Once Upon A Time In America

This epic film rightly belongs at the top of the Gangster genre as does 'Once Upon A Time In The West' in the Western genre. Call Sergio Leone's final work boring, long, overrated, confusing, etc... then you've probably watched too many box office blockbusters; 'The Godfather' (the one with Brando) being one of them! Leone was offered the chance to direct 'The Godfather' and turned it down cos he didn't like the script and wanted to concentrate on this project. Upon release of OUATIA, Sergio went to war with the studio over his envisioned non-linear (229 minutes or more) version, and THEIR pointless, alternative 144 minute, short-linear-version (American audiences only). All this after many years in development. It was in Leone's mind before plans for 'Once Upon A Time In The West'(1969). Only after the release of the DVD in 2003, could american audiences see the full/better version. THEY also "forgot to enter Ennio Morricone's score" (for Academy Award); as producer Arnon Milchan says on the included DVD segment of 'Once Upon A Time: Sergio Leone'. What a crime! We Brits gave Ennio's score a BAFTA award in 1985 instead. TOO GOOD for an Oscar in my opinion! De Niro is excellent in his role as the gangster without glory. My favourite De Niro character is 'David "Noodles" Aaronson'. His definitive gangster role, along with young Vito Corleone in 'The Godfather Part 2'. Nevermind roles like Jimmy Conway in 'Goodfellas' or Johnny Boy in 'Mean Streets', this De Niro character is sly, thoughtful, and mysterious. Also some great career defining roles from James Woods, Tuesday Weld, Elizabeth McGovern (of Downton Abbey fame), Danny Aiello (excellent as police chief), and the younger actors playing the leads (great as little thugs). I thought a young Jennifer Connelly was excellent as the young Deborah (her first big screen role). I found this different from other gangster films. The authentic detail and photography gives you a feel of the period, especially in the 20's and 30's sections. You can almost smell the grime in various street locations, and admire the beauty in scenes like the restaurant where Noodles dines with Deborah and the breathtaking panoramic shot of the Williamsburg Bridge in Brooklyn with the young gang strolling in the foreground. The music also connects you to the period too. Another excellent, eclectic score from Mr Morricone. Violence is vulgar/obscene in this film and sometimes uncomfortable to watch, adding to the ugliness and meaning of the genre. The 'diamond robbery scene' and the 'raping of Deborah' an example. Not suitable for the squeamish types. Leone and De Niro were targeted by female members of the audience at the screening of the film at the 1984 'Cannes Film Festival' who said that the rape scenes were "blatant, gratuitous violence". Elizabeth McGovern's (Deborah) take on the situation was: "my scene didn't glamourise violent sex: it is extremely uncomfortable to watch and is meant to be.....he is making a GANGSTER FILM, and to a certain extent you can't make that kind of film unless you profile an extremely violent lifestyle". The DVD version has the inconvenient stop right after the wasting ("Kids Stuff"!) of Joe (Burt Young) and his gang, and not at the 'Intermission'. Did it spoil YOUR viewing? Either love it or loathe it, this film is without a doubt an excellent finale for one of the greatest, much missed film directors of all time! I was MOVED by this film and it is one of my all time faves! WELL DONE SERGIO! THIS FILM IS UGLY AND SMELLY AND THE CHARACTERS ARE NOT MEANT TO BE LIKEABLE! THE WAY A 'GANGSTER FILM' SHOULD BE!! "I didn't remake The Godfather. The stories and the anecdotes I tell aren't horses' heads bleeding on satin sheets! They are something much more complex and profound!!" Sergio Leone

