe McBain, whom we never meet.
Jason Robards plays a great part, as Cheyenne, a part with humor and character. Frank and his cohorts are after McBain's land. Robards likes Cardinale, and Bronson is playing his own hand. A good story, well played, with a great ending. Joseph (Joe) Pierre,
author of Handguns and Freedom...their care and maintenance
and other books
Rating:
Summary: Once Upon a Time In the West
Review: ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST is a strong contender for greatest western ever. Fans of the genre would be hard pressed to name any more than a handful of greater movies. I can't add much to the positive reviews but an amen or two.
I haven't read anyone's comments on the "extras" in the last ten pages or so.
A number of people contribute to the commentary track. They include John Carpenter, Sir Christopher Frayling, John Milius and some others. I usually enjoy running the commentary track after having watched the movie, and this one is a little more informative than most.
There are three documentaries on disk two. They include interviews with Fraying, Milius, Carpenter, actors Claudia Cardinale and Gabriele Ferzetti, Bernardo Bertolucci and a few others. They also include clips from interviews with Henry Fonda and Sergio Leone.
An Opera of Violence (30 min.) is more or less a brief biography of OUATITW director Sergio Leone. Nugget: Alan Cox relays the rumor that Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach and Lee van Cleef were approached to play the parts of the three killers in the opening scene.
Wages of Sin (20 min.) more particularly about the filming of the movie. Nugget: Leftover woods from Orson Welles' monumentally unfinished Falstaff movie, Chimes of Midnight, were used to build the railroad station and the Sweetwater mansion.
Something to Do with Death (20 min.) talks a lot about the sound of the movie. The term "amplified reality" is thrown around a few times. Nuggets: The score was written before the movie was shot and the script for the three plus hour movie was only fifteen pages long.
Locations Now and Then - A five-minute slide show of stills of location shots from the movies compared to new pictures of the same locations.
Production Gallery - Another five-minute slide show of stills. Most are taken from the finished film, but there are some shots of the actors getting made up and suchlike.
Cast Profile - Typical profile of the five lead actors. Does not include a detailed filmography.
Original trailer
Rating:
Summary: A Masterpiece!
Review: Being a fan of "Spaghetti Horror," I have always loved this movie, due to the extremely refined stylistic effects that Italian filmmakers are well-known for, in addition, the fact that Dario Argento co-wrote the story for it.
I remember that my late father loved this movie, and, while he was watching it, I really liked the music (Morricone), and sat down to view it with him. I could tell without needing to investigate, that this film was one of the "Spaghetti Westerns" I had come to read about while doing research on Argento's film, and immediately fell in love with it. After all those years, I still love this film, which is why I bought this dvd set for both myself and my boyfriend. I tell everyone I know about this film, and everyone who has seen it thinks it's great. It truly is a masterpiece. I'm not going to talk about the plot (what for?), let me just say, straight out, that this film is a true masterpiece . . . there will never be anything like it again.
Rating:
Summary: By far one of the best westerns ever.
Review: This has to be on one of the greatest movies ever made.This a great film for many reasons.One:Great director that is Sergio Leone.He uses beautful ways of placing the camera,telling the story and working so closley with the composor & cast & writers with great results.Two:Great team of writers Sergio Leone,Dario Argento & Bernado Bertolucci.Three legends together making a masterpiece with homages to other westerns,making intresting characters & smart dialogue.Three:Strong cast of Henry Fonda that is spectacular as the Frank in the movie great potrayal for a bad guy.Charles Bronson the cool and stronguy do not want to mess with as Harmonica.Charles Robards as Cheyanne he's funny and is perfect for the part.And of course Claudia Cardinale as Jill Mcbaine she potrays he woman that really is the soul of the film.Four:Great Composer Enrico Morricone the music is beautiful and makes you really feel the West in the film.This is by far the best Western you wil ever see not in action but in drama thats what it captures so beautifly.Go pick this up and give it a try you will love it.
