Amazon.co.uk Review
Once Upon a Time in America has a chequered history, having been chopped from its original 229-minute director's cut to 139 minutes for its theatrical release. The longer edition presented here benefits from having the complete story (the short version has huge gaps) about turn-of-the-century Jewish immigrants in America finding their way into lives of crime, as told in flashback by an ageing Jewish gangster named Noodles (Robert De Niro). On the other hand, it's almost four hours long, and this sometimes-indulgent Sergio Leone film is no Godfather. Still, it is notable for the contrast between Leone's elegiac take on the gangster film and his occasional explosive action, as well as for the mix of the stoic, inexpressive De Niro and the hyperactive James Woods as his lifelong friend and rival. --Marshall Fine
Customer Reviews:
what a directionless piece of crap.......2008-02-05
This film starts strong but quickly loses its way, especially in the last hour. The plot completely unravels, the annoying music track repeats constantly, and much of the acting is weak. Don't waste more than three hours of you life on this, it is one of the worst films I have seen in a long time. Don't be fooled by the cast!
Over long, uninvolving, confusing - but visually fabulous!.......2008-01-09
Firstly, this is a long movie, around 3 and a half hours. Jeeez! My rule for 3 hours plus, is that you better have a lot of story. This one just about pulls it off, but there were times when my mind wandered.
Performances are all pretty excellent. Even the child actors are of abnormally high-quality. It's all pretty entertaining, but each scene tended to fizzle out and become over indulgent, and for me, made it less potent. In terms of narrative drive and purpose, I couldn't really see the point, and it got needlessly confusing in places. In my opinion, it sort of collapsed under its own ambition as an epic mafia saga.
Although, what makes this movie pretty damn good as opposed to just reasonable is the scale and visual attention to detail. Each shot is so well photographed, and the frequency of detail is pretty awe-inspiring. Someone researched this movie very well, and the cinematography is Oscar worphy, with some brilliant dark, moody and nostalgic images.
I think this movie is flawed. I don't think it's a masterpiece. But one can only feel admiration for the ambition of the storytelling.
Oh dear..........2007-12-03
After eagerly anticipating seeing this film, major let down is an understatement.
Apart from the length which was to be honest ridiculous I personally thought there were glaring holes in the alleged "plot"
We were led to believe Max was dead and he wasn't but how did a well known gangster manage to reinvent himself as a politician?
The woman who Noodles rapes doesnt age in 35 years
What exactly happens to Max in the end?
Who exactly were the gangsters after Noodles at the start?
if anyone could answer please do!
De Niro + Leone + Morricone = Masterpiece !.......2007-11-28
A combination of De Niro, Sergio Leone, and Ennio Morricone combine for an ultimate masterpiece. If it's on DVD, Buy it now !!! This is 4 hours Value for Money, and the performances are top notch. The ending is hotly disputed but I feel it to be justified in such circumstances.
A great film !!!
De Niro at his wonderful best........2007-11-25
When I first decided to watch this film, it was basically because Robert De Niro was the star. After five minutes, I realised that this was much more than a one-man show.
The basic premise is simple; Noodles (DeNiro) returns to New York after thirty years after being driven out of town by a rival group of gangsters. Sounds simple, right? Wrong. After a group of flashbacks (including one involving Noodles' crew as children, which is probably the best acted child story in movie history) the overall meaning of the film seems to continually shift, the implications of each new puzzle-piece of Noodles' life changing the meaning of a briefcase that the film revolves around.
It's Leone's direction, above all else, that pushes this film into cinematic history. It's easy to get great actors to put on great performances, but actors who I feel are mediocre and sometimes overrated, like Elizabeth McGovern and Tuesday Weld, put in career turns, extending their talents far above their usual average limits.
