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Movies / On DVD / Once Upon a Time in the West
Once Upon a Time in the West

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Once Upon a Time in the West (1969)

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97 %
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Reviews Counted: 32

Fresh: 31

Rotten:1

Average Rating: 8.9/10

Runtime: 2 hrs 45 mins

Genre: Westerns

Synopsis: Morton (Gabriele Ferzetti), the power-hungry owner of a railroad company, hires Frank (Henry Fonda, playing against type), a gunfighter without a conscience, to kill anyone who stands in the way of... Morton (Gabriele Ferzetti), the power-hungry owner of a railroad company, hires Frank (Henry Fonda, playing against type), a gunfighter without a conscience, to kill anyone who stands in the way of the completion of the railroad. After Frank murders land owner Brett McBain (Frank Wolff), McBain's widow (Claudia Cardinale) hires two killers of her own to protect her and gain revenge: a mysterious, harmonica-playing desperado (Charles Bronson) and his rogue sidekick (Jason Robards). Using techniques previously unseen in the genre, Sergio Leone utilizes close-ups, color, and Ennio Morricone's trademark score to create a tense and somber meditation on death which is widely considered to be one of the best westerns in cinematic history. Soon-to-be legendary Italian directors Dario Argento (SUSPIRIA) and Bernardo Bertolucci (THE LAST EMPEROR) collaborated with Leone on the screenplay. [More]

Starring: Henry Fonda, Claudia Cardinale, Jason Robards, Charles Bronson

Starring: Henry Fonda, Claudia Cardinale, Jason Robards, Charles Bronson, Gabriele Ferzetti, Paolo Stoppa, Woody Strode, Jack Elam, Keenan Wynn, Frank Wolff, Lionel Stander

Director: Sergio Leone

Director: Sergio Leone
Screenwriter: Sergio Leone, Sergio Donati
Story: Dario Argento, Sergio Leone, Bernardo Bertolucci
Producer: Bino Cicogna
Composer: Ennio Morricone

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Nov 18, 2003

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Once Upon a Time in the West

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
06/06/08
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

What fun.

comment Comment
11/20/07
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
01/26/06
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Leone (1921-1989) is here at the peak of his epic powers.

Full Review Source: New York Observer | comment Comment
09/29/05
Andrew Sarris
New York Observer
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

If only the first 10 minutes of Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West still existed, this most hyperbolic of oat operas would still be acknowledged as one of the genre's greatest exhumations.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
09/27/05
Chuck Stephens
Village Voice
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Leone’s insistence on style trumped the need for substance.

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
09/20/05
Phil Hall
Film Threat

No review available.

comment Comment
07/29/05
Jules Brenner
Cinema Signals

No review available.

comment Comment
06/15/05
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

It is mostly fun for the way it cherishes movie styles and attitudes from the past.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
05/09/05
Vincent Canby
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The 165-minute feature doesn't always make perfect sense, but it's a thrill to just sit back and enjoy the scenery.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
03/07/05
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

The movie stretches on for nearly three hours, with intermission, and provides two false alarms before it finally ends.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment 11 Comments
10/23/04
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Explores legends and entombs myths into a film that is timeless and will live on as a work of art even if the western as we once knew it disappeared alongside its heroes.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
08/24/04
Ryan Cracknell
Apollo Guide

'even the quieter romantic or reflective moments are filled with a sense of energy coming from the expectation that at any given moment something huge is going to happen.'

Full Review Source: Cinematic Reflections | comment Comment
05/11/04
Derek Smith
Cinematic Reflections

Visualmente espetacular, este clássico cerca a bela Cardinale de atores fantásticos, que duelam não apenas com suas armas, mas também com suas ótimas performances.

comment Comment
03/26/04
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena

No review available.

comment Comment
03/15/04
Mark Palermo
Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

No review available.

comment Comment
03/09/04
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews

A Leone masterpiece: its deep-focus panoramas, looming widescreen closeups and brilliant sound design are as distinctive as the ballistic signature of a bullet.

Full Review Source: Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) | comment Comment
01/26/04
John Beifuss
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

Leone’s masterpiece, the pinnacle of his storied career

Full Review Source: Q Network Film Desk | comment Comment
01/06/04
James Kendrick
Q Network Film Desk

A masterpiece of style.

Full Review Source: Reno Gazette-Journal | comment Comment
01/05/04
Mark Robison
Reno Gazette-Journal

One of the greatest face movies ever made.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
12/10/03
Douglas Pratt
Hollywood Reporter
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
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