Rating:
Summary: MUST SEE, MUST SEE
Review: Arguably the greatest western ever made, Sergio Leone's "Once Upon A Time In The West" is also one of the great movies regardless of genre, long overlooked but now getting the full respect it is due. The story is typical western fare - some outlaws want land on the frontier, and some mysterious strangers step in to even the score - but the film itself is anything but typical. Artfully directed, beautifully scored, wonderfully acted, if given reams of text there would not be enough accolades for this film. Leone took everything he learned with the Eastwood trilogy and applied it here to startling effect. While there is some really great action, this isn't "Young Guns." While this film has plenty of artful style, this isn't "The Thin Red Line." While there is plenty of epic storytelling, this isn't "Lawrence of Arabia." It is, however, a mix of all three, with a dash of "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" thrown in for good measure. The cast is superb. This is a classic Charles Bronson role; mysterious, moody, and conveying so much with so few words. Claudia Cardinale is simply ravishing; sad and beautiful and lonely. Jason Robards plays a great character; funny and tough, mean and charming. But the real standout here - a real feat, considering Bronson's effort - is Henry Fonda in a rare villainous role. No need to mince words: Fonda kicks tail. Simply awesome. But the real star of this show is the gorgeous cinematography, looking jaw-dropping in this restored widescreen DVD. It is a feast for the eyes. No Leone film ever looked this good. The picture is so crisp it could have been filmed yesterday. Couple that with an incredible remastered score and we're talking about some fabulous DVD production. Far and away better than what gets run on TV these days. The package gets even better. This DVD features a strong commentary track with a number of commentators, a one-hour documentary on the film that is very well done, and a few other minor treats. Fantastic stuff, especially for the low price. Precious few movies get as good as this. Run, don't walk, and pick this up. This is a MUST OWN for all film fans, western lovers or not.
Rating:
Summary: A supreme masterpiece of a Western, with great extras
Review: It seems almost redundant to talk about how amazing a film Sergio Leone's masterpiece, "Once Upon a Time in the West" is. So much has already been said about it by the many filmmakers, scholars, and film lovers whom it affected deeply. The film transcends the negative 'Spaghetti Western' label so hastily slapped on the many Euro-Westerns that appeared in the late 1960. Yes, many of these movies were trashy and low-quality, but there were also many great films, and "Once Upon a Time in the West" reigns supreme amongst them. In it, Leone, who had previously helmed the "Dollars" trilogy with Clint Eastwood, achieves a sublime level of mythic poetry, reaching into the realms of the Western as fantasy fairy-tale. He touches on the themes of almost all Westerns that came before it, references many classic American Westerns, and crafts it all into a tale of the men and women who built the open West and who then watched its demise under the new forces of civilization. Leone's film is almost choreographed, like a dance of death between the four fascinating main characters: Jill, prostitute-turned-homemaker (Claudia Cardinale); Frank, the ruthless killer hired by the railroads 'to remove small objects from the track' (Henry Fonda, in the surprise role of his career); Cheyenne, the rough and comic outlaw (Jason Robards); and the mysterious, implacable gunman known to everyone only as 'Harmonica,' (Charles Bronson) who's lonesome wail on the instrument is the eerie signature sound of the film. The lives of these four collide in the Arizona desert (filmed alternately in Spain and Monument Valley, Utah), against the backdrop of the arrival of the railroad, and slowly work out their destinies in the dying West. This DVD was a long time coming. MGM quickly released the three Leone-Eastwood films to DVD, but Paramount took its time getting around to the director's greatest work. However, the special edition was worth the wait. The two-disc set is loaded with fantastic extras. The transfer in widescreen is glorious (and to think for years we had to watch it cropped for TV!), the new 5.1 sound mix showcases Leone's brilliant use of sound effects and propels Ennio Morricone's legendary score to the operatic height it deserves. The audio commentary track splits between numerous individuals. Much of the talking is done by Leone experts Sir Christopher Frayling and Dr. Sheldon Hall. Their comments sometimes fall into play-by-play, over-explaining the actions on the screen, but they do provide many fascinating facts about the making of the movie (filming locations, set design, the actors), mentions of the many other Westerns that the film quotes, and observations on Sergio Leone's unique style. There are also brief interruptions from directors who are Leone fans or who knew him personally, such as John Milius, John Carpenter, Alex Cox, and Bernardo Bertolucci (who wrote the screen story of the film along with Dario Argento). All have interesting stories to tell (Carpenter is pretty funny, since he admits he hasn't seen the film in a while, and is quite amused by what he sees). Cardinale pops in very briefly to talk about the love scene between her and Henry Fonda. The second disc contains a lengthy documentary, which goes into great depth on the making of the film. All the speakers from the commentary take part in the interviews, and they are joined by actor Gabriele Ferzetti (who plays Mr. Morton in the film), composer Ennio Morricone, and archival interviews with Henry Fonda and Sergio Leone himself. The only problem with the documentary is the artificial separation of it into three sections. Another documentary provides historical background on the coming of the railroad, and adds extra perspective on the film's story. There's also a feature that allows you to compare the filming locations in Monument Valley to what they look like today, the original U.S. trailer, and a stills gallery. All around, great bonus material for a film that deserves them. For those of you who have never seen "Once Upon a Time in the West," I envy your first experience with it. It moves slowly, deliberately, with time and suspense stretched out and distended to their limits, but even if you think you have a short attention span, it's impossible not to fall under Leone's spell of Western ritual, close-ups, wide-spanning landscape shots, sudden explosions of violence, and his ability to inject doses of mythic wonder into every single shot. And if you've already a fan of this film, this DVD set is a dream come true. Buy it, invite all your friends over, and introduce them to the best Euro-Western ever produced.