The only disapointment in this masterpiece is Joe Pesci. Not because of his performance, which is perfectly acceptable as Frankie Minaldi who finds work for DeNiro's crew and backstabs his brother, but because it should be so much more. After seeing Pesci in Goodfellas and Raging Bull - and to a lesser extent Casino - this role seems tame and below par. You feel let down by the editing, as Pesci's role was cut down from one of the leads. You yearn for what could have been from Pesci's Frankie had he kept his part as one of the focal points rather than this cameo. But this film is already nearly four hours long, and you feel sympathy for the guys that made that tough decision.
Yet, despite DeNiro putting in something close to a career best (alongside Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas and Heat), the show is stolen by the excellent James Woods as Noodles' best friend and partner in crime Max. It's not as if this film isn't bursting at the seems with excellent turns, but Woods still sticks in the mind. It's the quiet deceitfulness excellently blended with the downright psychotic that keeps you guessing with Max. You never know when this guy is going to snap, and when it finally does happen you feel sorry for both Woods and DeNiro. But, underneath his brimming rage, you can tell that Max has a searing ambition to reach the top of his field, and it's this attribute that really differentiates him from DeNiro's Noodles.
Despite its massive length, you never get bored or even slightly impatient with the wonderful picture. It really feels like many films with many stories rolled into one, and each one of them could be a good to great film. Sergio Leone's final picture was also arguably his best, and his attention to detail combined with his excellent vision, that makes this picture simply unmissable.
Customer Reviews:
Classic Cinema.......2007-08-28
This is Sergio Leone's last and perhaps best film. Epic in length, scope and cinematography "Once upon a time in America" follows a group of kids and their rise to fully fledged gangsters.
Running at almost 4 hours and including an interval the story covers childhood, their 20's/30's and Noodles (De Niro) 70's.
The story is plays with time, cutting between 3 periods in cleverely crafted arcs. When originally released in the US the distributor re-arranged the whole film chronologically, destroying the suspense of the story. Here it is shown in it's proper, full length edit.
This really is cinema at it's best. Yes it's long and may take a couple of sittings, but once finished you know you've seen a film and a great one at that.
[Spoiler]
The final shot is a perfect ending to the film and Leones career. Noodles smiling in the opium den indicating that some, if not all of what you'd seen was infact a 'pipe dream' or hallucination. So perhaps the whole thing was fake, a story, but in the end you're there to watch a story being told, which is what Sergio did best.
Tell The Truth.......2007-07-25
Never have the twin themes of childhood innocence and trade unionism been so lengthily or so incoherently explored...
Approach this pompous "masterpiece" with extreme caution.
Gangster-film fans be warned - well over an hour of the film is devoted to the characters' childhood, with the effect that, once the film draws to its end, one has no proper sense of any of the characters. This is particularly true of De Niro's character, who commits two rapes during the course of the film, one of them after a protracted and boring candlelit-dinner-for-two scene (it makes no sense). There is a single action scene, which requires a disc-change in the middle, and the plot about trade unions is as boring as one might expect, and inadequately explained.
The children scenes, which are so frustrating when first viewed, actually emerge as the best bits of the film.
If it's "great film-making" you're after, then buy the box-set, but if you want entertainment, look elsewhere. Save this one for the film buffs, who'll also tell you Apocalypse Now is the greatest film ever made (it isn't).
great movie sahme about the dvd.......2007-05-31
this is one of the best movies made by any director, but it is a shame that the dvd release was let down by badly placing the break in the movie to change from disk one to disk two.
The movie had a natural intermission but did WB use that logical place, no, they put it in the middle of one of the main action secquences that totaly destroyed the flow of the second half of the movie
So 5 stars for the movie and 2 stars for the DVD release
Epic Gangster Film.......2007-04-09
In my opinion "Once Upon a Time in America" doesn't come close to gangster films like "The Godfather Trilogy" and "Goodfellas" in terms of excitement and plot. "Once Upon a Time" is a particularly slow moving film, at times appearing almost to be filmed in slow motion and is characterised by an elegaic musical score and operatic cinematography. The film consists of a series of prolonged flashbacks by De Niro's ageing Jewish gangster "Noodles" as he reminisces about his friendships and love affairs. For me ,"Once Upon a Time" was too long ,drawn out and ponderous for my tastes. "The Godfather Trilogy" definitely sets the benchmark for these types of films.
