Once Upon a Time in the West (C'era una volta il West)

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Once Upon a Time in the West (C'era una volta il West)

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Once Upon a Time in the West (...

Henry Fonda, Claudia Cardinale, Jason Robards, Charles Bronson, Frank Wolff

A woman returns to her ranch out west to find her husband has been killed by a band of outlaws who want the railroad-valuable land. A brooding, young cowboy steps in to stop them.

Id: 10903410

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Once Upon a Time in the West (C'era una volta il West) Recent Reviews

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Recent Reviews

Once Upon a Time in the West (C'era una volta il West) Recent Reviews
  • mrpopcorn
    September 14, 2009
    mrpopcorn
    "There were three men in her life. One to take her... one to love her... and one to kill her."

    Epic story of a mysterious stranger with a harmonica who joins forces with a notorious desperado to protect a beautiful widow from a ruthless assassin working for the railroad.
    ...( read more)
    REVIEW

    Sergio Leone's Western masterpiece finds Charles Bronson stepping into the No Name role as the vengeance-seeking Harmonica and Henry Fonda trashing his Wyatt Earp image as the dead-faced, blue-eyed killer, Frank. The opening - 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 shoot-out that gets the film going.

    Once Upon A Time In The West is the first Leone film to place violence in a truly political context, accusing the corrupt (and crippled) railroad tycoon who "leaves two shiny, slimy tracks like a snail" as he bulldozes across the landscape, employing outlaw flunkeys to dispose of inconvenient settlers who won't unsettle easily. Rapacious civilization taints the wide open spaces as Harmonica quests to track down the sadist who hanged his brother, widow-whore-earth mother Claudia Cardinale tries to fulfill her murdered husband's dream of a real community out West, and bandido Jason Robards just wants to be left in a natural state of childish abandon. With striking widescreen compositions and epic running time, this is truly a Western that wins points for both length and width.
  • garyX
    June 30, 2009
    garyX
    A newlywed arrives to find her adoptive family murdered and makes an alliance with a bandit and a mysterious drifter to unite against their killer. Sergio Leone's "dance of death" is probably his most artistic film; what doesn't happen on screen is just as important as what does....( read more) It is almost an examination of a difference in the mindset of the sexes. The only female protagonist, played by Claudia Cardinale, is the only one who truly embraces life, and is willing to do whatever it takes to survive. Robards' bandit, Bronson's revenge driven gunman and Fonda's steely eyed assassin not only expect death, but almost welcome it. This film is not about a bullet riddled slam bang finale; it's about a series of events and circumstances leading up to a single point in time, and is all the more powerful for it. Reeking atmosphere and tension, Leone's visuals have never been better and Fonda who is the true central character of the film is perfectly cast against type, his piercing blue eyes almost the opposite of Bronson's emotionless slits. The soundtrack is perhaps a little heavy handed in places and the 2hr 40min running time may seem a little daunting to some, but it's the perfect western for people who prefer them arthouse rather than action packed.
  • bradwest
    February 15, 2009
    bradwest
    I actually prefer this over The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Bronson is at his coolest and whoever thought Fonda could come off as cruel? Jason Robards deliberately tries to steal the movie repeatedly and the camera makes excellent use of spaces both grand and intimate. Leone real...( read more)ly knew the language of cinema.
  • pier007
    December 4, 2008
    pier007
    The birth of a nation. as seen through the eyes of Sergio Leone, in his greatest opera of the west.
    The genius of Leone and Morricone, in their respective visual and sonorous treatment, is mesmerizing.
    A larger than life, solemn, almost sacred elegy that presents a remarkable gr...( read more)oup of characters and compels them to move to the rhythm of a waltz of death. Henry Fonda, tears down his heroic cinematic persona, to incarnate the devil; Jason Robards as a sympathetic outlaw who yearns for settle down; Charles Bronson as Harmonica, an impervious man with no name; and the fully blossomed gorgeousness of Claudia Cardinale, as never seen before.
    What other filmmakers cemented for the genre, Sergio Leone lifted it to the stars, and beyond. He abandoned what made him popular, the nihilistic and frenetic nature of his work; for a gradual, more introspective and rhetorical masterpiece that increases its power with each passing minute, exudes vitality and spiritual depth, and rightfully placed him among the grand myths of cinema.
  • AgentLexi2132
    November 28, 2008
    AgentLexi2132
    ''If you want to, you can lay me over the table and amuse yourself. And even call in your men. Well. No woman ever died from that. When you're finished, all I'll need will be a tub of boiling water, and I'll be exactly what I was before - with just another filthy memory.
    -sigh    ...( read more)s-''You make good coffee, at least?''


