Once Upon a Time in America (Two-Disc Special Edition)

Sometimes we don’t appreciate a movie the way it deserves the first time we view it. That is case for me with Sergio Leone’s gangster masterpiece, ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA, a film I was introduced to on network TV a few years after it had a disastrous run in the theaters; that theatrical version had been badly edited and truncated by Warner Brothers after Leone had delivered a cut running more than four hours. The version I saw on TV had many scenes restored, but the non linear way the story unfolded, along with Leone’s very deliberate pace with storytelling simply did not work with commercial breaks every ten minutes, not to mention the editing of content to fit network standards. As far as I was concerned, the energy and verve of THE GOOD, THE BAD, & THE UGLY and ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST seemed to be missing from what should have been sure thing; this was Sergio Leone, and he was making a movie about American gangsters, how could it miss? As far as I was concerned, he had, but then I listened to podcasts extolling the glories of a film that many cinephiles consider the greatest gangster movie ever made, so I forked over the money for the two disc, Blu Ray set, and saw with new eyes Sergio Leone’s final masterpiece, and his parting gift to millions of film lovers.Based on a novel by Hershel Goldberg, Jewish gangster who later went under the name of Harry Grey, Leone adapted the book into an epic that stretches from the New York City at the dawn of Prohibition to 1968, and follows a set of characters through their rise in the American underworld at the beginnings of organized crime to a final reckoning decades later. It is a story of love, friendship, ambition, loss, regret, and the price that the passage of time exacts. At the center of it all is Noodles Aaronson and Max Bercovicz, boys who, along with their immediate circle of friends, find a way out of the poverty of the streets by working for the gangster syndicates who really rule the streets. They learn early the power of violence, the necessity to be utterly ruthless, and to enjoy the riches that come their way. Though Noodles and Max have a bond stronger than most brothers, they are not alike; Noodles is ultimately content to be nothing more than a street gangster, making a living from bootlegging and petty crime, while Max sees beyond the streets and Prohibition, and to the possibilities of merging organized crime with organized labor and big business. Noodles wants nothing to do with it, and this becomes the dynamic that drives the story, a friendship broken by betrayal, but betrayal by whom? Things, and events, are not as they first appear.That Leone does not tell this tale in a linear fashion can be off putting to some, and this becomes a problem in the first half hour, when the action switches from the early 30’s to 1968 in a single quick cut, this plus the fact that we are dropped into the story right in the middle as a group of gunmen hunt down Noodles in a saloon and an opium den in order to get payback for turning some unknown persons into the police – we don’t know yet who has been sold out. This certainly can give many viewers a sense of whiplash, as the narrative switches gears with no warning. Leone does this again multiple times, and what might be one director’s brilliance, can easily be a fan’s annoyance. One has to get with the rhythm of the film, but it is well worth the effort. For me, the movie rights itself when the action shifts to the early 20’s, and we get a long, uninterrupted sequence where we learn how Noodles, Max and the rest of their gang came together on the streets of New York. Not only is the recreation of 20’s NYC in detail a masterful piece of movie making, but the young actors, especially Scott Shutzman Tiler and Rusty Jacobs as Noodles and Max respectively, are so winning and expressive, and their story so compelling, that I would have been perfectly satisfied with a whole movie just centered on them. This part of the film is filled with iconic images, such as the truly beautiful young Jennifer Connelly, as Deborah, practicing ballet in the back room while Noodles watches through a peep hole, or the whole gang (flush with illegally earned money) in their best new suits walking across the street with the Brooklyn Bridge in the background – this is some of the finest film making Leone ever did, and among the finest anyone would ever do.Leone assembled a truly magnificent cast, starting with Robert De Niro and James Woods as his lead characters. Watching this film now is to be reminded of the greatness of the young De Niro before the actor’s mannerisms became so familiar and parodied, sometimes by De Niro himself. Nobody could say more without dialog than him – the glance, the shrug, the wary eyes – and Leone took full advantage of De Niro’s talents to create in Noodles a man who often never said what he was thinking, but whom you always knew where he stood. Max might be James Woods’ best performance, a crafty, fast talking street smart guy with ambitions he keeps well hidden until the time is right. Both De Niro and Woods have many great scenes together, but their final confrontation, is for me, the best, where Noodles takes his revenge, only it’s not the revenge Max wants and expects, a perfect example of subverting expectations and going someplace better. And this is the one Leone movie where multiple women play prominent parts in the story, starting