Leone's final masterpiece.......2006-10-18
Perhaps the foremost artistic cinematic experience of the 20th century, Leone's gangster saga is a lesson to all other film makers and redefines the art of cinematography. De Niro delivers a understated yet composed performance and is supported by a brilliant cast in a compelling 50 year epic. While as a film it narrowly fails to outstrip Ford-Coppola's Godfather, as a piece of cinematic art and as an experience it is almost unparalled in modern cinema.
Amazon.co.uk Review
Once Upon a Time in America has a chequered history, having been chopped from its original 229-minute director's cut to 139 minutes for its theatrical release. The longer edition presented here benefits from having the complete story (the short version has huge gaps) about turn-of-the-century Jewish immigrants in America finding their way into lives of crime, as told in flashback by an ageing Jewish gangster named Noodles (Robert De Niro). On the other hand, it's almost four hours long, and this sometimes-indulgent Sergio Leone film is no Godfather. Still, it is notable for the contrast between Leone's elegiac take on the gangster film and his occasional explosive action, as well as for the mix of the stoic, inexpressive De Niro and the hyperactive James Woods as his lifelong friend and rival. --Marshall Fine
Customer Reviews:
what a directionless piece of crap.......2008-02-05
This film starts strong but quickly loses its way, especially in the last hour. The plot completely unravels, the annoying music track repeats constantly, and much of the acting is weak. Don't waste more than three hours of you life on this, it is one of the worst films I have seen in a long time. Don't be fooled by the cast!
Over long, uninvolving, confusing - but visually fabulous!.......2008-01-09
Firstly, this is a long movie, around 3 and a half hours. Jeeez! My rule for 3 hours plus, is that you better have a lot of story. This one just about pulls it off, but there were times when my mind wandered.
Performances are all pretty excellent. Even the child actors are of abnormally high-quality. It's all pretty entertaining, but each scene tended to fizzle out and become over indulgent, and for me, made it less potent. In terms of narrative drive and purpose, I couldn't really see the point, and it got needlessly confusing in places. In my opinion, it sort of collapsed under its own ambition as an epic mafia saga.
Although, what makes this movie pretty damn good as opposed to just reasonable is the scale and visual attention to detail. Each shot is so well photographed, and the frequency of detail is pretty awe-inspiring. Someone researched this movie very well, and the cinematography is Oscar worphy, with some brilliant dark, moody and nostalgic images.
I think this movie is flawed. I don't think it's a masterpiece. But one can only feel admiration for the ambition of the storytelling.
Oh dear..........2007-12-03
After eagerly anticipating seeing this film, major let down is an understatement.
Apart from the length which was to be honest ridiculous I personally thought there were glaring holes in the alleged "plot"
We were led to believe Max was dead and he wasn't but how did a well known gangster manage to reinvent himself as a politician?
The woman who Noodles rapes doesnt age in 35 years
What exactly happens to Max in the end?
Who exactly were the gangsters after Noodles at the start?
if anyone could answer please do!
De Niro + Leone + Morricone = Masterpiece !.......2007-11-28
A combination of De Niro, Sergio Leone, and Ennio Morricone combine for an ultimate masterpiece. If it's on DVD, Buy it now !!! This is 4 hours Value for Money, and the performances are top notch. The ending is hotly disputed but I feel it to be justified in such circumstances.
A great film !!!
De Niro at his wonderful best........2007-11-25
When I first decided to watch this film, it was basically because Robert De Niro was the star. After five minutes, I realised that this was much more than a one-man show.
