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Once Upon a Time in America | Year: 1984 Classification: Drama Directed: - Sergio Leone Actors/Actresses: - Robert De Niro - James Woods - William Forsythe Can't Wait for the DVD I have been waiting for the release of this film on DVD since I bought my DVD player in January, 2002. This movie is a masterpiece. It never got the recognition it truly deserved, as the American distributor chopped the movie in half. Restored to its original length, the movie is a work of art. The music is fantastic and the acting is great. The movie is a tragedy of epic proportions. It's aboutlost love, lost friendship, and the regrets that a man must bear for stabbing his life long friends in the back in a desperate attempt to save them. Jennifer Connelly also makes an appearence, early in the film. ONCE UPON A TIME - ENTERTAINS, ENTHRALLS AND CAPTIVATES! "Once Upon A Time In America" is director, Sergio Leone's stunning tale of organized crime and the destruction it unleashes into the lives of four life-long friends. Robert DeNiro headlines a cast of great talent that includes Joe Pesci, Treat Williams and James Woods. When this film first premiered in 1984 it was 229 minutes. However, the subject matter was considered so violent and shocking, and the pace so methodically slow that nearly 40 minutes were excised for general exhibition, rendering the story line practically incomprehensible. I am pleased to say that this new 2-disc set at last gives us the story as it was originally intended, full of robust characterizations, enthralling action sequences and filled with the sort of memorable moments that have reminded me why we all go to the movies - to be entertained (not overwhelmed with way-too-many, ultra-slick digital effects!).<BR>Warner Brothers 2 disc set does have its drawbacks. First, the movie itself is spread over two discs and, there is no polite way to say it, the interruption is obtrusive. The break happens right in the middle of a crucial scene. Interruption aside, the DVD is marred by considerable film grain and a bit of digital grit that make most of the images digitally harsh instead of creamy smooth. Many scenes offer remarkable clarity and depth while others, mostly night time or dark scenes suffer from a loss of fine detail that disappears into a haze of undistinguished muddy blacks, browns and blues. Edge enhancement, pixelization, shimmering and aliasing are present throughout the transfer, sometimes distractingly so. The audio is remixed 5.1 and is strident and lacking in tonal bass. <BR>Extras: Pretty much a retrospective and audio commentaries. Some toss away stuff. That's it, that's all!<BR>BOTTOM LINE: For its sheer mastery in the art of cinema story telling, I recommend "Once Upon A Time In America". The transfer leaves something to be desired but hey, it's nice to have this American classic back in the spotlight and, finally, in its full running time. A little over rated... An epic tale of jewish kids in turn of the century new york who begin a life of petty crime that blossums into large scale organized crime. The movie is told using flasbacks beginning with an aging robert deniro as noodles arronson who relives the past from the days of his youth. This is a story about friendship and commraderie but director sergio leone never let's the film get too sentimental. These guys are very violent ruthless men and you never are allowed to forget that. In one important scene noodles rapes his childhood sweetheart the woman he claims to love. There are several key scenes in the movie that seem to get the point across. First these kids are doing small time stuff and eventuallly their crimes become a threat to the local toughs a gang run by a guy called bugsy. Noodles and his best pal max take a pretty good beating for their intrusion but they continue to work the area and the reprisals become much stronger. In a most important scene the youngest and smallest of the gang gets shot to death but noodles retaliates against the rival with a knife. This lands him in jail for some time and as the story moves to the next level we see an adult noodles leaving prison only to rejoin his pals who have now reached the big time. At this level the gang is bold enough to double cross the mafia on a jewel heist and take control of a major labor union but that is not enough for max who is planning a crime that dwarfs those exploits. You're crazy replies noodles to max' idea and which causes max to become angry and almost strike him. "Don't ever say i'm crazy" max said. Of course he was crazy. Noodles has the difficult decision to decide whether he'll support his friend or not. A decision that could mean life or death. Will noodles help his friends or will he double cross them to save his own skin. Noodles is ruthless but he is also practical and he frequently is at odds with max' emotional decisions. There are a few more twists and turns and some real surprises. This is a fine film with solid writing, acting and a realistic ambience. You do feel part of the life and times of the characters. The story line is solid though the flashback method can make it frustrating at times to follow. For that reason this is a good movie to own so you can see it several times in which you'll appreciate it more. The reason i think it's not quite worthy of 5 stars is because of the length. I have seen the film in both it's cut up length and the full. You simply can't watch it with half the scenes removed so the full length version is the only way. Still there is no need for the movie to be so long. Many scenes drag on without much purpose. Noodles in the mausoleum, noodles with his childhood sweetheart in the restaurant ect. As a result the movie doesn't move along fast enough getting too bogged down with insignificant details. Still a very fine film and one of the best from the 1980s. Certainly worth owning. .................socks A DARK DREAM OF AMERICA Sergio Leone's splendid 229 minute restored director's cut of ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA, one of the most sought-after movies not yet available on DVD, finally makes it's digital disc debut (June 10) exactly as seen at it's 1984 Cannes Film Festival premiere. Sadly, after it's initial showing, the distributor demanded major cuts that not only shortened the film by 90 minutes, but restructured the non-linear story line. The butchered result was a film that often made no sense with characters appearing and disappearing without rhyme or reason. It broke Leone's heart: his fairy tale had been decimated. This special two-disc presentation includes a low-key commentary by film critic Richard Schickel and a documentary "Once Upon A Time: Sergio Leone." The original poster art claimed: "As boys, they said they'd die for each other. As men, they did." Brutal and beautiful, Leone's saga of Jewish gangsters covers nearly 50 years (1920 to 1968) in the strange partnership of Lower East Side childhood thugs Noodles (Robert De Niro) and Max (James Woods). It begins in an opium den and ends there. It it all a pipe dream in Noodles' head? Shot in 1982, preproduction began 10 years earlier as an adaptation of "The Hoods," a novel by Harry Grey (but said to be Harry Goldberg's autobiography of his life as a mobster). Although screenplay credit is given to six writers, the dialogue is often sparse or non-existent; purely visual sequences abound with long stretches of startling action set against painterly period vistas. Leone's last film -- he died in 1989 -- jumps back and forth in time and the lead characters are intentionally ambivalent: somehow lost and unredeemed. Noodles is certainly not someone we root for. The fine supporting cast includes Elizabeth McGovern, Tuesday Weld and Joe Pesci. When the film is over, what most remains in the memory is a mood -- the feeling of a lucid dream of America fueled by Ennio Morricone's exquisite score and the hallucinatory images of 1920s New York. Buy Once Upon A Time In America at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on Once Upon A Time In America Search with the Priority Search Engine on Once Upon A Time In America This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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