Once Upon a Time in the West Appreciation Thread

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Source: The Digital Bits

And while we're giving you sneak peeks, how about a first look at Paramount's Once Upon a Time in the West: Special Collector's Edition? Yeah... we figured that'd make yer day. We've spoken to Paramount today and gotten the latest on the disc. This information isn't yet final, but you can expect an official announcement next month. So here's where things are at right now. The two-disc set will street in November. Disc One will include the 165 minute version of the film, in anamorphic widescreen video with Dolby Digital 5.1 audio and a cleaned-up mono mix as well. I'm told that the film looks and sounds fantastic. Disc One will also include an audio commentary track. More on that in a minute. Disc Two will include no less than three documentaries on the film, along with a shorter piece on the impact of the railroad in the Old West. The three main documentaries cover such subjects as director Sergio Leone's career, background on the film, the writing and casting process, the location shoot, the style of the film (both cinematographically and other), the film's impact on the Western genre and more. Also featured in the documentary are new interviews with John Carpenter, John Milius, Alex Cox, Claudia Cardinale, Bernardo Bertolucci, Gabriele Ferzetti, cinematographer Tonino Delli Colli, Leone biographer, film historian Sir. Christopher Frayling (author of the excellent book Sergio Leone: Something to Do with Death) and more. Many of these individuals also participate in the audio commentary. Additional features are TBA. If you're any kind of serious film fan, you ought to be pickin' your jaw off the ground right now. Here's a look at Paramount's tentative cover artwork for the German version (thanks to the folks at DVDrome.com for that). Note that the final English version may be quite different.


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if these features are on the us version, can anyone else say "best...dvd...ever..." ?

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Just FYI, we have word that Paramount's Once Upon a Time in the West: Special Collector's Edition is due to street on 11/18.

[MacGuffin]

At long last, Paramount has OFFICIALLY announced the DVD release of Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West: Special Collector's Edition for 11/18 (SRP $19.99). The 2-disc set is now confirmed to contain the 165 minute version of the film, in restored anamorphic widescreen video with Dolby Digital 5.1 audio and a cleaned-up mono mix as well, audio commentary (featuring directors John Carpenter, John Milius and Alex Cox, film historians Sir. Christopher Fraying and Dr. Sheldon Hall, plus additional comments from cast and crew members), the documentaries An Opera of Violence, The Wages of Sin and Something to Do with Death (that include exclusive interviews with Claudia Cardinale, Gabriele Ferzetti, Bernardo Bertolucci and cinematographer Tonino Delli Colli with contributions from John Carpenter, John Millius, Alex Cox, Sir Christopher Frayling and Dr. Sheldon Hall), The Railroad: Revolutionizing the West featurette, a location gallery, a production gallery, cast profiles and a theatrical trailer. Also, we have officially confirmed that the disc WILL feature the same cover art as the international release.

[SoNowThen]

Scarface, Goodfellas, now this... it's gonna be a good fucking fall for dvd watchin'!!!


May I just reiterate one more time that I think Claudia Cardinale is THE definition of beauty...

[Ernie]

Goodfellas, now this... it's gonna be a good fucking fall for dvd watchin'!!!

Oh my god, Goodfellas is coming out this fall!!!??? Why haven't I heard anything??? What's the date???

Also, thank god for this...it's about time OUATTW got a dvd, jesus. One of the 3 best westerns of all time, hands down...along w/ Good, Bad, Ugly and Rio Bravo. Can't wait to listen to the commentary...John Carpentar and John Milius are GREAT filmmakers...can't say I've ever heard them talk or even seen a pic of them ever before though...looking forward to it. I've been dying just to SEE the thing again, I've been waiting for this.

[Pwaybloe]

That cover art is one of the best I have ever seen.

[Ravi]

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/reviews3/onceuponatimeinthewest.html


The film is presented in anamorphic widescreen on this DVD, and how Paramount got the film looking so good we'll never know. Given that this film is more than thirty years old, it could easily suffer from a host of print related problems, but such is not the case here. Contrast is absolutely fantastic, while retaining excellent shadow detail. In fact, detail has a whole is outstanding, which is very important for this film. Leone's direction is such that you're often seeing extreme close-ups of the actors - every wrinkle, blemish and bit of stubble is accentuated, and you'll miss none of it in this transfer. Color is good and accurate, with a definite warm push as was intended for the film, given its desert settings. There's very little digital artifacting visible, only light edge-enhancement and only light to occasionally moderate print grain. This isn't quite reference quality, given the age of the film. That said, Once Upon a Time in the West has quite simply never looked better than it does on this DVD.

While we're talking about the print, you should know that this DVD does feature the 165-minute European version of the film. That means the scene where we're first introduced to the character of Cheyenne at a way-side livery and inn is included, as is a brief scene at the end of the film involving the same character.

Moving on to the audio, you'll find no complaints from us with this disc. The film's soundtrack is presented in two English versions - newly remixed Dolby Digital 5.1, as well as a a "restored" Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (French 2.0 mono is also included). The 5.1 track features excellent presentation quality, with a big, wide front soundstage, centered and clear dialogue and nicely atmospheric use of the surrounds. You're not going to get extensive panning or directional effects, but they're not really appropriate for this film anyway. We're pleased to say that the 5.1 track still retains the "sound" of the original mono audio, and the film's fantastic score by composer Ennio Morricone is perfectly placed in the mix. The "restored" mono audio, if you chose that option, is also quite good. It's been cleaned up somewhat to remove unwanted noise and other age-related artifacts. Whichever track you go with, you'll be plenty satisfied with the audio experience on this DVD.

