Once Upon a Time in the West

Product Description:
An outlaw working for a railroad magnate fights a stranger for a new orleans widows land.Studio: Paramount Home VideoRelease Date: 02/13/2007Starring: Henry Fonda Frank WolffRun time: 165 minutesRating: Pg13Director: Sergio Leone

Amazon.com essential video:
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 the widescreen/letterboxed version is strongly recommended.) 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

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Customer Reviews

Rating: - ...an air of authenticity !
Just a couple of notes:I did not see this film in 1968 (though I could have).I saw it recently.A couple of things made me smile:the scenes in Monument Valley which made it the only Leone Western that was filmed (if only in part) in the West.AND, unlike John Ford who almost owned Monument Valley in films, Leone actually made the locale of his film Arizona.Monument Valley is partially in Utah and partially in Arizona.John Ford always wanted us to believe it was in Texas (over and over ... Read More
Rating: - One Needs Patience To Appreciate This Film
This was a unique western, one in which sometimes the action moves excruciatingly slow, which can either be fascinating or boring.Take your pick. I've watched this film several times over the years and found it both.It's odd in that regard but I believe patience wins out here and is rewarded.

The movie is filled with gaps of silence while closeups of the main characters' faces are shown. That's director Sergio Leone's trademark, and I believe he does it more in this film than in any ... Read More
Rating: - started it all for me!
First I heard the soundtrack, then I saw the film. It is all quite breathtaking. The special features are fantastic. Who knew they edited the film to the soundtrack? Not surprising, I was obsessed with it before I even saw the film. Now I am addicted to westerns.
Rating: - Yes: THE best western ever made....
...the occasional bad dubbing of the Italian actors not withstanding.

Where is the Blu-ray release?
Rating: - true western
The first time I saw this movie I was 17 years old. I am now 56. Loved it then, love it now.
We don't realize that the railroad was very powerful and had government backing in that day. They were very ruthless and this story is very believable.
You also have to remember the railroad linked the country together which brought us where we are today.
If you want to watch a piece of history, you will enjoy this movie. I would not let kids watch it. They probably wouldn't want to anyway. ... Read More