with Elisabeth McGovern as the older Deborah, the love of Noodles’ life and the woman he could not win. Then there is Tuesday Weld’s Carol, a masochistic dame who knows how to maneuver her way around in the gangster’s world. In the course of the story, both of these women are raped in graphic scenes that might be upsetting to some, and surely no film maker today would present them in such a way, but I think they are in there because Leone wanted to make it plain that Noodles, Max, and the rest, were not nice guys no matter how much we might come to empathize with them, to let us know that these are men who will take what they want. Burt Young, Joe Pesci, Treat Williams, and Richard Bright appear also in small parts that fit them like gloves. The towering Mario Braga, who was in Leone’s westerns, has a small part. A scene with Louise Fletcher as the administrator of a cemetery was cut and then restored on the Blu Ray. Only Leone could come up with the sequence with Danny Aiello as a corrupt police chief who is brought into line by the gang through his newborn son, it’s like nothing you will see in any other movie, the kind of unique touch that I loved about Leone’s films. And I will say, this is one movie where they got the aging makeup just right, something other films screw up more times than not – see James Dean in GIANT.And what would any Sergio Leone movie be without Ennio Morricone’s music, the man who made the themes from THE GOOD, THE BAD, & THE UGLY and ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST play endlessly in our heads. Morricone’s music is as much a character in the film as anyone played by an actor. Who else would use Zamfir’s pan flute invoke the NYC streets of the distant past, while the other themes Morricone uses underlines the sadness and the longing of Noodles, both in his prime, and then in later years. Morricone and Leone were one of the great collaborations in the history of cinema, and I love the former’s music here as much as any of the work he did for Leone’s westerns.Of course, the true star of ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA is Sergio Leone himself, his hand is plain in every scene; every line of dialogue bares his stamp. I am sure a lot of fans expected his gangster epic to be The Man With No Name with a Tommy Gun, but that is not the case, for this is a very personal film, one suffused with love for an idealized America, one that meant something to a young Italian growing up under Mussolini. So much about this movie is unique, like nothing to be found in any other gangster epic. The way Leone frames his shots, the deliberate pace with which the story unfolds, the period detail, the editing, the close ups and the jump cuts, the haunting use of an instrumental version of The Beatles’ “Yesterday,” all come together to make a near perfect whole. There is much that is unstated, much that the audience has to fill in for themselves, such as Noodles’ life between the early 30’s and 1968, or the scenes that linger, the ones that let some business play out and tell a story within a story all their own, like when the very young Brian Bloom can’t help himself and eats the sweet on the stair steps he has bought for a whore while waiting to trade it for sex. I think Leone did not intend for his gangster film to be taken as historically accurate the same way his westerns could never be. Noodles and Max, and all the rest, are larger than life, they may be rooted in history the same way Blondie, Angel Eyes, Taco, Frank, Cheyenne, Harmonica and Jill McCain are, but like his western characters, Leone’s gangsters, and all who inhabit their world, are really myths like Hercules and Jason and his Argonauts, ones that live apart from the world of mere mortals.This movie was Leone’s labor of love, one he spent more than 15 years getting to the screen; reportedly, he turned down THE GODFATHER because he wanted to make his own gangster epic. Why did Leone’s film fail? Sadly, I think he waited too long, if ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA had opened in 1976, I think it would have found an audience, been a hit, and might have snagged its director an Oscar nomination. Instead it opened in the summer of 1984, a week after INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM came out, and a week before GREMLINS hit theaters. There was no way 80’s movie goers were going to sit still for a gangster epic in this style, and though Leone’s name might have been iconic, he hadn’t had a box office hit in America since 1968, when THE GOOD, THE BAD, & THE UGLY opened. He was no longer relevant or contemporary. The failure of a movie he had put so much into, and devoted so much time into getting made, took its toll; he died much too soon five years later.In the end, Leone said farewell with the enigmatic ending of ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA: the mystery of the garbage truck, the tail lights fading into the dark, and the emergence from it of the old cars filled happy revelers celebrating the end of prohibition to the strains of Kate Smith singing “God Bless America” before they are swallowed up again by the darkness like a receding memory. Then there is the final flashback to the younger Noodles in the opium den, with its implication that it has all been nothing more than a dope fueled dream. But I reject that, I think that final image of De Nero, with a blissful smile on his face, is really the smile of Sergio Leone, the smile of a man who has seen his wildest dreams come true.