The basic premise is simple; Noodles (DeNiro) returns to New York after thirty years after being driven out of town by a rival group of gangsters. Sounds simple, right? Wrong. After a group of flashbacks (including one involving Noodles' crew as children, which is probably the best acted child story in movie history) the overall meaning of the film seems to continually shift, the implications of each new puzzle-piece of Noodles' life changing the meaning of a briefcase that the film revolves around.
It's Leone's direction, above all else, that pushes this film into cinematic history. It's easy to get great actors to put on great performances, but actors who I feel are mediocre and sometimes overrated, like Elizabeth McGovern and Tuesday Weld, put in career turns, extending their talents far above their usual average limits.
The only disapointment in this masterpiece is Joe Pesci. Not because of his performance, which is perfectly acceptable as Frankie Minaldi who finds work for DeNiro's crew and backstabs his brother, but because it should be so much more. After seeing Pesci in Goodfellas and Raging Bull - and to a lesser extent Casino - this role seems tame and below par. You feel let down by the editing, as Pesci's role was cut down from one of the leads. You yearn for what could have been from Pesci's Frankie had he kept his part as one of the focal points rather than this cameo. But this film is already nearly four hours long, and you feel sympathy for the guys that made that tough decision.
Yet, despite DeNiro putting in something close to a career best (alongside Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas and Heat), the show is stolen by the excellent James Woods as Noodles' best friend and partner in crime Max. It's not as if this film isn't bursting at the seems with excellent turns, but Woods still sticks in the mind. It's the quiet deceitfulness excellently blended with the downright psychotic that keeps you guessing with Max. You never know when this guy is going to snap, and when it finally does happen you feel sorry for both Woods and DeNiro. But, underneath his brimming rage, you can tell that Max has a searing ambition to reach the top of his field, and it's this attribute that really differentiates him from DeNiro's Noodles.
Despite its massive length, you never get bored or even slightly impatient with the wonderful picture. It really feels like many films with many stories rolled into one, and each one of them could be a good to great film. Sergio Leone's final picture was also arguably his best, and his attention to detail combined with his excellent vision, that makes this picture simply unmissable.
Amazon.co.uk Review
Once Upon a Time in America has a chequered history, having been chopped from its original 229-minute director's cut to 139 minutes for its theatrical release. The longer edition presented here benefits from having the complete story (the short version has huge gaps) about turn-of-the-century Jewish immigrants in America finding their way into lives of crime, as told in flashback by an ageing Jewish gangster named Noodles (Robert De Niro). On the other hand, it's almost four hours long, and this sometimes-indulgent Sergio Leone film is no Godfather. Still, it is notable for the contrast between Leone's elegiac take on the gangster film and his occasional explosive action, as well as for the mix of the stoic, inexpressive De Niro and the hyperactive James Woods as his lifelong friend and rival. --Marshall Fine
Customer Reviews:
what a directionless piece of crap.......2008-02-05
This film starts strong but quickly loses its way, especially in the last hour. The plot completely unravels, the annoying music track repeats constantly, and much of the acting is weak. Don't waste more than three hours of you life on this, it is one of the worst films I have seen in a long time. Don't be fooled by the cast!
Over long, uninvolving, confusing - but visually fabulous!.......2008-01-09
Firstly, this is a long movie, around 3 and a half hours. Jeeez! My rule for 3 hours plus, is that you better have a lot of story. This one just about pulls it off, but there were times when my mind wandered.
Performances are all pretty excellent. Even the child actors are of abnormally high-quality. It's all pretty entertaining, but each scene tended to fizzle out and become over indulgent, and for me, made it less potent. In terms of narrative drive and purpose, I couldn't really see the point, and it got needlessly confusing in places. In my opinion, it sort of collapsed under its own ambition as an epic mafia saga.
Although, what makes this movie pretty damn good as opposed to just reasonable is the scale and visual attention to detail. Each shot is so well photographed, and the frequency of detail is pretty awe-inspiring. Someone researched this movie very well, and the cinematography is Oscar worphy, with some brilliant dark, moody and nostalgic images.
