Henry Fonda

On the DVD: Once Upon a Time in the West on disc is the transfer fans have been waiting for: the longest available version of the film in shimmering widescreen (enhanced for 16:9 TVs) which lends full impact to Leone's long shots of Monument Valley scenery or bustling crowds of activity, but also highlights his ultra-close images as Bronson's beady eyes or Cardinale's luscious pout fill the entire screen. A commentary track is mostly by expert Sir Christopher Frayling, with input from other academics, participants and enthusiasts--it's good on the detail, and Alex Cox winningly points out that one scene bizarrely can't be reconciled with what happens before or after it.

Disc 2 has four featurettes which, taken together, add up to a feature-length documentary on the film, and though overlapping the commentary slightly offer a wealth of further good stuff, plus the elegant Cardinale's undiminished smile. Also included is the trailer, notes on the cast, menu screens with generous selections from Ennio Morricone's score, stills gallery, comparison shots from the film and contemporary snapshots of the locations. --Kim Newman
An ancient race, 2009-12-21
I love this film, and have done since the first time I saw it on BBC television sometime in the mid 1970's. It possesses an epic feel that few other movies even come close to, and when it's over you know that what you have just sat through is something very special.

On the surface the plot is a simple revenge tale involving Charles Bronson and Henry Fonda, and this unfolds gradually during the course of the movie using flashbacks - for a more detailed synopsis of the plot, check out many other excellent reviews here. Looking deeper into the story, Sergio Leone is documenting the end of an era, by showing the effects of the railroad moving West - almost a generation after the time of the "Dollars" trilogy.

However, what launches this movie head and shoulders above its peers is the breathtaking combination of cinematography and music - rightly described as "operatic". Morricone's score was allegedly played on set during filming, and I'm sure I could see Claudia Cardinale's movement in some scenes co-ordinated to the music. Leone also dispenses with the quirky humour he brought into The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - this is a movie meant as a serious statement on the Western genre.

Is it the best Western ever made?

Maybe. My concern is the amount of "homework" Leone did on this movie before filming. He immersed himself so much in the American Western that you can easily pick out the homage to other great Westerns - The Searchers, High Noon and Shane amongst them. However, there is also enough originality here to support its case as the best Western ever made - to me it's a dead heat with The Searchers.

This DVD re-master quality is simply stunning - a 40 yr old film has no right to look this good, and the sound quality is mainly front-orientated Dolby 5.1 with excellent dynamic range. Get the beer out the fridge, put the lights out and turn the volume up - this is a unique movie to be savoured.