1968 ‘C'era una volta il West’ Directed by Sergio Leone
This classic western masterpiece is an epic film about a widow whose land and life are in danger as the railroad is getting closer and closer to taking them over. A mysterious harmonica player joins forces with a desperado to protect the woman and her land.
Although Sergio Leone never really made anything better or more entertaining than The Good, the Bad & the Ugly in my opinion, he did come incredibly close to repeating that cinematic feat with this spaghetti western epic. A stunning work of blazing originality & featuring precision craftsmanship in nearly all departments of filmmaking, Once Upon a Time in the West is western in its purest form that fuses breathtaking art into the legacy of Wild West unlike any other example before or after it.
The story revolves around a small chunk of land which is the region's only water source. The family that owns the land is slaughtered by Frank & his gang, after which the ownership transfers to Jill, the widow of…
A true masterpiece in every sense of the word! The opening scene takes the mundane (sweaty gunslingers with weathered faces, dripping water, pesky fly and a rusty old windmill) and literally turns it into a work of art!
A western that's so real you can almost see the beard stubble grow by the minute and the sweat trickling from your screen!
Gorgeous cinematography with soundtracks ranging from glorious, to thrilling, to haunting! An all star cast as magnificent as the film itself! (Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Jason Robards, Claudia Cardinale)
As lusty as it is gutsy! A place and time when guns and grimaces did all of the talking!
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Beautifully composed, shot, and told, Sergio Leone's "Once Upon a Time in the West" is well deserving of its reputation as one of the best Westerns ever made. An epic story of lawlessness, vengeance, and the women and men conquering the untamed American west, Leone's film is meditative and gritty, sweeping and violent. It compels with its carefully composed aesthetic, archetypal-yet-specifically drawn characters, and grand themes.
Steeped in dirt, sweat, and stubble, Leone's film is made up of narrative threads well-known to genre fans. Murder, westward expansion, and frontier justice dominate the plot. The story focuses on a widow whose husband owned precious water rights near the town of Flagstone. With parties trying to forcibly rid the widow of her…
"Do you know anything about a guy going around playing the harmonica? He's someone you'd remember. Instead of talking, he plays. And when he better play, he talks."
What a pleasure it was for me to finally get to watch this masterpiece which I kept on putting off because of its nearly three hour runtime. I was blown away by Sergio Leone’s direction in The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, and that was the only film of his that I’d seen up to this point, but now I honestly can’t say which of the two films I prefer. This is perhaps a better film because it is set on a grander and epic scale, but perhaps not as entertaining…
Almost 50 years after it's release we're still guaranteed to be captivated by Once Upon a Time in the West's beautiful photography, the incredibly ambitious story, the untalkative ironic humor, the stylistic directing, the perfect ensemble cast and last but not least, Ennio Morricone's both grandiose and minimalist musical score. If there ever was a film that stood the test of time, without any signs of flaws, this is it.
Once Upon a Time in the West is - along side with The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - my favourite Sergio Leone western. It describes one of the most mythical eras in American history: The building of the Pacific Railroad.
As the thematic and manufacturing scale of the…
Masterpiece
Beyond the fact that this is one of the greatest movies ever made, this movie teaches you one very important lesson. DON'T F*CK WITH CHARLES BRONSON.
I think this one will require another viewing from me when I don't get distracted early in the film by making dinner. I missed a good chunk of the plot and dialogue, however the visuals and better pacing than The Good, The Bad and The Ugly might make this the Leone movie I like the most. It's funny because I get flashbacks of Jason Robards in a Sam Peckinpah western and I get surprised by how much better women are treated on film by Leone in contrast to Peckinpah. The Ennio Morricone score is great. Simply great.
The western to end all westerns bout in scope, quality and score and in its thematic( the last scene and shot clearly indicate the end of an era) enriched with an amazing cast led by an out of character blue eyed cold killer Hendry Fonda and silent but deadly Charles Bronson, whit his ominous harmonica.
Quite disappointed with this, was expecting something grander but it was still pretty nice regardless. Quite a few eh characters and was quite drawn out, cool ending though.
As some critic once said, Leone made the High Holy Mass of the Western genre. Truly a piece of art.
Man, I couldn't give a fuck about this film. Not a single fuck. Not even a centifuck.
I'm not a big Sergio Leone fan in general. His films are too stylized for me. Ever had a food with so much artificial flavor that it ends up tasting more artificial than flavor? That's the taste his films leave in my mouth. But I could appreciate a Good/Bad/Ugly as it had some heart lingering in there.
This one? It lost me in the first 20-25 minutes. So much of that artificial flavor. It's an Old West populated of sociopaths, by sociopaths, and for sociopaths. Oh, and Claudia Cardinale. But mostly sociopaths. The opening segment is a shootout between a stranger and some…
Once Upon a Time in the West has epic written all over it. With the gorgeous cinematography, wonderful panning shots, the beautiful soundtrack, and a long running time, this 1968 spaghetti western, directed by Sergio Leone, is big in every way.
The film stars Henry Fonda as the man in black, Charles Bronson as the harmonica playing gunslinger with a vengeance, Jason Robards as the bandit Cheyenne, and Claudia Cardinale as Jill the widow. The stars are all fantastic in their parts, none of them really outshines the other and director/writer Sergio Leone ensures they all get their close-ups and time to shine. Henry Fonda is an interesting choice to play the villain as he has that nice guy look,…
Film School Dropouts Challenge 2017: -- Week Twenty: Spaghetti Westerns
A few initial thoughts:
1.) [long sigh] Well, that's finally out of the way. I won't lie but since I expected Terra Em Transe to be depressing (it was alienating instead) and knew this film was three hours long, that held up this challenge for me for months.
2.) Oh, this is where Tarantino steals all his shit.
3.) How slow does Meek's Crossing have to be for people to complain about the length of that at 104 minutes when THIS is the standard?
I hate to be a naysayer on this one, because I actually think this is a very, very, VERY well-directed and acted film. A lot of…
Once Upon a Time in the West is everything you should be looking for in a western. Epic characters, some intense action, and all the backdrops and scenery of the old west. On top of that you get Serge Leone's incredible sense of direction that makes each scene so intense. The performances are great and each character could be in a film of there own. Once Upon of a Time in the West helped define the standards for westerns, and helped influence generations of movies, directors and actors to come.
Trim that shit down, Sergio. Enjoyable and shot really nicely, the scale is massive, and the attention detail is stunning, makes the entire place feel genuine, but it does go on massively longer than it ought to.
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