I think this movie is flawed. I don't think it's a masterpiece. But one can only feel admiration for the ambition of the storytelling.
Oh dear..........2007-12-03
After eagerly anticipating seeing this film, major let down is an understatement.
Apart from the length which was to be honest ridiculous I personally thought there were glaring holes in the alleged "plot"
We were led to believe Max was dead and he wasn't but how did a well known gangster manage to reinvent himself as a politician?
The woman who Noodles rapes doesnt age in 35 years
What exactly happens to Max in the end?
Who exactly were the gangsters after Noodles at the start?
if anyone could answer please do!
De Niro + Leone + Morricone = Masterpiece !.......2007-11-28
A combination of De Niro, Sergio Leone, and Ennio Morricone combine for an ultimate masterpiece. If it's on DVD, Buy it now !!! This is 4 hours Value for Money, and the performances are top notch. The ending is hotly disputed but I feel it to be justified in such circumstances.
A great film !!!
De Niro at his wonderful best........2007-11-25
When I first decided to watch this film, it was basically because Robert De Niro was the star. After five minutes, I realised that this was much more than a one-man show.
The basic premise is simple; Noodles (DeNiro) returns to New York after thirty years after being driven out of town by a rival group of gangsters. Sounds simple, right? Wrong. After a group of flashbacks (including one involving Noodles' crew as children, which is probably the best acted child story in movie history) the overall meaning of the film seems to continually shift, the implications of each new puzzle-piece of Noodles' life changing the meaning of a briefcase that the film revolves around.
It's Leone's direction, above all else, that pushes this film into cinematic history. It's easy to get great actors to put on great performances, but actors who I feel are mediocre and sometimes overrated, like Elizabeth McGovern and Tuesday Weld, put in career turns, extending their talents far above their usual average limits.
The only disapointment in this masterpiece is Joe Pesci. Not because of his performance, which is perfectly acceptable as Frankie Minaldi who finds work for DeNiro's crew and backstabs his brother, but because it should be so much more. After seeing Pesci in Goodfellas and Raging Bull - and to a lesser extent Casino - this role seems tame and below par. You feel let down by the editing, as Pesci's role was cut down from one of the leads. You yearn for what could have been from Pesci's Frankie had he kept his part as one of the focal points rather than this cameo. But this film is already nearly four hours long, and you feel sympathy for the guys that made that tough decision.
Yet, despite DeNiro putting in something close to a career best (alongside Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas and Heat), the show is stolen by the excellent James Woods as Noodles' best friend and partner in crime Max. It's not as if this film isn't bursting at the seems with excellent turns, but Woods still sticks in the mind. It's the quiet deceitfulness excellently blended with the downright psychotic that keeps you guessing with Max. You never know when this guy is going to snap, and when it finally does happen you feel sorry for both Woods and DeNiro. But, underneath his brimming rage, you can tell that Max has a searing ambition to reach the top of his field, and it's this attribute that really differentiates him from DeNiro's Noodles.
Despite its massive length, you never get bored or even slightly impatient with the wonderful picture. It really feels like many films with many stories rolled into one, and each one of them could be a good to great film. Sergio Leone's final picture was also arguably his best, and his attention to detail combined with his excellent vision, that makes this picture simply unmissable.
Amazon.co.uk Review
Once Upon a Time in America has a chequered history, having been chopped from its original 229-minute director's cut to 139 minutes for its theatrical release. The longer edition presented here benefits from having the complete story (the short version has huge gaps) about turn-of-the-century Jewish immigrants in America finding their way into lives of crime, as told in flashback by an ageing Jewish gangster named Noodles (Robert De Niro). On the other hand, it's almost four hours long, and this sometimes-indulgent Sergio Leone film is no Godfather. Still, it is notable for the contrast between Leone's elegiac take on the gangster film and his occasional explosive action, as well as for the mix of the stoic, inexpressive De Niro and the hyperactive James Woods as his lifelong friend and rival. --Marshall Fine
Customer Reviews:
what a directionless piece of crap.......2008-02-05
This film starts strong but quickly loses its way, especially in the last hour. The plot completely unravels, the annoying music track repeats constantly, and much of the acting is weak. Don't waste more than three hours of you life on this, it is one of the worst films I have seen in a long time. Don't be fooled by the cast!