Rating:
Summary: "THE GREATEST WESTERN EVER MADE!" (Fact, not just opinion.)
Review: This is one of the most artistic, stylish, masterful, atmospheric & epic "attention 2 detail" packed movie's ive ever seen honestly...not just for a western, but for any kind of genre! Amazing directing,= in pure Sergio Leone style, smooth flowing in an artistic way & doesnt try to rush anything, but lets u soak up the scenery and atmosphere in an icredible way. But, be warned if u are a type of "Ah, GET ON WITH IT" impatient person this may bore u a bit, but if your reading this u already know SERGIO LEONES "take as much time as u need" attitude. But even if u are that impatient person, give this atleast one viewing, it may even suck u in untill your hooked on this. This is considered by many as "THE GREATEST WESTERN OF ALL TIME" with the runner up as "THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY" & i gotta tell you.......it aint no lie!!!! P.S. If u EVER loved a western & u aint got this then u dont exist. Theres really no use for me to say BUY this Special Collectors Edition version.... because all u true WESTERNERS HAVE IT IN YOUR COLLECTION ALREADY! Peace.
R.I.P. CHARLES BRONSON. HENRY FONDA. JASON ROBARDS. SERGIO LEONE.
Rating: 
Summary: Oh..........................So..........................Slow
Review: A great looking, great sounding DVD filled with beautiful landscapes showcases a movie suffering from seriously heavy handed direction - far too many long drawn out scenes. I got the impression that Leone was trying WAY TOO HARD to make this his "masterpiece", and with this cast it is a shame that he obviously tried too hard. His efforts to be dead-serious ended up being funny, or just long and pointless. The cast is filled with big names. Jason Robards, excellent as Cheyenne, the only character I could manage to care about at all. Henry Fonda is stiff and uninvolved, especially creepy in his horribly mis-cast love scene! YUK! And I like Charles Bronson as much as the next girl, but PLEASE LOSE THE HARMONICA! What starts out as weird and inappropriately funny degenerates into ANNOYING and finally PURE TORTURE. And did we really need three minutes of Henry Fonda's character falling to the ground? DIE ALREADY is what I was screaming by the end of this picture. Way too long and weird for any but the devoted cult western fan! The DVD IS beautiful and the music (excepting the harmonica, of course) is very nice. Some awkward voice-over, especially with the female lead. If you love all things Western or are on a vendetta to see all Henry Fonda's movies, I guess you need to see this one. But you may want to bring a book to pass the time.
Rating:
Summary: Pure Perfection!!!
Review: This movie set the ultimate standard when it comes to quality in western movies. Perhaps we will never see such brilliance again. Sergio Leone has made a flawless film, accompanied by a flawless and immortal soundtrack composed by the living legend Ennio Morricone. Morricone's main theme is one of the most beautifull pieces I have heard in my life, and represents some of the best in film music.
I wish that there was something that I could put my finger on, but it's just impossible! This movie is an example of pure perfection - a masterpiece!
Rating:
Summary: SIMPLY AMAZING
Review: Actually, this movie should get 6 out 5 stars...
One could probably write for ages about this outstanding film, but I'll just pick out one aspect: the double DVD features a kind of running commentary by Bertolucci, Claudia Cardinale, Christopher Frayling, and others. Among them there is John Carpenter, whose wry comments are a special treat. He would say stuff like, "I'm not quite sure what that meant. (slight pause; then with tongue in cheek) I'm sure he (Sergio Leone) didn't know either." And in spite of that he also can't help admitting that this is, quite simply, one of the very best Westerns ever made.
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