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Once Upon a Time in the West (2-Disc Special Edition)
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| Editorial Reviews: | | |  | | The so-called spaghetti Western achieved its apotheosis in Sergio Leone's magnificently mythic (and utterly outlandish) Once upon a Time in the West. After a series of international hits starring Clint Eastwood (from A Fistful of Dollars to The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly), Leone outdid himself with this spectacular, larger-than-life, horse-operatic epic about how the West was won. (And make no mistake: this is the wide, wide West, folks--so it should be seen in widescreen.) The unholy trinity of Italian cinema--Leone, Bernardo Bertolucci, and Dario Argento--concocted the story about a woman (Claudia Cardinale) hanging onto her land in hopes that the transcontinental railroad would reach her before a steely-eyed, black-hearted killer (Fonda) does. (The film's advertising slogan was: "There were three men in her life. One to take her ... one to love her ... and one to kill her.") Meanwhile, Leone shoots his stars' faces as if they were expansive Western landscapes, and their towering bodies as if they were looming rock formations in John Ford's Monument Valley. --Jim Emerson | | | | The powers behind the DVD of this Western masterpiece pay due respect to filmmaker Sergio Leone's style right down to the DVD menus: calm, slow building, and pierced by a gun blast. The location gallery is a wonderful and unique extra consisting of images of filming locations then and 30 some years later, scored by Ennio Morricone's haunting music. The new hour-long documentary (uselessly cut into three parts) is packed with new interviews from surviving members of the cast and crew (including star Claudia Cardinale and co-writer Bernardo Bertolucci) along with insight from a trio of modern film directors and Leone fans: John Carpenter, Alex Cox, and John Milius. Leone biographer Sir Christopher Frayling has the lion's share of the commentary track, and although he knows Leone cold, he often just narrates the action. Other voices are more engaging. The widescreen print (2.35:1) is immaculate with true colors we haven't seen in prints on TV or second-run theaters. Of course you'll miss the big screen of a movie theater, so we recommend you watch the film while sitting real close to your television. --Doug Thomas | |
| Custom Reviews: | |
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| "Keep your lovin' brother happy!" | |
| | This review is done from a psychological/mythological perspective and highlights symbolic material in the tradition of Jungian research into the collective unconscious.
The opening shot of the film shows a rickety shambles of a door which slowly creaks open. An elderly man turns to look at the door and sees a tall, lean, hollow-faced gunman--the gun and bullets are framed first in the shot and as the camera pans up to the gunman's face a ghostly rush of wind is heard. The elderly man turns to look and sees two other men framed in the other two doors. This opening moment sets the symbolic tone for the film, which is about the moment when someone transcends their normal life and becomes someone exceptional. In this film the exceptional usually means an exceptional killer.
The multiple doorways in this opening scene foreshadow the unholy gateway pictured toward the end of the film, where we learn the story behind the creation of the deadly character, Harmonica, played by Charles Bronson. This gateway to horror is like a demonic mandala with a suffering, agonized man and child in the middle, two ominous guards standing at the sides and the Monument Valley in the background.
Once a man has gone through that gateway of sublime disregard for human life and feeling, he becomes the gunslinger as visualized by Sergio Leone--a ghost of a man with eyes of ice and no human feeling. Satisfaction for this man is in death and brutality; moments of ecstasy are emphasized in the mysterious soundtrack which swells to a crescendo of fulfillment and joy at the moment of confrontation with death. Of particular note is Henry Fonda's performance. He plays an evil man with eerie sensitivity and achieves expressions of sadistic intimacy at the moment of supreme cruelty.
The final shot of the film closes the cycle; a woman dispensing water to numerous men of all races who are building a new town. The giving of water by the female symbolizes restoration of the soul and the busy working men show renewed productive activity in the psyche as opposed to the stagnation and chilled repetition of violence in the beginning of the film.
This film is one of the controversial yet classic westerns created by the master Sergio Leone. The pace is quite slow; Leone loves to show the long stare. The sets are beautiful and authentic. The acting is excellent if slightly marred by the somewhat off lip-synch--it was originally filmed in parts in Italian. The screenplay is typical Leone with psychological twists such as child abuse and oppression of women as crucial to character development.