Over long, uninvolving, confusing - but visually fabulous!.......2008-01-09
Firstly, this is a long movie, around 3 and a half hours. Jeeez! My rule for 3 hours plus, is that you better have a lot of story. This one just about pulls it off, but there were times when my mind wandered.
Performances are all pretty excellent. Even the child actors are of abnormally high-quality. It's all pretty entertaining, but each scene tended to fizzle out and become over indulgent, and for me, made it less potent. In terms of narrative drive and purpose, I couldn't really see the point, and it got needlessly confusing in places. In my opinion, it sort of collapsed under its own ambition as an epic mafia saga.
Although, what makes this movie pretty damn good as opposed to just reasonable is the scale and visual attention to detail. Each shot is so well photographed, and the frequency of detail is pretty awe-inspiring. Someone researched this movie very well, and the cinematography is Oscar worphy, with some brilliant dark, moody and nostalgic images.
I think this movie is flawed. I don't think it's a masterpiece. But one can only feel admiration for the ambition of the storytelling.
Oh dear..........2007-12-03
After eagerly anticipating seeing this film, major let down is an understatement.
Apart from the length which was to be honest ridiculous I personally thought there were glaring holes in the alleged "plot"
We were led to believe Max was dead and he wasn't but how did a well known gangster manage to reinvent himself as a politician?
The woman who Noodles rapes doesnt age in 35 years
What exactly happens to Max in the end?
Who exactly were the gangsters after Noodles at the start?
if anyone could answer please do!
De Niro + Leone + Morricone = Masterpiece !.......2007-11-28
A combination of De Niro, Sergio Leone, and Ennio Morricone combine for an ultimate masterpiece. If it's on DVD, Buy it now !!! This is 4 hours Value for Money, and the performances are top notch. The ending is hotly disputed but I feel it to be justified in such circumstances.
A great film !!!
De Niro at his wonderful best........2007-11-25
When I first decided to watch this film, it was basically because Robert De Niro was the star. After five minutes, I realised that this was much more than a one-man show.
The basic premise is simple; Noodles (DeNiro) returns to New York after thirty years after being driven out of town by a rival group of gangsters. Sounds simple, right? Wrong. After a group of flashbacks (including one involving Noodles' crew as children, which is probably the best acted child story in movie history) the overall meaning of the film seems to continually shift, the implications of each new puzzle-piece of Noodles' life changing the meaning of a briefcase that the film revolves around.
It's Leone's direction, above all else, that pushes this film into cinematic history. It's easy to get great actors to put on great performances, but actors who I feel are mediocre and sometimes overrated, like Elizabeth McGovern and Tuesday Weld, put in career turns, extending their talents far above their usual average limits.
The only disapointment in this masterpiece is Joe Pesci. Not because of his performance, which is perfectly acceptable as Frankie Minaldi who finds work for DeNiro's crew and backstabs his brother, but because it should be so much more. After seeing Pesci in Goodfellas and Raging Bull - and to a lesser extent Casino - this role seems tame and below par. You feel let down by the editing, as Pesci's role was cut down from one of the leads. You yearn for what could have been from Pesci's Frankie had he kept his part as one of the focal points rather than this cameo. But this film is already nearly four hours long, and you feel sympathy for the guys that made that tough decision.
Yet, despite DeNiro putting in something close to a career best (alongside Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas and Heat), the show is stolen by the excellent James Woods as Noodles' best friend and partner in crime Max. It's not as if this film isn't bursting at the seems with excellent turns, but Woods still sticks in the mind. It's the quiet deceitfulness excellently blended with the downright psychotic that keeps you guessing with Max. You never know when this guy is going to snap, and when it finally does happen you feel sorry for both Woods and DeNiro. But, underneath his brimming rage, you can tell that Max has a searing ambition to reach the top of his field, and it's this attribute that really differentiates him from DeNiro's Noodles.
