Once Upon A Time In The West

[loz99]

Has any of you lads got this yet, I'm still waiting for mine in the post. If any of you got it what's your opinions?

That is All

loz99

[KraGorn]

Got mine Wednesday, not had a chance to watch it yet sadly ... waiting for a loooooooong evening free of domestic commitments. :rolleyes:

Got mine from Blackstar ... in Norther Ireland IIRC. ;)

[Xusia Of Delos]

Languid, lyrical, philosphical, poignant, allegorical, and profound.

Not to everyones liking, but if you are a western or a Leone fan, wellworth a viewing.

Good picture and sound.

I could start a seperate thread stating why in my opinion, that Ennio Morricone is the finest cinematic composer ever. His enigmatic score meshed with the film seemlessly.

[loz99]

I must look out for that thread on Morricone if you ever start one.
I believe he was not only the greatest cinematic composer but
the greatest composer ever!
That is all

loz99

[KraGorn]

I love the film, had it on VHS some time ago .. Fonda is as good as he ever got, even Bronson actually had some good lines ;)

[GrahamC]

Probably a bit shallow but the packaging is some of the best artwork on a DVD yet in my opinion.:smoke:

[briandzo]

great film well worth the buy. couldnt agree more about the morricone comments. a brilliant composer. he did all the clint eastwood early westerns too (some of my favourite scores).

the video and audio are reproduced flawlessly on the dvd.
full marks...........

[KraGorn]

Originally posted by GrahamC
Probably a bit shallow
True to a point ... but then I personally don't sit down to watch a Leone film for deep, intellectual exercise or complex plot. ;)

The "Dollars" trilogy remain among my favourite films and they're vastly shallower than this one. :grin:

[GrahamC]

The shallow coment was about me liking nice pictures on my boxes and not on the film....:blush:

[KraGorn]

Ooops ... thought it was a critique of the film. :blush:

Still, my comments still stand, IMHO Leone isn't a maker of deeply complex films ... but he is a great cinematographer and together with Morricone's scores makes great entertainment. :cool:

[ldoodle]

What's the difference between the R2 and R1 versions?

dvdcompare.net don't have the just released UK R2 listed yet, but they do have the upcoming R1 version!

Cheers/...

[Marv]

I think the R1 might include the original Mono track, for all the purists out there.

[higenbs1]

I read somewhere that Leone originally wanted The Good, The Bad and The Ugly characters, Eastwood, Wallach and Van Cleef to play the three gunmen waiting for Bronson at the beginning of OUATINW, but Eastwood wouldn't agree to it. How cool would that have been. Even though Van Cleef died at the end of TGTBATU.

[loz99]

Magic! - Just got mine in post from cdwow this morning! :) :) :)
Now I've all six Sergio Leone's movies on dvd :)
It's been well worth the wait for all fans of this Masterpiece!

To tell the truth, I still can't decide what is his best western.

GBU is amazing non stop stylish entertainment.
Eli Wallach was born to play Tuco - fantastic!

OUATITW is the more beautiful & polished of the two and moves
along at a nice relaxed pace.
Bronson was tailor made to play Harmonica.
Both brilliant in their own way.

I haven't watched it all on the dvd yet but I tell ya from what I've
seen so far I'm simply delighted, it's got smashing packaging,
great menu screen, superb picture quality, where do I stop? :)
All Leone fans must get this asap!!

I got the Region 2 version but the Region 1 will be out on 18th
November and will be cheaper (e.g £11 approx from Play.com).
Region 4 due on 6 November.

I think the extras are the same on all versions but Reg 1 is
rumoured to have an original mono sound option.

Here's two good Leone Sites for Leone fans:-

www.fistful-of-leone.com - links to a great little forum.

www.sergioleone.net

That is all

loz99

[briandzo]

loz99

it seems once again we have similar tastes (ww2 previous post).

'A Fistful of Dynamite' is the only Sergio film I have yet to get. Is it a worthwhile purchase ? Whats the transfer like ?
I bet it doesn't match the quality of OUATITW.

thanks......

[the_pauley]

Still, my comments still stand, IMHO Leone isn't a maker of deeply complex films ... but he is a great cinematographer and together with Morricone's scores makes great entertainment.

Couldn't disagree more. Leone's style is deceptively simple; his films are a lot more complex than they would initially appear. Like Hitchcock - the "style" does not intrude on the narrative, but the themes and structures can be quite elaborate.

Agree with much of what has been said already. Excellent transfer of a classic movie - and very nice packaging too.

[loz99]

Hi Briandzo, Yep we do indeed have similar tastes in movies,

I'm also partial to Mob Movies but then who isn't? (anything with
Brando,De Niro,Pacino,Pesci,Palmintiri,Liotta,Madsen,Depp you know the score!)

