Once Upon a Time in The West – Paramount Pictures (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Italy, 1968
Director: Sergio Leone
Writers: Dario Argento, Bernardo Bertolucci, Sergio Leone, Sergio Donati
Cast: Henry Fonda, Claudia Cardinale, Jason Robards, Charles Bronson, Gabriele Ferzetti

Release Date: May 31st, 2011
Approximate running times: 166 Minutes 1 Second (Restored Version), 165 Minutes 34 Seconds (Theatrical Version)
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC (Both Versions)
Rating: PG-13
Sound: DTS-HD 5.1 English, Dolby Digital Mono English, Dolby Digital Mono French, Dolby Digital Mono Spanish (Both Versions)
Subtitles: English SDH, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese (Both Versions)
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $11.99

"Writer/director Sergio Leone's epic western tale stars Henry Fonda in a chilling role as a ruthless gunman hired by a sinister railroad tycoon to take out anyone who gets in the way of his company's expansion. Claudia Cardinale is a young landowner whose family falls victim to Fonda's bullets, and Jason Robards and Charles Bronson are a pair of outlaws commissioned to bring him to justice." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.25/5 (Restored Version, Theatrical Version)

Once Upon a Time in The West comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 41.2 GB

Feature: 24.8 GB

This transfer looked great when it was first released 13 years ago, it is now starting to show some limitations as technology has improved. That said, flesh tones look healthy, colors are nicely saturated, contrast, black levels, and image clarity are strong, compression is very good, and there does not appear to be any egregious use of digital noise reduction. This release uses seamless branching for the two versions.

Audio: 4.5/5 (DTS-HD 5.1 English), 4/5 (Dolby Digital Mono English)

This release comes with four audio options, a DTS-HD 5.1 mix in English, a Dolby Digital mono mix in English, a Dolby Digital mono mix in French, and a Dolby Digital mono mix in Spanish. For this release, I only listened to the two English-language tracks. Both audio tracks are in great shape; there are no issues with hiss or distortion. Dialog comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, ambient sounds are well-represented, and the score and action sequences sound robust. That said, though it is disappointing that the original mono mix was not given a DTS-HD track, the DTS-HD 5.1 track sounds great, and it does a superb job expanding the original mono source. Included are removable English subtitles, removable English SDH, removable Spanish subtitles, removable French subtitles, and removable Portuguese subtitles. Also, this release comes with two versions of the film, and the audio and subtitle options are the same for both versions.

Extras:

Extras for this release include  two images galleries: Then and Now and Production Gallery, a theatrical trailer (2 minutes 52 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), a featurette that explores the arrival of the railroads and how they changed the west titled Railroad: Revolutionizing the West  (6 minutes 21 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with removable French, Spanish, Portuguese subtitles), a documentary titled An Opera of Violence (28 minutes 49 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English and Italian with removable English, French, Spanish, Portuguese subtitles), a documentary titled The Wages of Sin (19 minutes 36 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English and Italian with removable English, French, Spanish, Portuguese subtitles), a documentary titled Something to Do With Death (18 minutes 17 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English and Italian with removable English, French, Spanish, Portuguese subtitles), an audio commentary with  film historians Sir Christopher Frayling and Dr. Seldon Hall, actress Claudia Cardinale and filmmakers John Carpenter, John Milius and Alex Cox, and a slipcover (limited to the first pressing).

The documentaries include interviews with Sergio Leone, cinematographer Tonino Delli Colli, Claudia Cardinale, Bernardo Bertolucci, John Carpenter, John Milius, Alex Cox, and historians Sir Christopher Frayling and Dr. Sheldon Hall.

It should be noted that a few of the extras that were included as part of Paramount’s 2-disc DVD release of Once Upon a Time in the West have not been carried over for this release, like cast profiles and a second trailer that was included as an Easter egg on that release.

