Once Upon a Time in the West

UPC: 097361438641

Studio: Paramount

MPAA Rating: PG13   Contains:[Graphic Violence, Adult Situations, Not For Children, Adult Language, Western Violence]

Summary: In Sergio Leone's epic Western, shot partly in Monument Valley, a revenge story becomes an epic contemplation of the Western past. To get his hands on prime railroad land in Sweetwater, crippled railroad baron Morton (Gabriele Ferzetti) hires killers, led by blue-eyed sadist Frank (Henry Fonda), who wipe out property owner Brett McBain (Frank Wolff) and his family. McBain's newly arrived bride, Jill (Claudia Cardinale), however, inherits it instead. Both outlaw Cheyenne (Jason Robards) and lethally mysterious Harmonica (Charles Bronson) take it upon themselves to look after Jill and thwart Frank's plans to seize her land. As alliances and betrayals mutate, it soon becomes clear that Harmonica wants to get Frank for another reason -- it has "something to do with death." As in his "Dollars" trilogy, Leone transforms the standard Western plot through the visual impact of widescreen landscapes and the figures therein. At its full length, Once Upon a Time in the West is Leone's operatic masterwork, worthy of its legend-making title. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi

Category: Western

Awards: Film Presented – Miami International Film Festival

Features: Commentary with Contributions from Directors John Carpenter, John Milius & Alex Cox, Film Historians Sir Christopher Frayling & Dr. Sheldon Hall and Cast & Crew

An Opera of Violence
The Wages of Sin
Something To Do With Death
Railroad: Revolutionising The West
Locations Then & Now
Production Gallery
Theatrical Trailer - HD

Once Upon a Time in the West

Format: Blu-ray

Release Date: 05/31/2011

Audio: DHMA null, DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1, DD1 Dolby Digital Mono, DD2 Dolby Digital Stereo

Runtime: 331 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English,French,Spanish

Subtitles: English,French,Spanish,Portuguese

Lucia Bozzola

One of numerous '60s revisionist Westerns, Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) turns a revenge story into a contemplation of the Western past. As in his "Dollars" trilogy, Leone transforms the standard Western plot through the visual impact of widescreen landscapes and the figures who populate them, as Harmonica appears out of nowhere and Frank chillingly commands the center of the frame. The opening credit sequence of three Western toughs (including Woody Strode and Jack Elam) preparing to kill someone at a train station artfully plays off Leone's fixation with faces and locales and the epic effect of his meticulous narrative pace. The sense of suspended time speaks to the concerns with past, future, and history that drive the plot; Jill oversees the literal tracks of "progress," while Frank is undone by the past he shares with memory-driven Harmonica. Among a number of "quotations" from classical Westerns, Henry Fonda's presence as the sadistic Frank and the Monument Valley location evoke the Western movie past of John Ford, as Leone exposes the dark reverse of Fonda's staunch Wyatt Earp in My Darling Clementine (1946). Ennio Morricone's haunting score emphasizes the elegiac, quasi-mystical atmosphere. After the success of the "Dollars" films starring Clint Eastwood, Paramount gave Leone the money to make his monumental saga as he wished. When the film opened to critical indifference and little business, Paramount chopped 25 minutes out to speed the pace, but to no financial avail. Leone's directorial career never quite recovered. Those 25 minutes, and Once Upon a Time in the West's critical stature, have since been restored; the film is now considered to be Leone's operatic masterpiece. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi

Cast and Crew: John Frederick  Actor 
Spartaco Conversi  Actor 
Dino Mele  Actor 
Marilu Carteny  Actor 
Conrado SanMartin  Actor 
Benito Stefanelli  Actor 
Marco Zuanelli  Actor 
Renato Pinciroli  Actor 
Claudio Mancini  Actor 
Aldo Berti  Actor 
Sergio Donati  Screenwriter 
Sergio Leone  Director 
Sergio Leone  Screenwriter 
Ennio Morricone  Composer (Music Score) 
Fulvio Morsella  Producer 
Bino Cicogna  Executive Producer 
Charles Bronson  Actor 
Claudia Cardinale  Actor 
Henry Fonda  Actor 
Jason Robards, Jr.  Actor 
Gabriele Ferzetti  Actor 
Frank Wolff  Actor 
Keenan Wynn  Actor 
Jack Elam  Actor 
Lionel Stander  Actor 
Woody Strode  Actor 
Paolo Stoppa  Actor 

Country: Italy,USA