My oh my.There is a distinct polarisation of opinion of this film on the Amazon website.As you can see from the five stars i believe this is a truly great film, a classic ,a masterpiece.Yes it,s long, yes it,s slow, yes the lead characters are amoral thugs but none of this matters.This labyrinthine tale of Jewish gangsters subsides to an emotional core that is sombre and elgaic and ultimately moving.Those who don,t get it....well i suggest they consult a doctor because they may well have a lump of sandblasted tar instead of a heart. Sergio Leone,s interpretation of Harry Grey,s "The Hoods" takes an average pulp thriller and transforms it into a complex epic that slips easily between three time periods and gradually reveals a monumental betrayal.The genesis and evolution of the characters story is beleivable and though the fact that the screenplay was produced by Italians means the dialouge is occasionally clunky it,s never unrealistic or unintentionally humourous. Robert De Niro plays the adult "David "Noodles" Aaronson" who in one of the films lighter scenes(played by the child actors who potray the characters in their younger years , obviously) meets Max played by James Woods who quickly becomes fellow leader of the gang Noodles ran.Noodles has the hots for the daughter of the local bar owner, Deborah played by Jennifer Connelly, and it,s the dichotomy between Noodles deep friendship with Max and his love for Deborah that provide much of the films narrative momentum.The gang gradually progress to become criminals of some repute,most of which occurs while Noodles is in prison for kniving a rival gang leader, but they are still employed by a mob boss played by Joe Pesci to intervene in industrial disputes or murder fellow mobsters. Max has a fixation with robbing the federal reserve which Noodles knows is a scuicide mission,so in order to save his friend he turns them in to the police but the arrest goes horribly wrong and they all perish.Noodles is now alone and pursued by henchman of a vengeful mob boss. Wisely he decides to escape taking all the gangs ill gotten gains only to discover it,s all gone.He has no alternative but to leave town on the first bus out which goes to some back of beyond town where he spends the next thirty years.....until a letter arrives offering him money for one last job.Knowing they,ve found him he returns only to discover things are not what they seem. This is a sumptuous film,beautifully shot which looks great on DVD compared to my old grainy video copy.Leone,s trademark technique of lingering on characters faces is used extensively but all the actors are superb and carry it off easily,particually De Niro playing the old stooped Noodles.Some of the scenes as he visits old haunts and comes across old acquaintances are astonishingly poignant.Ennio Morricone,s extraordinary evocative score plays a major part in this.Apparantly it was played on set to help the actors find the right mood.It worked beautifully. Noodles is not a particually sympathetis character but his violent past clearly haunts him.His betrayal, his rape of Deborah when he realises she intends to leave him behind in her life,the men he killed all weigh heavily on his mind and its testimony to Leone that he manages to make the audience care about these misanthropic people. The complaints about the point at which the film cuts to the scond disc are fully justified.Whoever made this crass decision should be ashamed.The commentary by film critic Richard Shickel is a tad dull and at times a bit patronising but theres a doccumentary to add a bit more depth.But i buy DVD,s for the film and they don,t come better than "Once Upon a Time in America".Ignore the grumpys, this a terrific film and anyone who complains because the ending is ambiguous should really stick to Michael Bay movies."Once Upon a Time in America " is magnificent cinema.Peerless.

Ok, when reviewing an auteur like Sergio Leone, you can only compare his films with other movies he has made, and not with other films of the era. Sergio Leone has to be my favorite director, with Jean Pierre Melville second, and both men were Americaphiles, but Melville's films never left France while Leone rewrote the American Western. I first saw this movie in 1984 in New York, where I saw the American edit, which shows the story in chronological order, ie: the gang's childhood first, and then as adult criminals. I was also living in the Lower East Side, where a lot of the story is set. There was still enough of the old neighbour left at that time and a fading Jewish community to compare the movie with the real locations, and this film captures life in a Jewish Shtetl (ghetto), as if it were yesterday. The sets and locations are amazing, and most of this could not be filmed today, even with the best CGI. But is this a good film? Before this, Sergio Leone had made five westerns, all of which are masterpieces. This movie was the last of his Once upon a time trilogy, the first, Once Upon A time in the West, and then A Fist full of Dynomite, a rather bad title for a film that should have been called, Once Upon a Time in a Revolution. This Once Upon a Time, is based on a book called The Hoods by Harry Grey, a fictionalised version of real people and real events in the Prohibition era. It is more or less the story of Meyer Lansky, Bugsy Siegel and other Jewish mobsters of the time. Leone spent years trying to develop this book into a film, and the screenplay has six writers! And this is of this film's problems, there is too much story here. Although we need to know the rise and fall of a criminal gang, there is way too much time spent on their childhood, however there isn't too many films that spends as much time as this on a childhood life in a ghetto, only City of God comes close, so just for that, it is a true original. This really is a film of two parts, childhood and adulthood. The adulthood part of this movie is pretty much a rise and fall story, with a "who done it?" plot, and that is how the movie starts, or at least, this edit starts. On first seeing, the first 30 mins is a mystery. The whys? and whats? of the plot very slowly unfold, until we are get to the childhood part, and only then does the story start. The story covers a lot real events in New York crime history, but with a lot of changes to names and times to protect the guilty, as the original book was published in 1952 when many of these people were still alive, and like the Godfather, the guilty know who they are, so I look at this movie as a piece of ficalinsed American criminal history. This film doesn't also look beautiful, it sounds beautiful too. I have seen Ennio Morricone in concert 3 times, and the music from this film has to be his most popular, and to hear it live is something I can't explain, but only to say, it is an amazing experience. The music was composed 8 years before production, and the actors would hear the music while on set, and I believed this helps the acting a lot, as acting is all about rhythm. Robert De Niro is at his method acting best here, as well as all the rest of the actors, many of whom turn up again in other gangster classics. Sadly, this movie was a financial flop. Although critics liked it, it didn't make any money and was Sergio Leone last film as he died 5 years later in 1989. He was planning on making a film about the siege of Leningrad that had a budget of 100 million dollars, but had no script! You can see how much he loved this movie, and it is a masterpiece, but it does have its flaws. Before directing this movie, Sergio Leone hadn't really directed a film since 1971. He did produce a few films in this time, but he had made so much money with his Dollars films, which in today's money made billions, he never had to make another film again in his life, and here is the problem. By the time of this release, cinema audiences had changed, and since Star Wars, demanded quicker stories and plots, also, there is a rape scene in it that doesn't need to be there. It is uncomfortable viewing, and doesn't drive the plot or story, but still it is great film, and you can only judge it for the times it was set in. I love all of Sergio Leone's films, and this movie is as good as his others, although my favorite is Once Upon a Time in the West, I can watch all again and again, and still find something new in them. This movie is a lesson in excellence, and should be viewed as such.

Cinema audiences 25 years ago in USA saw the 140 min version of this movie. Now we have the 228 min version on VHS and dvd. 228 min is a long bum-numbing time in front of the TV and unfortunately the great director Leone lost his magic touch during this movie. Regarding the plot, "Noodles" Aaronson (Robert De Niro) receives a mysterious job offer and returns to New York after a thirty-year absence. He tries to discern the identity of his prospective employer by recounting the events of his past. Noodles reminisces about the good times he had with his old gang of friends and the woman he loved since his youth, the fetching Deborah Gelly (Jennifer Connelly/Elizabeth McGovern). He also reflects upon the criminal endeavours he engaged in and wonders whether the sins of his past have finally caught up with him. There is much to admire about "Once Upon A Time in America." The production design accurately recreates industrialised America at the turn of the twentieth century. The acting is first-rate with the adult cast turning in passionate and savage performances and the youthful ensemble doing astounding work in the flashback sequences. The Ennio Morricone soundtrack is as lush and memorable as his earlier masterpieces on the Leone westerns. However, Once Upon a Time in America is overlong and curiously devoid of the energetic spark that powered Leone's earlier brilliant Westerns. Perhaps the years were catching up with him but Leone's direction has a listless quality to it this time around. His "darker" filmmaking approach in this film also does not help matters as it gives an uneasy and disturbing feel to the events of the story. There are some admirable narrative turns toward the end and the DVD release features the original cut of the film instead of the heavily-edited original American theatrical version. Yet, the positives are overshadowed by the negatives in the end and "Once Upon A Time in America" ultimately comes across as a disappointment.