Summary:

"There were three men in her life. One to take her… one to love her… and one to kill her." - Tagline

Sergio Leone, after completing ‘The Dollars’ trilogy, had grown tired of the western genre, and he had come across a book he wanted to make into a film, The Hoods. Paramount approached Leone to do another western, and he agreed on the condition that he could make his dream project, The Hoods, which would later become Once Upon a Time in America. Clint Eastwood and Sergio Leone had grown apart by the time they made The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, so Sergio Leone would have to find another strong, silent type to play the lead in Once Upon a Time in the West. Enter Charles Bronson. Sergio Leone had Morricone compose the film score before any shooting started, and Sergio Leone would play the music in the background for the actors. Paramount would offer Sergio Leone the chance to direct The Godfather after the box-office failure of Once Upon a Time in the West. He would pass on the offer instead opting to direct his dream project Once Upon a Time in America.

Once Upon a Time in the West opens with one of the longest opening credits that I have seen so far in any movie. Three gun fighters wait for Harmonica at a train station. The sound design as they wait is remarkable, as the tension builds as water drips on one of the gunfighter’s hats as the windmill creaks away. In an early amusing moment, a fly lands on one of the gunfighter’s beards as he tries to blow it away before finally trapping it in his gun. Harmonica starts to play his namesake as the train pulls away as Leone sets up one of his more awkward standoffs, three against one, that ends in a blaze of bullets. 

Just like The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Once Upon a Time in the West opens with multiple character introductions. Besides Harmonica’s introduction, there is a woman named Jill who becomes the owner of a very valuable piece of land after her husband and his children are massacred by a cold-blooded gun for hire named Frank. And the other key introduction is a half-breed outlaw named Cheyenne, who teams up with Harmonica and Jill to take on the men responsible for murdering her family. Though a piece of land is central to the story that unfolds, it culminates with a final showdown between Frank and Harmonica to settle some unfinished business.

Through images, Sergio Leone is able to convey so much in Once Upon a Time in the West, and even though the narrative is thin, he keeps things moving and interesting. Once Upon a Time in the West is Sergio Leone’s love letter to American westerns. It is the most beautifully filmed and masterfully paced film ever made. Sergio Leone is most known for staging his action in long, drawn-out ritualized set pieces, and with Once Upon a Time in the West, he really perfected this approach. Beginning with For a Few Dollars More, Sergio Leone employed the dream sequence as another avenue in which to relay more background about the character and information to the audience. Another Sergio Leone trademark is close-ups of faces and eyes, and in Once Upon a Time in the West, his ultra-close-up of Harmonica as he remembers why he hates Frank so much heightens the mood.

Casting a movie can make or break a movie, and Leone in Once Upon a Time in the West assembles a list of actors. Charles Bronson as Harmonica is reminiscent of Clint Eastwood’s man with no name character, but he still makes the part all his own. Casting Henry Fonda as the movie’s villain, Frank, proved to be an excellent choice. Imagine the audience’s reaction to seeing this American icon kill and murder children. Jason Robards gets plenty of screen time as Cheyenne, a charismatic half-breed who is constantly being caught and rescued. In one of her best performances of her career, Claudia Cardinale plays Jill, the sympathetic one, who will do whatever she needs to find out who killed her family.

Ennio Morricone, for Once Upon a Time in the West, organized the music into motifs, one for each of the four leads. Once Upon a Time in the West is one of Ennio Morricone’s greatest achievements, and the music cue, The Man with a Harmonica, is a haunting piece that stays with you long after the film is over.

Once Upon a Time in the West is more like an opera than a film, as the music more than anything drives the narrative. The final showdown between Frank and Harmonica is one of cinema's most pure and stylized gun fights ever committed to film. Once Upon a Time in the West is Sergio Leone’s most character-driven and intimate film. It is also loaded with exquisite photography and outstanding performances from all the cast. Ultimately, Once Upon a Time in the West is truly a landmark, and we are likely to never see the likes of such a film ever again.

Once Upon a Time in The West gets a first-rate release from Kino Lorber that comes with a strong audio/video presentation and a wealth of informative extras, recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer