“DON’T MISS! PACKS A WALLOP! If there had to be a final Western, ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST would be it! Gorgeous nostalgia supplied by Sergio Leone’s mythic 1968 summation work. If you’ve never tried a spaghetti western, here’s the place to start.”
– Time Out New York

“The characters’ compelling dance of death is made all the more riveting by Leone’s stylish bravura.”
– Phil Hardy, The Western

“Leone calls it a ‘ballet of the dead,’ and it’s also been called ‘an opera in which the arias are not sung,
they are stared.’” – Richard Schickel

Revenge-bent Charles Bronson stalks kid-blasting villain Henry Fonda (a far cry from his lovable lawman in Ford’s My Darling Clementine) with the aid of good-bad man Jason Robards Jr., as the railroad marches relentlessly westward through the land of hooker-turned-earth mother Claudia Cardinale. From the beginning, it’s obvious we’re in the realm of the grandiose: the legendary waiting-for-the-train opening sequence under the credits lasts ten minutes, accompanied only by an orchestration of natural sounds - wind, creaking windmill, crunching footsteps, etc. - with the final credit, “Directed by Sergio Leone,” appearing as the train pulls into the station. And the succeeding massacre at the welcoming party - another ten minutes - is orchestrated to build up to the shock of Fonda’s first close-up, Leone’s “Jesus Christ! It’s Henry Fonda!” moment (as the actor himself later described it). Fonda had originally turned down the part, but changed his mind after watching three quarters of the director’s Clint Eastwood trilogy and he later called Leone “the best director I’ve ever worked with in my life.”

Seemingly edited by an intermittent lawnmower soon after first release, this is the complete uncut version. Featuring spectacular cinematography by Tonino Delli Colli and what is generally considered Ennio Morricone’s greatest film score, written before shooting began: Leone choreographed his actors’ movements to the playback. Screenplay by Leone, Dario Argento and Bernardo Bertolucci.

A Paramount Pictures Release

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