Hard to believe I've never seen this film until now. Got it for under £1.50 which is a fantastic price for such a long film. One of the best Mafia films I've ever seen. New York is brought beautifully alive and the acting is fantastic. Highly recommend. No need to write a review but will borrow one from IMDB as it's exactly how I felt about the film. This is, for me, one of the finest examples of cinematic art. It isn't a simple, cut-n-dried 90 minute little package that gets wrapped up with a pretty bow at the end. You get pulled in by the enigmatic opening that unwinds the threads of the story to be found later. For many people having half an hour of purely visual story telling, of stories that are only mysteries at that point, before anything becomes truly linear is difficult to follow and discourages to many people. Our own memories are only snippets that only become linear as we concentrate on scenes from our lives. Once Upon a Time in America is like that as we follow Noodles through the `significant' part of his life - the times that formed him. When the story actually starts, we meet the girl that he always loved but could never have. David `Noodles' Aaronson (DeNiro) was a kid on the very mean streets of Brooklyn when organized crime was born in America and he grew into and out of it. That's the simplest synopsis of the plot. The reality is that this isn't a movie about gangsters. Being a gangster is the easiest way for Noodles to survive and get ahead, but it also alienates and ruins his one love. Whenever he is close to giving himself to Deborah he always gets pulled back into the gang, in some form or another. DeNiro's portrayal is of a gangster, through and through, who also has a conscience that, while not preventing him from being a ruthless killer, rules his life with regret, remorse and guilt. Leone takes a bit of poet/historic license by showing the Brooklyn Bridge being built in the background (the bridge had been built 40 years before), but it symbolizes Noodles' own growth. When the bridge is just pilings and incomplete towers, Noodles is just forming his future. By the time the bridge is complete, Noodles is nothing but a gangster and the bridge is majestic. When he returns 35 years later our view of the bridge is from under a freeway -- the world has moved along, but the bridge and Noodles are just as they were. The length: If you're looking for a brief distraction that you'll barely remember 30 minutes later, this isn't the movie for you. However, if you are prepared and able to be undistributed for the nearly 4 hours that this film uses to compress a lifetime -- you will be rewarded with many facets of thought and examination.

Well that's my view; and it's confirmed by having just watched the BR extended version. Quality is outstanding for all except the extended footage and the producers of the disc have done the best they can with sub-optimal elements .. but it's so good to see these extended scenes, poor visual quality notwithstanding. I think four of the extended scenes do add appreciably to the depth and development of the narrative; these are: ***SPOILER ALERT IF YOU DON'T KNOW THE STORY*** 1) Noodles' meeting with the cemetery director, played with chilling coldness by Louise Fletcher - she is just SO sinister that you really feel she is in on the conspiracy and knows exactly who he is, adding to the general atmosphere of betrayal and mystery. Her role is brief but totally memorable. 2) Noodles' initial conversation with the driver on his date with Deborah: this makes it clear that Noodles is well know as a hood and dangerous to cross - thus giving narrative logic to the driver's otherwise inexplicable inaction during the later rape (which I have always felt to be a weak point in the standard version). 3) Noodles' initial meeting with Eve, in which he asks her to play-act being Deborah during sex. This further emphases his love of / obsession with Deborah, as well as explaining how Eve came into the picture (important,as Eve is the first character seen in the movie). 4) The penultimate scene, between Max and Treat William's union boss Jimmy; a brilliant scene which makes clear what was otherwise left ambiguous - ie that Jimmy is now totally corrupt and completely part of the Syndicate. This gives resonance to dialogue between the various characters in the earlier scene in the hospital room, following Jimmy's shooting ("you guys achieved more in one afternoon than I've achieved in three years of talking"; "he won't have clean hands for much longer after the hands he's gonna shake"). This scene is also the only one in the movie where Secretary Bailey is addressed directly as 'Max' (just in case we still had any doubt about that rather crucial plot point). *** END OF SPOILER ALERT*** The only criticism I have is the woeful lack of extras on the UK BR release. This film deserves better. But it still gets 5 stars in my book. It's such an amazing movie in terms of acting, scope, production values, music, cinematography, sets and set-pieces .. and of course the brilliant script. Inexcusibly neglected by the Oscars.

