Once Upon a Time in the West

Note: This review contains spoilers; please do not read if you do not wish to find out important plot points before viewing the film.This movie has so much---stunning scenery, a great cast, tight writing, economic plot, and haunting music---and it takes its time to unfold its tale of stark vengeance and redemption. This is unmistakably and indelibly a Sergio Leone vision. One could imagine that Clint Eastwood was first offered the role of Harmonica, the avenger, and then it went to Charles Bronson. However it worked out, Bronson was superb as the Everyman hero/possible avenging angel character; he projected a subtle sorrow in his piercing eyes, even his body language, that made him perfect for the role.The plot is multilayered, revolving around a lovely widow (Claudia Cardinale) of a shrewd man named Brett McBain, who is brutally murdered along with his children by the railroad's hired guns while she is enroute to join them at their home in Sweetwater. Her property is what is coveted and it becomes Harmonica's bait to settle an old score with the chief hired gun, Frank, who is shockingly revealed to be played by wholesome Henry Fonda. His clear blue eyes, so apparently innocent-looking, become frightening in their lack of human emotions. Frank kills without remorse whatever it befalls him to kill as casually as flicking a leaf off his sleeve. Human life is meaningless to him, even more so than to his tubercular cancer-ridden boss Morton. At least he has a motive (greed) to explain his hubris; Frank evidently needs no such excuse and kills because it's what he was born to do.Another character is brought into the tense mix, a bountied outlaw named Cheyenne, appealingly played by Jason Robards. He is also a killer, but one with a sense of humor and a kind streak, as well as a soft spot in his heart for pretty women. When both he and Harmonica are hired by Jill McBain to get revenge on her husband's killers, they form a strange alliance against Frank and the railroad, which Cheyenne sees as a threat to his way of outlaw life. Over time, he becomes friendly with the widow Jill, who in turn is oddly drawn to Harmonica. When Cheyenne realizes this, he utters his famous line: "There's something inside a man like that... something about death." Everything hinges on McBain's property, which is substantial, and his plans to build a railroad station. He had everything legally in place to build the station but if it isn't finished by the time the railroad reaches Sweetwater, his heir forfeits the right to build it and even to keep the land. Harmonica uncovers the motive for McBain's murder and will prevent his dream from failing.Frank, who is usually so icily carefree about death and those who stalk him, grows more obsessed with finding out who Harmonica is, since every time he asks him, the enigmatic drifter keeps answering by naming off men that Frank has killed. Everything comes apart for Morton and Frank as the killer begins to slowly but relentlessly unravel, with vague flashbacks rising as to who Harmonica might be. These, however, keep his past shrouded sufficiently so that Frank cannot quite close this maddening chapter in his life by just gunning down Harmonica and being done with him.At last, Frank is mortally wounded in the climatic gun duel by Harmonica, who strangely is less fazed by what should also be a mortal wound, leading to the speculation that Harmonica is someone other than who he appears to be. Placing his harmonica to Frank's dying lips where his weakening breath wheezes out a few ragged discordant notes, Harmonica watches as his motive is finally realized by Frank. He had sadistically stood a man upon his younger brother's shoulders with a noose around his victim's neck, then shoved a harmonica into the boy's lips. Easing back to watch for the moment when the younger man's legs would finally give out and his brother would hang, Frank is smiling with cold pleasure at his handiwork. It is at that point that the older brother cursed his killer and kicked the boy out from under him, thus alleviating the responsibility placed on Harmonica to keep him alive.But this sequence, though gratifying from a vengeance point, does not answer the question about Harmonica's mysterious knowledge about Frank's victims or his apparent ability to shake off a serious wound with little effect. That combined with Harmonica's penchant to be in the right place at the right time, to stand outside of events while at times controlling them, gives his character a dimension that disconnects him from temporal events. He becomes at those moments like a mysterious angel of death.Every actor was wonderful in his role, from Claudia Cardinale to Jason Robards, but the two principals were outstanding. Fonda, renowned for playing good guys, turned his reputation as an actor completely around with his flawless portrayal of the vicious and heartless killer, Frank. His foil, played to understated perfection by Charles Bronson, was the reluctant vigilante, the man consumed with revenge for his brother's murder, and yet not merely that. Bronson projected from Harmonica a deep and inexplicable sadness that permeated his words, appearance and actions.This was not Leone's choice for a movie. He had abandoned the spaghetti Western concept after the Clint Eastwood films, but was persuaded to take on this project. It did not fare well at the box office, which is no surprise considering its length of almost three hours. A great pity, as it is sometimes overlooked by fans of the spaghetti Western genre for both its lack of commercial success, and for committing the unforgivable sin of not having Eastwood in the lead. It is a great film and works on many levels; in some ways, it is the distillation and the perfection of the SW genre even as it closed it out for good.