There is some of the signature 60's look to the film such as orange tans for the men, thick false eyelashes and mascara for the ladies. But despite these miniscule stylistic distractions, this is one of the great Western movies, to be watched and savored.
| | | I'm starting a collection of Western DVD's and have bought some good ones (High Noon, Lonesome Dove, the Clint Eastwood flicks, etc.). Based on online reviews and "Best" movie lists, I chose Once Upon a Time in the West. What a mistake! Plotless, slow, poor editing, long, boring, etc. If you think The Unforgiven is one of the greatest westerns of all time, you'll think this one is one of the worst.
| | Henry Fonda is a scary dude | |
| | If you have never been scared of Henry Fonda, this is the movie that will do it for you. The scene in the beginning, right after the whole family is killed is so eerie as the gunmen just appear silently from the brush. Henry Fonda's cold, killer eyes staring down the little child before he shoots him. Wow.
This is a very well made film, nothing like is has been made in years. Every scene takes its time to build up the right mood. This is a movie to watch when you have alot of time and nobody is around to bother you. The DVD transfer is nothing short of amazing, the color and quality of this 35 year old film will leave you speechless.
Claudia Cardinale is an absolutely stunning beauty, Charles Bronson is perfect as the vengeful quiet loner. I didnt expect Jason Robards to work well but he is very effective.
Definitly a movie to buy, not just rent. Something to give to someone who really appreciates epic movies the way they used to make them.
| | First movie of the second trilogy | |
| | Leone went to America and started his second trilogy with this Western. Then came A fithful of dynamite and finally Once upon a time in America. The title for the second movie in France was Once upon a time the Revolution. This second trilogy had this in common, titles started with the same words. Leone was once again majestious choosing the right characters, Fonda for an unusual role in a depictable character and Bronson as the guy who doesn't talk much, like Eastwood in previous movies. The music accompanies the image in a beautiful way like when Cardinale arrived at the train station and the camera goes up to reveal the entire city with the music taking off with the choirs. The dust, the shootings, the rocks of Monument vallee, everything reminds of the wild west. The first scene is perfect with these 3 men with their own story, the fly, the water drop etc...Leone wanted Eastwood, Wallach and Van Cleef to play these 3 guys. It would be have a nice cameo after the Good the bad and the ugly. Eastwood didn't want to be remember in Leone's movie as a guy who gets killed. This shows how much characters are important, how much actors got involved in these movies. Bronson plays perfectly the guy who remembers how his brother was killed. Almost all violent scenes are not shown, just suggested, like the massacre, we only see dead bodies. This movies was made like a Greek drama, very slowly, without a lot of dialogues, and in a very theatratical and solennal way. This is a must see for western lovers.
| | I was wondering why I had never seen it before. Now I know. | |
| | Read some good things about this movie, so I bought the DVD on a lark. $15 down the drain. Apart from the opening sequence, which showed some real promise, I can't understand how anyone could call this lumbering beast a great movie. Painfully slow, as it introduces the main characters with minimal dialog - a lot of people staring at one another. An undistinguished plot that is leisurely revealed, cumulating in a big nothing. Another cookie cutter storyline, the sort that put the western on life support before Clint and Costner made it respectable again. I never believed for a minute in any of these characters. (*Spoilers*) Charles Bronson's motivation is not revealed until the end of the film, and it has nothing to do with the rest of the story. Tacked on justification for his inexplicable behavior. Jason Robarts ultra-lame death scene is laughable. Particularly after he must have been wounded for quite some time and gave no indication that he was injured in his previous scene. Henry Fonda is an effective bad guy, until he opened his mouth. His characteristic drawl is forever linked to the likes of 'On Golden Pond' and 'Mister Roberts' and no steely blue eyes or two day stubble can change that. The only high point is some interesting camera work. Unfortunately that is only one piece to a very incomplete puzzle. This film does not even belong on the same shelf with 'A Fistful of Dollars' or 'The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly'. I was wondering why I had never seen it before. Now I know.
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