Until a few months ago, Sergio Leone's crime/gangster/romance epic was almost unheard of. Across all the film boards and clubs I subscribed to I knew very few people who had actually heard of it, let alone seen it. My cries of "No, seriously, this IS the best film ever!" almost always went unnoticed, or at least were taken with a Titanic-esque pinch of salt. But not so any more, I hope. Because, quite simply, this is in my opinion better than anything else, ever. The story is epic, spanning many years in the life of Noodles and his friends, with the film jumping backwards and forwards to reveal events fully- the pic often slipping dreamily between one decade and the next, with sounds merging into the background of the next scene. It is this absorbing direction that makes this film such a masterpiece. That said, the characters themselves are beautifully realised too: ALL the acting is superb, from De Niro and Woods et al right down to the small extras in the street scenes. The detail of the environments shown is only matched by films such as Goodfellas, Road to Perdition and the Godfather series. And the music is superlative- with Morricone creating a haunting, moving score that will stay with you long after you first viewing. My reference to 'the other big gangster film' series, The Godfather Trilogy, is not incidental. In "Best Film Ever" arguments the series is nearly always mentioned as the best film in its genre. I however have always championed Once Upon a Time... over it, and now perhaps many more will agree with me. I think it covers so many areas of life that it has a breadth that beats the Godfathers hands down. But that's by the by. I end then with the strongest recommendation I can make: that you buy this film if you are a fan of the genre AND Film itself, because even if you don't praise it as the zenith of modern filmmaking like me, I can guarantee you will enjoy it thoroughly. (Yes, all 3 hours 40 minutes of it!)

Before I start let it be known that this is in my top three films of all time, ALL TIME!! so whatever I may say now is by no means a negative towards the movie itself but the handle of this release. I know Sergio Leone had a preferred cut to the one we know and love and I get that his family went to some trouble to get this extended cut released so to show the world his true vision. I have seen it, in one sitting, and I wasn't all that fussed by it, I truly believe the original cut is all you need to see, it didn't make the film worse, it just didn't really add anything necessary to it. Being one of my favorites I of course got a kick out of the extra scenes. I would have preferred an edition where you got this cut, the original release and just for history sake the US TV cut which sounds so awful its intriguing. This edition was also out of print a few months later as well, something I didn't understand, I guess it was out there for the fans and not for a mainstream audience. The original release is all your gonna need so I would stick with that and certainly don't pay the money they ask for this edition as it isn't worth it, but still a mind tripping journey all the same.

Um clássico do cinema

J'ai bien reçu ce film dans les délais annonés et e bonne condition. Ce film est probablement un des meilleurs films que j'ai vu. La totalité des acteurs ont bien été dirigés par Monsieur Sergio Léone. Le film est un peu long, mais on se laisse prendre par le scénario et on ne voit pas le temps passé. La fin est assez extraordinaire en nous laissant avec un gros questionnement. À voir absolument.