Once Upon A Time In The West, arguably the greatest western ever made, has one of the coolest and most impeccably executed scenes in cinematic history that puts every action movie Hollywood made in the last 50 years to shame.And one must appreciate the beautiful soundtrack by legendary Ennio Morricone that perfected this movie and the uncompromised masculine nature of the story that has been sorely missed in today’s Western entertainment industries.The blu-ray edition of this film that was released in 2017 definitely needs upgrading for how grainy it is compared to the older films that got great restoration treatments in recent years. Even my 2010 How the West Was Won(1963) Blu-ray copy looks better by a mile.

Best Western ever! Charles Bronson was, with Paul Newman and Henry Fonda and Steve McQueen ......as the guys of guys. And, Claudia Cardinal was incredibly sexy.

There are so many ways of thinking about the American West and trying to interpret it through film. The Italian director Sergio Leone's 1968 film "Once Upon A Time In The West" borrows themes from many earlier westerns, including "Johnny Guitar" (1954) a film involving a former prostitute who owns property needed by an oncoming railroad, while making an unmistakable contribution to the genre of its own. Leone's film, in turn, is alluded to in Quentin Tarantino's recent film involving the golden age of the western, "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood"."Once Upon a Time in the West" is a large-scale film running nearly three hours. The film builds slowly and is deliberately difficult to follow. The film combines two stories, one involving a harmonica-playing gunman seeking revenge for the brutal killing of his brother and the other involving the attempt to wrest a property needed by the railroad away from its owner by violent, unlawful means. The film opens violently but with a great deal of deliberation in a manner apparently unconnected from either story. It takes a while for the situation to become clear, and for me it took a second viewing and some reading.This film stars three separate outlaws: Henry Fonda as the cold, ruthless, and stony-faced Frank is the villain of the piece and delivers a remarkable performance. Charles Bronson plays "Harmonica" on his mission of revenge. Jason Robards plays "Cheyenne". The three outlaws act separately from each other and the latter two are shown with complexity and sympathy. The film stars as well Claudia Cardinale as Jill, a former prostitute from New Orleans and the wife of the owner of a property coveted by the railroad. The railroad man is willing to do almost anything to get the property.The film develops gradually while building tension. It emphasizes posturing and facial expressions of the characters and of their immediate surroundings. The film also shows many of the characters and places involved in a small western town and in a growing settlement. The scenery is stunning. The individual scenes tend to be lengthy. They also frequently cut-away to a different scene at a critical time. The film is known as well for its musical score and for the leitmotifs that accompany the different outlaws.. Many viewers have found that "One Upon a Time in the West" is operatic in character in its passion, length, and music.The film is full of violence and killing. In addition it involves a great deal of smoldering sexuality involving the widow, Jill. The film resolves as Harmonica's motive for revenge becomes clear and as the steam engine chugs into the new town. The violence and outlawry of the Old West, the film suggests, ultimately leads to the establishment of a community to grow in harmony and to the overcoming of its individualistic, anti-social beginnings. This is a theme of many westerns and part of the American ideal and vision.I have been watching many westerns during the pandemic to think about how they portray the West and the development of our country. The best of these films are more thoughtful that is sometimes supposed and offer a means for reflection on our country. "Once Upon a Time in the West" appears on many lists of best westerns and best films; and it is listed by the National Film Registry, Library of Congress as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." I enjoyed watching this film and thinking about its portrayal of the American West.Robin Friedman

Movie is good Blu-ray not so good OK

Excelente película, de las mejores.

Edición con dos versiones, normal y restaurada. Máster audio y español latino, NO castellano ..en mi caso me da igual porque al precio que salió , lo bien que se ve y máster audio ingles con subtítulos en Español está genial. Muy bien. Extras sencillos, con subtítulos en español también. La película es uno de los mejores western de la historia.

巨匠と名優の強烈タッグ

Versione restaurata bellissima. Colori eccezionali. Anche il suono è molto migliorato rispetto il DVD. Aspetto la versione italiana in blu ray

Do not hesitate, buy it ,