Despite its massive length, you never get bored or even slightly impatient with the wonderful picture. It really feels like many films with many stories rolled into one, and each one of them could be a good to great film. Sergio Leone's final picture was also arguably his best, and his attention to detail combined with his excellent vision, that makes this picture simply unmissable.
Amazon.co.uk Review
Once Upon a Time in America has a chequered history, having been chopped from its original 229-minute director's cut to 139 minutes for its theatrical release. The longer edition presented here benefits from having the complete story (the short version has huge gaps) about turn-of-the-century Jewish immigrants in America finding their way into lives of crime, as told in flashback by an ageing Jewish gangster named Noodles (Robert De Niro). On the other hand, it's almost four hours long, and this sometimes-indulgent Sergio Leone film is no Godfather. Still, it is notable for the contrast between Leone's elegiac take on the gangster film and his occasional explosive action, as well as for the mix of the stoic, inexpressive De Niro and the hyperactive James Woods as his lifelong friend and rival. --Marshall Fine
Customer Reviews:
what a directionless piece of crap.......2008-02-05
This film starts strong but quickly loses its way, especially in the last hour. The plot completely unravels, the annoying music track repeats constantly, and much of the acting is weak. Don't waste more than three hours of you life on this, it is one of the worst films I have seen in a long time. Don't be fooled by the cast!
Over long, uninvolving, confusing - but visually fabulous!.......2008-01-09
Firstly, this is a long movie, around 3 and a half hours. Jeeez! My rule for 3 hours plus, is that you better have a lot of story. This one just about pulls it off, but there were times when my mind wandered.
Performances are all pretty excellent. Even the child actors are of abnormally high-quality. It's all pretty entertaining, but each scene tended to fizzle out and become over indulgent, and for me, made it less potent. In terms of narrative drive and purpose, I couldn't really see the point, and it got needlessly confusing in places. In my opinion, it sort of collapsed under its own ambition as an epic mafia saga.
Although, what makes this movie pretty damn good as opposed to just reasonable is the scale and visual attention to detail. Each shot is so well photographed, and the frequency of detail is pretty awe-inspiring. Someone researched this movie very well, and the cinematography is Oscar worphy, with some brilliant dark, moody and nostalgic images.
I think this movie is flawed. I don't think it's a masterpiece. But one can only feel admiration for the ambition of the storytelling.
Oh dear..........2007-12-03
After eagerly anticipating seeing this film, major let down is an understatement.
Apart from the length which was to be honest ridiculous I personally thought there were glaring holes in the alleged "plot"
We were led to believe Max was dead and he wasn't but how did a well known gangster manage to reinvent himself as a politician?
The woman who Noodles rapes doesnt age in 35 years
What exactly happens to Max in the end?
Who exactly were the gangsters after Noodles at the start?
if anyone could answer please do!
De Niro + Leone + Morricone = Masterpiece !.......2007-11-28
A combination of De Niro, Sergio Leone, and Ennio Morricone combine for an ultimate masterpiece. If it's on DVD, Buy it now !!! This is 4 hours Value for Money, and the performances are top notch. The ending is hotly disputed but I feel it to be justified in such circumstances.
A great film !!!
De Niro at his wonderful best........2007-11-25
When I first decided to watch this film, it was basically because Robert De Niro was the star. After five minutes, I realised that this was much more than a one-man show.
The basic premise is simple; Noodles (DeNiro) returns to New York after thirty years after being driven out of town by a rival group of gangsters. Sounds simple, right? Wrong. After a group of flashbacks (including one involving Noodles' crew as children, which is probably the best acted child story in movie history) the overall meaning of the film seems to continually shift, the implications of each new puzzle-piece of Noodles' life changing the meaning of a briefcase that the film revolves around.