Questo film non ha bisogno di presentazioni, vi racconto una storia amara che conosco benissimo. Sergio Leone aveva già realizzato una versione estesa ma non era mai stata pubblicata, per anni supplicò perché facessero uscire la versione integrale del suo Testamento Cinematografico nel senso letterale della parola, lui era gravemente malato e quando si spense, morì con l'amarezza di non aver mai visto distribuito nelle sale il suo Capolavoro in versione integrale. Ora a distanza di oltre 40 anni (1984-2025) esce finalmente la sua edizione integrale. E' triste come la giustizia sia postuma, ossia oggi possiamo apprezzare questo immenso capolavoro ma lui non lo sa perché si trova in un altro piano astrale. Noi come fan del Grande Maestro Sergio Leone possiamo rendere omaggio a questo grande e immenso Regista che ha insegnato agli americani come si fanno i veri film. Lui ha ridefinito lo standard Western con una nuova etichetta "Spaghetti Western" perché ha usato inquadrature, duelli, musiche (addio Ennio Morricone, riposa in pace accanto a Sergio Leone) che per quei tempi erano avveniristici. Lui ha saputo cogliere sfumature oggi ispirando registi come Tarantino che più volte ha dichiarato di attingere come ispirazione a Sergio Leone. Possedere una copia numerata a tiratura limitata non è un semplice acquisto ma si trasforma in un lusso e anche in un omaggio a chi ha reso grande il Cinema. Clint Eastwood è stato lanciato da Sergio Leone. Mentre scrivo questa recensione mi viene l'amarezza di sapere che sia Ennio Morricone sia Sergio Leone non sono più tra noi e quello che oggi viene proposto come cinematografia è pura immondizia in confronto soprattutto al film cui sono legato a doppio filo fin dal 2004, quando in una edicola comprai la prima versione in DVD di C'era una volta il West, versione integrale ma in mono 1.0 (PCM) realizzata a cura della CVC. Possiedo ancora questo DVD anche se ora tutta la mia immensa collezione di Film è per 70% in 4K. C'era una volta il West mi ha rapito per la sua immensa dolcezza con cui descriveva scene di violenza, c'era poesia nel suo film, io adesso ho sia C'era una volta il West 4Kult a tiratura limitata con card numerata sia C'era una volta in America sempre in 4Kult con card numerata. Restano le opere di maggior impatto a cui oggi tanti altri registi si ispirano. A me personalmente l'immondizia cinematografica che gira in questi ultimi anni mi ha costretto a fare acquisti mirati ed estremamente chirurgici per evitare di incappare in film dove la logica è il sesso e il denaro, due motori oggi che spingono la cinematografia moderna contaminando la purezza cinematografica. La verità è che ogni cosa che vediamo o ascoltiamo attraverso i film ci forgia o in modo positivo o in modo negativo. Io ho fatto la scelta consapevole di volere solo capolavori di alto spessore morale, la notte non ho incubi, anzi se sogno, vedo nel sonno Mia e Sebastian insieme felici in un'atmosfera magica e qui faccio riferimento ad un altro capolavoro assoluto che ho in 4Kult (LA LA LAND). Parlando del film C'era una volta in America, ci troviamo ambientati negli anni 20 e tutto è riprodotto con molta fedeltà, il Dolby Vision da quello spessore emotivo cromatico che serve a rendere la fruizione ancora più monumentale, le musiche rendono il dolce-amaro che serve a raccontare una storia. Il film è distribuito da Eagle Pictures e Leone Film Group ha realizzato questa meraviglia. Tolta la Slipcase, ci troviamo di fronte ad una custodia Scanavo che sono ormai utilizzate al posto delle precedenti e fragili Viva Elite. Perché sono migliori le Scanavo? Perché sono più "panciute" e questo permette di arrivare ad inserire fino a 6 dischi con booklet, card e altro. Sono molto più resistenti e durano più a lungo. Dentro la custodia ci sono 3 dischi: Disco 1: Versione Estesa (4K Ultra HD). Disco 2: Versione Cinematografica (4K Ultra HD). Disco 3: Versione Estesa (Blu-ray HD) La card da collezione con l'illustrazione di Marika Polcari è integra e aggiunge quel tocco artistico che eleva l'edizione 4Kult. Ma non è tutto qui, come ormai sapete tutte le edizioni 4Kult hanno la Slipcase glitterata e a seconda di come la si guardi alla luce i colori cambiano quasi trasfigurati. Una sensazione che possiamo percepire solo noi Italiani grazie alla cura di Eagle Picture. La mia Card reca 852 su 3000. Più basso è il numero, maggiore valore acquista l'articolo. L'audio è veramente coinvolgente con DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sia italiano che inglese. Unica pecca, la versione Estesa ha alcune parti non doppiate ma con i sottotitoli in italiano. Ora che davvero ho reso omaggio con questa mia recensione al Grande Maestro Sergio Leone, vi lascio esplorare le foto allegate. Vi auguro un sereno Natale e un sereno 2026. Oggi è il 24 dicembre 2025. Per quest'anno ho chiuso con i film. L'anno prossimo vedremo cosa la cinematografia ci proporrà. Questo film l'ho ottenuto in due giorni grazie al tempestivo intervento di Amazon e Amazon Logistic che ringrazio per la zelante consegna e puntualità. Buona visione e Buone Feste 🎬💎💯💖🏆🎁🥂🎅🎈✨🎉🎊🎄🎹🏁

Merci le film c est une folie

一枚しか入ってなかったので即返品しました。 コレクションしたいので未見のままです。 欲しいけどまた一枚しか無くて返品したら、こいつ抜いてやがるん じゃないか？と疑われそうで注文 もできません。 日本メーカーの再販売待ちます。 追記 amazonからの発売になったから買い直ししました。 今回はきっちりディスクが二枚入っていました。 あとデジタルコピーのコードも追加されていて断然お得です。 星も五つに変更しました。 大満足です。