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Once Upon a Time in the West -- Special Collector's Edition (2 discs) [1969]
starring: Henry Fonda, Claudia Cardinale, Jason Robards, Charles Bronson, Gabriele Ferzetti
directed by: Sergio Leone

List Price: £19.99

Off The Bookshelf's Price: £4.98

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Used Price: £3.90
Collectible Price: £5.95
Third Party New Price: £4.46

Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours Audience Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Binding: DVD
EAN: 5014437834836
Format: Box set, Collector's Edition, PAL
Label: Paramount Home Entertainment (UK)
Manufacturer: Paramount Home Entertainment (UK)
Number Of Discs: 2
Number Of Items: 2
Publisher: Paramount Home Entertainment (UK)
Region Code: 2
Release Date: October 06, 2003
Running Time: 158 minutes
Studio: Paramount Home Entertainment (UK)
Theatrical Release Date: August 14, 1969
Sales Rank: 593

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Editorial Review:

Amazon.co.uk Review:
Sergio Leone had to be persuaded to return to the Western for Once Upon a Time in the West after the success of his "Dollars" trilogy. The result is a masterpiece that expands the vision of the earlier movies in every way. It could as easily have been called The Good, the Bad, the Ugly and the Blonde as Charles Bronson steps into the No-Name role as the harmonica-playing vengeance seeker, Henry Fonda trashes his Wyatt Earp image as a dead-faced, blue-eyed killer who has sold out to the rapacious railroad; Jason Robards provides humanitarian footnotes as a life-loving but doomed bandit and the astonishingly beautiful Claudia Cardinale shows that all these grown-up little boys are less fit to make a country than one determined widow-mother-whore-angel-everywoman. The opening sequence--Woody Strode, Al Mulock and Jack Elam waiting for a train and bothered by a fly and dripping water--is masterful bravura, homing in on tiny details for a fascinating but eventless length of time before Bronson arrives for the lightning-fast shoot-out. With striking widescreen compositions and epic running time, this picture truly wins points for length and width.

On the DVD: Once Upon a Time in the West on disc is the transfer fans have been waiting for: the longest available version of the film in shimmering widescreen (enhanced for 16:9 TVs) which lends full impact to Leone's long shots of Monument Valley scenery or bustling crowds of activity, but also highlights his ultra-close images as Bronson's beady eyes or Cardinale's luscious pout fill the entire screen. A commentary track is mostly by expert Sir Christopher Frayling, with input from other academics, participants and enthusiasts--it's good on the detail, and Alex Cox winningly points out that one scene bizarrely can't be reconciled with what happens before or after it.

Disc 2 has four featurettes which, taken together, add up to a feature-length documentary on the film, and though overlapping the commentary slightly offer a wealth of further good stuff, plus the elegant Cardinale's undiminished smile. Also included is the trailer, notes on the cast, menu screens with generous selections from Ennio Morricone's score, stills gallery, comparison shots from the film and contemporary snapshots of the locations. --Kim Newman

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 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.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- My favourtie Western.
Once Upon A Time in the West is Sergio Leone's masterpiece. Not only does it feature classic Leone figures, the silent gunman (Charles Bronson), the cruel hitman (A suprising turn from Henry Fonda) and the charasmatic rouge (Jason Robard), it is the only Leone film and one of the few westerns to have its central figure be a woman. It also pays homage to many great westerns, in particular High Noon with the films brilliant opening, and is also intellegent, many critics interpreting it as a parable on capitalism. As well as brains, it has muscles though, with terrific set pieces and landscapes, exciting action and, as ever with Leone's films, enough suspense to make you heart skip a beat. The music is also great, and it, like Leone's previous ... Read More:

Rating:

- ONE OF THE GREAT WESTERN FILMS
I can't quite find the words to even come close to describing the pure brilliance of this movie. When this movie was made, the western genre was dominated by the big hollywood studios. The western was taken by these studios and transformed into an opportunity to portray classic superheroes like John Wayne and Burt Lancaster in their fight against all sorts of smalltime crooks and outlaws in smalltime stories and smalltime towns. It was a genuine effort to portray 'Americanism', the American Way, along with a romanticised view of the west as 'Frontier country' where good always triumphed over bad and where the life was hard but honest. It was the American Way.

And then came this film. The title, 'Once Upon A Time In The West' must ... Read More:

Rating:

- Leone at his best
Just seen this film again and it gets better every time i see it. The story, the characters, the dialogue, the soundtrack and the cinematography is brilliant. Definately one of if not the best westerns made to date and one of the best films for that matter too.

Rating:

- Perfection is hard to find
I love all the Clint Eastwood films with Sergio Leone. But the cast in this film is better then in any of the three Clint films. Henry Fonda is great but it is Charles Bronson who steals this film. From the opening scene, which must be one of the best opening scenes to a western i have ever seen, Charles Bronson oozes presence. Two and a half hours just fly by as we follow the three main protagonists through to the end of this dance of death. Fantastic ending also... much better then most films, never mind westerns.

Rating:

- True cinema
The opening credits with the Morricone soundtrack. Sergio Leone introduces three characters in the Train station waiting for a train (High Noon style). Leone deepens and defines the characters by means of visual persuasion; no dialogue between the characters as they wait at the train station for someone who is obviously going to be on the next train. No explanation, no conversation; not a word is said for 15 minutes. We then move onto a scene of quiet with young Timmy McBain after his family have been slaughtered. Cue Henry Fonda, the all American hero now playing a bad guy. He shoots the boy. This is ground-breaking cinema at its best.

How is it that this rather stylized movie still holds up so well 37 years after its release? ... Read More:

DVD : Once Upon a Time in the West -- Special Collector's Edition (2 discs) [1969]