Surprisingly, Paramount's really gone the extra mile with the supplements on this special collector's edition. To start with, literally every single thing you'll experience on these two discs is in anamorphic widescreen. That means the trailer, the photo galleries, all the documentaries... everything. Kicking off the extras, Disc One features a very good audio commentary track with film historians (Sir Christopher Frayling and Dr. Sheldon Hall), a trio of directors who admire Leone (including John Carpenter, John Milius and Alex Cox), actress Claudia Cardinale and other select members of the cast and crew. The track begins with Frayling, the author of the biography Sergio Leone: Something to Do with Death. It's got a scholarly feel, but is very easy to listen to. He'll give you a ton of anecdotes about the making of Once Upon a Time in the West, and lots of interesting historical information, including comments on the many intentional references to classic Hollywood Westerns in this film. The other participants appear at selected moments to make their own contributions. Each was recorded separately and edited together for this commentary. The result could be distancing or disjointed, but is instead a fascinating listening experience, despite occasional pauses in the track. These people know Leone and this film well, and their love of both is obvious.

That love continues to be apparent on Disc Two, where we're treated to a trio of documentaries featuring many of the same participants. An Opera of Violence, The Wages of Sin and Something to Do with Death are basically three parts of a whole, which in total runs for a little over an hour. Combining interview clips with historical photos and footage, we learn about Sergio Leone's origins as a filmmaker, the conception of Once Upon a Time in the West arising from his love (and disdain) of Hollywood Westerns, the development of the production (including the casting of American Western film regulars in roles completely opposite to what they'd played previously), the actual filming itself, the ultimate reaction to the film, and its eventual place in cinema history. There are fascinating moments with Bernardo Bertolucci talking about the unlikely way he became involved in the writing of the film (along with fellow writer and filmmaker Dario Argento), and Leone admirers Carpenter, Milius and Cox talking about their reactions of the film. Cardinale reminisces about her experiences on the film, as do actor Gabriele Ferzetti and cinematographer Tonino Delli Colli. There's even an amusing moment of archival footage featuring Henry Fonda talking about his having been cast in the film as a bad guy, and trying to figure out how to approach the role. It's all great stuff for fans of this film, and well worth your time.

The Railroad: Revolutionizing the West featurette is a strange piece of work, but it's no less interesting for this fact. The short features relevant film clips and historical photos in a window in the upper right portion of the frame, along with the entire narrator-spoken text at the bottom. It cuts away to interview clips occasionally, featuring the participants talking about how the subject relates to the film. Also present on Disc Two is the film's original theatrical trailer in excellent quality, as well as video galleries of location photos (seen then and now) and production photos set to music from the film. A section of cast profiles of the major players in the film rounds out the extras. Again, all of this is anamorphic in its presentation - a very welcome touch.

[Find Your Magali]

I'm really looking forward to seeing this for the first time later this month. ... It's one of the films on my checklist of films to watch BEFORE submitting my final ballot of 30 nominations for The Dekapenticon.

[MacGuffin]

Just finished pouring through this 2-disc set. Boy, this is an amazing transfer. Pristine transfer. I've fallen in love with Claudia Cardinale all over again; she holds her long close-ups so well. The sound was top notch too for just going from what they had to work with. The three documentaries were excellent, giving a nice background of Leone himself, then detailing the production and the sound design, which I always thought Leone was one of the best directors in using sound (music and effects) as an important part of a film (Lynch being another). The commentary was above average, the best parts coming from the Leone biographer, the disappointing parts from John Carpenter's since he only relays what's happening on-screen. The rest mainly restate the info said on the docs. The Then-And-Now slide show was very nostalgic in seeing how the locations have changed, yet stayed the same. Highly recommended, and such a bargain at $12!

[kotte]

This is a great western and a great film.

The duel at the end between Frank and Harmonica is grand...the music, the photography...everything...I've seen alot of duels in the movies but never felt that thing, you know. That special thing. I can't really articulate it but this duel is a classic duel at it's best.

The first time we hear the Harmonica...pure movie cool.

Claudia Cardinale? The goddess? This is my desktop:

[Ernie]

I'm really looking forward to seeing this for the first time later this month. ... It's one of the films on my checklist of films to watch BEFORE submitting my final ballot of 30 nominations for The Dekapenticon.

Good idea. Very good idea. I wish I had thought to do that with Herzog, I just don't have that patience though.

I'll finally be picking this up tomorrow, can't wait to get it, sounds great!

[SHAFTR]

What is the cover from?  It isn't from the opening scene since they all have trenchcoats on.

[MacGuffin]

What is the cover from?  It isn't from the opening scene since they all have trenchcoats on.

I think it's a blend of Harmonica at the train station from the beginning and Frank's gang killing the McBain family at their ranch in the scene after.

[SoNowThen]

Cool movie. Great camerawork. Claudia is the only woman in the world.

However, everything everybody complained that Gangs Of New York was, I thought this movie was. Tons of half finished or barely started ideas. Did I need to see why Bronson wanted revenge? Nah. It really fizzled in the last ten minutes for me.

I'll take The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly over this.

[MacGuffin]

Did I need to see why Bronson wanted revenge? Nah. It really fizzled in the last ten minutes for me.

So you didn't need to find out why he plays the harmonica all the time, why he saves Frank from being gunned down by his own men, why he wants to help Jill....basically why he's after Frank the entire movie?