Once Upon a Time in the West

Rating:
Summary: A WESTERN CAN BE AN ART MOVIE AS WELL
Review: When the western genre was created, it was designed to entertain, to thrill the audiences and to tell stories about heroes defeating the evil. But when Sergio Leone took the genre on his hands, he re-designed the structure of these movies. One thing that he changed, was the introduction of anti-heroes, the central characters no longer were heroes, but instead the antiheroes were introduced in the revisionist genre known as the "Spaghetti Western". All the characters have inner demons and secrets that haunt them.

"Once Upon A Time In The West" is the most artistic western that you can see. The cinematography shows a lot of beautiful landscapes and the territory becomes another character. The pace of this movie is very special, it has an operatic quality that sets this movie apart from the conventional westerns.

Ennio Morricone was the composer of the soundtrack for this movie, and it's one of his finest scores, as a matter of fact, his only other score that can compare with the music of "Once Upon A Time In The West", is the music score that he created for "The Good, The Bad And The Ugly". Every character has a distinctive tune that tells the audience a lot about their personality.

But all this wouldn't be important if the characters and the script were bad, but Sergio Leone, Dario Argento and Bernardo Bertolucci penned a powerful story, packed with deep characters and realistic situations, this movie is about love, fury, revenge, betrayal, progress and honor. This kind of story needed a solid cast to be filmed, and "Once Upon A Time In The West" has perhaps the best cast in a western.

Charles Bronson is "Harmonica", a man that has a lot of secrets and a mistery aura, at the beginning of the movie we don't know exactly if he is just another villain, or if he is the hero. Jason Robards is Cheyenne, an outlaw that gets involved in the story trying to clean his already tainted name. Claudia Cardinale is Jill, a beautiful woman that is trying to start a new life, away from her troubled past, but she can't find the peace that she was looking for. And finally Henry Fonda, that GREAT, GREAT actor that made a reputation of playing the role of the good and honorable guy, portrays one of the most impressive villains that you will ever find in a movie.

This DVD is a must-buy just for the reason that the movie is presented in Widescreen, but thankfully, Paramount included worthy features like the audio commentary and some documentaries that are very informative and valuable. "Once Upon A Time In The West" not only is one of the greatest westerns (the greatest for a lot of people), but it is one of the greatest movies of all-time as well.

Rating:
Summary: "He not only plays...he can shoot, too."
Review: This epic masterpiece might just be the crowning achievement of Sergio Leone's amazing career as director. The movie's opening sequence is so typical of Leone's style: having a tense buildup to an inevitable shootout. Jack Elam is simply the perfect villian for the western genre, and even though he only has a cameo appearance he does a great job. Henry Fonda, the legendary "hero" of movies like "My Darling Clementine" and "Grapes of Wrath" is wonderful playing against type as a ruthless killer. Jason Robards is great as the outlaw, and Claudia Cardinale is unforgettable as the beautiful prostitute whose family is murdered by Fonda. "The Man With No Name" in this Leone film is Charles Bronson, and this time he has a past. He searches for the man who murdered his brother. As many other reviewers have already stated, this is one of the landmark westerns. The extreme close-up shots of the characters, Ennio Morricone's magnificant score, and the beautiful scenery of Monument Valley (of John Ford fame) all combine to make this a mystical, violent masterpiece of the Old West. The special edition dvd is awesome, with several documentaries and photo galleries along with great commentary. One of the best bonus features is the photo gallery showing then-and-now photos of the filming locations in the still beautiful Monument Valley. If you're a fan of westerns and Sergio Leone, then this is a must-have!

Rating:
Summary: Once Upon a Time in the West
Review: My favorite movie. Amazingly directed by Sergio Leone, I love the camera angles he does. Great story, great acting, one of the most fulfilling endings I've ever seen with so little dialogue. A masterpiece, Fonda and Bronson are perfect for this movie, and I beliee this is Leone's best film.

Rating:
Summary: What more can be said?
Review: Buy this. The Special Collector's Edition has two discs, one disc with the film and the commentary audio track and the second disc with the amazing documentaries, location gallery, production gallery, cast profiles and tons of other extras.
The movie is perfect, with a great cast. Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Jason Robards and Claudia Cardinale are just some of the major stars in this production. Henry playing Frank the murderous gunslinger, Jason Robards the half-breed gunslinger, Claudia as the sexy Jill (and she is still sexy now) and Charles are the man who also has no name.
The commentary gives us lots of information on the casting, soundtracks, behind-the-scene stories and lots of insight that just helps bring it all together.

Rating:
Summary: Opera of the Pistoleros
Review: Sergio Leone was literally born into the tradition and world of Cinema. He grew up using the Cinecitta Studio as his playhouse. He worked his way up through the ranks, and was directing films by 1961. It was in 1964 that he directed FISTFUL OF DOLLARS, and made movie history. After completing the DOLLAR trilogy, he really did not want to make another western. He went to Hollywood with his script for ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA, the Jewish crime opus. Paramount said they were interested in it, but with the priviso that he direct a couple of westerns first. And so ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST was launched as a project.

It was the first Spaghetti western to be shot outside of Europe, and the only one to have scenes shot in the Monument Valley. He had studied all nine John Ford films that had utilized the Monument Valley, and he had memorized all the locales. He took a couple hundred pounds of red dust from it back to Italy, and for the scene in Lionel Stander's bar, he blew it into the air, and sprinkled it on the shoulders and hats of his actors.