    Epic story of a mysterious stranger with a harmonica who joins forces with a notorious desperado to protect a beautiful widow from a ruthless assassin working for the railroad.

    Henry Fonda: Frank

    Claudia Cardinale: Jill McBain

    Jason Robards: Cheyenne

    Charles Bronson: Harmonica

    There were three men in her life.

    One to take her...

    one to love her...

    and one to kill her.



    C'era una volta il West by Sergio Leone the man who made The Good, The bad and the Ugly has crafted something of legend, of finesse, of grandeur.

    Never before have i seen a Western that feels like a fairytale and music and tuneful heavenly melodies that jump out and set the scene, the mood. Music that tears your soul apart in vibrant doses. Harmonica playing, whistling, shanties, some harpsichord/piano playing oh god I'm in heaven. There's some tunes that will stick in your head all day on this, the scenes pay gladly, and it surely pays off.

    Combine that with performances that are as timeless as eternity and you have something that really does glow. Claudia Cardinale is so beautiful, she really cannot be faulted with how her face shows such soulful sorrow and yearning and such beauty. Although I'm always amazed how a woman living in the turbulent West can have perfect make up and perfect eye lashes.
    Henry Fonda as Frank plays a cool calculating villain with those radiant eyes of sea blue. The beginning massacre reminded me of Kill Bill, where him and his men wipe out a whole family.
    Charles Bronson also has a shroud of mystery and wonder, he's a legend and screams this with just a look everytime he's on screen. Plus that damn iconic Harmonica hence his alias which adds to the mystery of his character.
    Jason Robards has a voice that makes David Carradine sound like his long lost brother from yonder, he adds alot to the amazing trio that is Fonda, Bronson & Robards.

    Gunwork, cinematography, score, did i mention Claudia. This movie is a dazzling magical Western Classic that combines tunes with emotion, and has character's who know what there doing.

    There's a final revelation between Fonda & Bronson that clicks everything in place.

    A Sergio Leone triumph. Masterpiece and inspiration for many movies to follow after 1968. Definitely ahead of the game and it's time.

    ''He's whittlin' on a piece of wood. I've got a feeling when he stops whittlin'... Somethin's gonna happen.''
  • Oliba
    December 17, 2009
    Oliba
    Now I know who Tarantino ripped off in the making of Kill Bill. The cinematography is stunning and captures the feel and look of the Old West and there exist these long periods where the camera soaks up the arid dustbowl and great prarie expanses. Show downs are caricatures of th...( read more)e old Mexican standoff but movies like these that first sought to exaggerate the tension without which the formula for Westerns wouldn't have been written.
  • cosmo313
    December 6, 2009
    cosmo313
    VERY slow paced and long and drawn out, but if one can make it it through the (many) long scenes at the beginning where not much happens, they will be rewarded with a brilliant film which combines a revenge story with a historically relevant tale of progress and western expansion...( read more). Fonda is great in a surprising turn as a villain, Bronson is a creepy anti-hero, Robards is a credible tough guy, and Cardinale is both attractive and good in her role which links her to the three aforementioned men. Like the rest of Leone's films, the best parts are the cinematography, music, and atmosphere. This is a hard one to sit through, but well worth it.
  • elsemary888
    December 2, 2009
    elsemary888
    Very good Thank you Amillion
  • davidvilla89
    December 1, 2009
    davidvilla89
    one of the best movies ever made i have no idea why someone who would want to watch it wouldnt like it when they did
  • ElCochran90
    November 26, 2009
    ElCochran90
    Review coming someday...

    99/100
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