Here are some specs on 'Fistful of Dynamite' aka 'Duck you Sucker'
aka 'Once Upon a Time The Revolution'.

R2 (United Kingdom) - MGM
Theatrical trailer
Danish, Dutch, English HoH, Finnish, French, German HoH, Greek, Norwegian, Portuguese and Swedish Subtitles
2.35:1 anamorphic PAL
English, French and German Dolby Digital 1.0 format
Amaray Case

I'm very pleased with the one I have (got it from Play I think). Transparant Amaray case, nice cover picture, great little picture
disc (why can't all dvd's have picture discs - loathe those miserable plain silver excuses!)

More than happy with the anamorphic picture quality 1:2.35 , looks o.k. even zoomed up 1.5x (my test of good resolution) - I obviously don't watch it zoomed but one could if one wished.

Doesn't have all the goodies as OUATITW or OUATIA,
The picture quality is FIRST CLASS and may well be IMHO as good
as the above two. Put it this way Briandzo, there isn't the remotest possible chance that you will be even minutely
dissapointed with the picture or sound quality of this UK R2
version of this terrific little movie. Does this convince you? :)
Apparently the original italian cut of 'Gui La Testa' Duck you Sucker had a 3 min Flashback at the end of the movie when Sean is dying. This can only be seen in the Italian versions of the movie. BTW This 3min cut can be downloaded from one of the Leone websites. BTW Briandzo - Did you check out those Leone sites I mentioned on a previous post on this thread?

I used to think of this movie as the 'poor cousin' of his six movies,
since I watched it a few times on dvd I now realise how stupid
I was, This is a superb movie, probably the most affectionate
and heartwarming & amusing of all Leone's movies.

Every one of Leone's movies are masterpiece in their own right,
Also repeated viewing of all his movies reveal so many little details/secrets that previously go unnoticed, OUATIA is particularly
famous for this, I read somewhere that Leone always intended
his movies to be portrayed as Fables - Isn't that interesting?

There is still a Reg1 version of this movie to be released yet.
when it does come I will see if version R1 has the 3min flashback
reinserted and obviously buy it. I've seen the Flashback after I
downloaded and thought the movie might (just might) benefit with it.

BTW the italian dvd version is italian sound only and no eng subtitles either.

Anyway go get this Briandzo - it's great!! :)

That is all

loz99

[briandzo]

Hi loz99

Your recommendation made the sale.
i just ordered 'a fistful of dynamite' from play for £6.66 (in the 3 for £20 offer)
accompanied with 'the train' a 1964 burt lancaster ww2 movie.
and an old favourite 'trains planes & automobiles.

thanks for the website info.
very good sites no doubt made by some dedicated fans.

[coolhand101]

a fistful of dynamite is a very good transfer.
anamorphic 2.35:1 but the sound is only dolby digital mono

a member on here told me it was stereo.
not many features at all only a trailer.

this could mean a special edition might be comming with extras AND dd stereo or above.

by the way this film cost me 6.66 pounds

dont get me wrong, the dd mono sound is very clear but if your like me wiv a 7 speaker setup, coming out of one speaker(center)seems like a waste.

[coolhand101]

opps... i only read the first page of this post lol

[loz99]

Hi Coolhand101,

Where the heck did you get FODynamite as cheap as £6.66 ??

Was it part of a 3 for £20 offer on Play by any chance or did
you buy it on it's own for £6.66 ?

That is all

loz99

[coolhand101]

yes i meant play.com wiv there 3 4 20 offer.

u wouldnt know if FOdynamite is due for R1 would u??

im hoping for a stereo soundtrack

thanks

[loz99]

Hi Coolhand101,

Reg. 'Fistful of Dynamite'.

I'm just itching to get an english speaking version of this movie
that has the 3min flashback restored like the Italian version did.
Stereo would also be most welcome.

There's gotta be a Reg1 release sometime soon and if all
goes well it may just have the 3min flashback put in, well that's
the impression I got from the Sergio Leone webboard.
This flashback at the end of the movie appears when Sean is
dying, It's included in the current Italian version dvd
(italian version doesn't have english sound option :( ).
I've seen this flashback scene it looks ok, I downloaded it
and played it on windows mediaplayer. I like the scene and
believe it should be restored. I have never seen it on TV tho'.

Having said that, I'm content enough with the Reg2 version
for the meantime but like yourself would like stereo if possible.
I don't think it will be too long before the Reg1 version comes
out but I would'nt advise anyone to pospone buying the Reg2
in the meantime it's still well worth having just to own all Sergio's
six movies.

The 3 Dollars Trilogy movies could be enhanced a bit picture wise
Anamorphic is the way to go - I like Anamorphic!!
Again, they will suffice in the meantime, I've got Reg1 & Reg2
of these 3 and there isn't a lot of difference picturewise.
Anamorphic is tops for me!! :)

That is all

loz99