It's Leone's direction, above all else, that pushes this film into cinematic history. It's easy to get great actors to put on great performances, but actors who I feel are mediocre and sometimes overrated, like Elizabeth McGovern and Tuesday Weld, put in career turns, extending their talents far above their usual average limits.
The only disapointment in this masterpiece is Joe Pesci. Not because of his performance, which is perfectly acceptable as Frankie Minaldi who finds work for DeNiro's crew and backstabs his brother, but because it should be so much more. After seeing Pesci in Goodfellas and Raging Bull - and to a lesser extent Casino - this role seems tame and below par. You feel let down by the editing, as Pesci's role was cut down from one of the leads. You yearn for what could have been from Pesci's Frankie had he kept his part as one of the focal points rather than this cameo. But this film is already nearly four hours long, and you feel sympathy for the guys that made that tough decision.
Yet, despite DeNiro putting in something close to a career best (alongside Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas and Heat), the show is stolen by the excellent James Woods as Noodles' best friend and partner in crime Max. It's not as if this film isn't bursting at the seems with excellent turns, but Woods still sticks in the mind. It's the quiet deceitfulness excellently blended with the downright psychotic that keeps you guessing with Max. You never know when this guy is going to snap, and when it finally does happen you feel sorry for both Woods and DeNiro. But, underneath his brimming rage, you can tell that Max has a searing ambition to reach the top of his field, and it's this attribute that really differentiates him from DeNiro's Noodles.
Despite its massive length, you never get bored or even slightly impatient with the wonderful picture. It really feels like many films with many stories rolled into one, and each one of them could be a good to great film. Sergio Leone's final picture was also arguably his best, and his attention to detail combined with his excellent vision, that makes this picture simply unmissable.
UK DVD:
- One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (2 Disc Special Edition) [1975]
- One Tree Hill - Series 1
- One Tree Hill - Series 2
- One Tree Hill - Series 3
- Paris, Je T'Aime [2007]
- Perfume - The Story Of A Murderer [2006]
- Poldark - Series 1 - Part 1 [1975]
- Pretty In Pink [1986]
- Prime Suspect Complete Collection Box Set [2006]
- Quadrophenia (2 Disc Special Edition) [1979]
UK DVD List
UK DVD
![Once Upon A Time In America [1984]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21RV52XCA3L.jpg)
All Drama
|
Drama
|
Categories
|
DVD
|
Video
![Mean Streets (Special Edition) [1973]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B0007N1B7Q.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
Mean Streets (Special Edition) [1973]
![Once Upon a Time in the West -- Special Collector's Edition (2 discs) [1969]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B0000A5BSZ.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
Once Upon a Time in the West -- Special Collector's Edition (2 discs) [1969]
![Goodfellas [1990]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00004CXX8.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
Goodfellas [1990]
![A Bronx Tale [1993]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000H1QQIW.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
A Bronx Tale [1993]
![Casino [1996]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00004CZ56.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
Casino [1996]
![Once Upon A Time In America [1984]](http://www.bill88.com/buy.gif)
![Once Upon A Time In America : The Movie & More (2 Disc Special Edition) [1984]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/2151J-HC58L.jpg)
![Goodfellas : The Movie & More (2 Disc Special Edition) [1990]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000GQMLTQ.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
![Casino (2 Disc Special Edition) [1995]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B0009KKWH2.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
![Once Upon a Time in America [1984] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21S7EPHQ3QL.jpg)
![Once Upon A Time In America (Collectors' Edition) [1984]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21GEFCXXPSL.jpg)
![Once Upon a Time in America [1984] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/211S5Q0AW6L.jpg)
![Once Upon a Time in America [1984] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/11P5YZ9ZN6L.jpg)
![Once Upon a Time in America - S.E. [1984] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://www.germanelectronics88.com/noimage.gif)