The cinematography for this film was remarkable, done by the veteran lenser Tonino Deli Colli. He and Leone pioneered the use of the Techniscope process, whereby spherical lenses were used that would not distort on extreme close ups. Of course, Leone also used his close friend Ennio Morricone to write the film score. Oddly, Morricone finished the score in advance, and Leone had to film the movie like it was an opera, composing the shots around the music. Morricone is a musical genius. To date he has scored music on over 500 films.

Leone, while writing the script for this movie, enlisted the aid of two of his buddies, Bernardo Bertolucci and Dario Argento. They screened dozens of classic westerns while writing. It is said that it was Bertolucci's idea to use a woman as the central character. There is a story that Leone contacted his trio of DOLLLAR actors, Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Eli Wallach to be in OUTITW. They were interested until they found out he wanted them for the opening scene, and that he would have killed them off immediately.

Leone was a huge fan of those sprawling Japanese Samurai epics, and he loved the way the sword fight scenes were set up and shot. He put this premise into action with both the prologue and denouement for this film; the long opening sequence and the final gunflight between Frank and Harmonica. In the opening sequence, dazzling in its execution, Leone could not match any of Morricone's pre-canned music to the action, so he came up with the idea of using amlified and exaggerated natural sounds. It was very effective. The three principles in the opening scene were lovingly introduced and then dispatched quickly. I loved the fact that Woody Strode had no dialogue, and still created a memorable character. I was upset when Jack Elam spoke, and what we heard was a dubbed voice. Leone always looped his films post-production. Maybe Elam was not available for that.

It was interesting that most of Leone's casting was against type. To use Henry Fonda as the heavy, sensing his darker nature and his cold side, was a masterstroke. To use Jason Robards as a Mexican outlaw was a bit of a stretch, but Robards was a good enough actor to make the role his own. Claudia Cardinale was a terrific choice for the female lead. She had the beauty of a Sophia Loren, and the strength of an Anna Magnini. Charles Bronson was perfect as the silent brooding stranger--the man with almost no name--Harmonica; a man with a burning secret, bent on revenge. James Coburn was first considered for the part, but he was unavailable.

American critics did not rave about this film. For me, most of the critics of the 60's just did not know what to make of this opus. Leone's love for American westerns shined through. Somehow he managed to bridge the vast chasm between classic Ford country within the Monument Valley and the tinny cynical world of the Euro Western. I felt that despite the implausible plot, Sergio Leone created a very complex epic Western, steeped in tradition, that continues to haunt us today, as it stands shoulder to shoulder with many of the classic westerns of John Ford, Howard Hawks, and George Stevens.



Rating:
Summary: Possibly The Best Western Ever
Review: The visual effects, dialogues, especially the music (wow!) all adds up to hail this as one, if not, THE best western ever made. Sergio Leone's close-up camera angles holding stunning panoramas to the ruthless eyes of Frank (Henry Fonda), and almost-laconic Harmonica (Charles Bronson), are but few of the main attractions here.
The story is basically revolved around the woman Jill (Claudia Cardinale), who inherits the `land' after Mcbain's horrific death at the hands of killer Frank. This isn't a love story though, but Jill is the crux of the complex story brilliantly told by Leone. The pace of the film was said to be tedious to some; they definitely haven't got the picture then. The point is, it was made to be that way. Just take into mind what Leone said about the film `...it was dance of death from beginning to finish' (there's more to this verse actually, it's at the back of the DVD). The only one close enough to even compare with this masterpiece would be `The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly', that also by Leone.
Truly a five star epic!



Rating:
Summary: Epic Masterpiece.
Review: Awe-inspiring, thrilling, interesting film about the developement of the railroads in the west, and three men entangled in the affairs of one woman. Of all of Leone's great great westerns, this is the "other one." In scope, quality, story and effect it only stands with The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. I highly recommend it, and like it even more than The Good, The Bad....Henry Fonda is a badass here, Charles Bronson, still cool and quiet, Jason Robards gruff and funny and Claudia Cardinale very sexy and grounded.

Rating:
Summary: A poetic farewell to the Far West !
Review: Sergio Leone was a great stylist ; a real memory film maker . He surrounded his films in a dark cloud of saudade ; a specific brazilian term so adequate to design the blending of tender nostalgia and heartfelt pain for those we love and never will come . Beatifully shot , incredible ambitious , haunting , erotic , and humorous as the life itself.
It seems more than obvious than the blood and dynamic mind of Sergio Leone countless centuries of greek ancestors ran ; his stories are always told from the mythical point of view . He is just a storyteller who will send us to the roots of the theme ; a similar resource is employed for him in Once upon a time in America, for instance . Beware in both cases he emphasizes the opening title : Once upon a time as a primigenial tale premise.
Once more the clever clues of the ancestral myths ; the Man (Charles Bronson) comes from nowhere with a debt to pay and this man is Frank who ignores to have made something wrong many years ago . The man makes has his own honor code and builds his own justice in a clear intention of returning the actual state of things to a better state . He makes it the probably becomes into possible . This is the reason for living of all hero ,
At last the cycle is done but nobody is really sure if the rest of the people has been cosnscious about the progressive transformation from the blame to redemption
One of the ten best westerns ever made!.