First up, let me say I'm a big fan of the film. There are many who don't care for it, complaining it's too slow, too long, etc., etc. To each their own, while I admit it's not perfect, it's close. It was probably the last big-budget epic film with real people and not computer trickery, on that point alone it's amazing. It's a shame that during Sergio Leone's lifetime he wasn't as revered as today, but to his eternal credit, he knew what he wanted and moved heaven and earth to realize his vision. Every film of his beginning with " The Good, The Bad & The Ugly " was butchered by studios, recut and remolded without his input, but time has been kind. With all these films, including " Once Upon a Time in the West " and " Duck You Sucker aka A Fistful of Dynamite ," now available in versions that honor his vision, we and future generations can now enjoy the work of a master craftsman......When I first became aware that the 2014 Extended Director's Cut was on the pre-release timetable I sold my original 2011 Blu-ray. If you're thinking about buying this and doing the same, I advise you to search out the single-disc Extended Director's Cut, and keep your older Blu-ray. The new two-disc Collector's Edition has the same "Director's Cut" as re-released in 2011. Upon initial viewing I thought it had been re-remastered as well, but a more intense comparison proved me wrong. The new expanded edition looks fantastic, the detail and clarity is palpable and exhibits more depth and some nice grain. The biggest difference between the two is the color reproduction, the Extended Version's palate is totally different than the 2011's. It has a more brownish-almost-sepia "aged" look as opposed to the original Blu-ray release which had a more "standard" look, which some viewers might prefer. The film as a whole is darker as well, you only have to compare the very first scene, where Eve comes into Noodle's room, to notice the differences between the two. I might add that the effect is subtle, not overdone as in the original version of HEAVEN'S GATE. I also didn't realize that most of the added footage doesn't match the quality of the rest of the film and has a "washed out" appearance. Quite a few reviewers don't think the added footage adds much to the original release either. In some cases I agree, but some of it fills in some plot holes and better explains character motivations, it's a shame it's not in perfect shape. The two-disc set comes in a nice sturdy slipcase containing a small hardcover book and a standard two-disc blu-ray case......So, what is the extra footage you may ask? Here's a rundown of what's added with my opinion of it's value. Obviously there are going to be MAJOR SPOILERS (and dissenting readers), you've been warned! There are six additional scenes:1. After "Noodles" (Robert De Niro) goes to the mausoleum where he finds the bus station (Grand Central?) locker key, there is a scene with Louise Fletcher as the cemetery manager, while they talk, Noodles notices a black Cadillac that seems to be following him until he walks toward it, causing it to pull away. After my first viewing I felt it was the most superfluous of the six, maybe because it's also in the worst shape and jarring at first. After a second viewing I found that it, and the one that follows later on, helps explain Noodles initial paranoia (1:34:49-1:38:21)....2. Noodles is outside Secretary Bailey's (James Woods) gate and sees the now famous garbage truck ("35"). The black Caddy is shown leaving Bailey's compound, and as Noodles is watching it go down the street, it explodes. The scene helps support two later, when Noodles is watching a TV report of the incident at Fat Moe's (Larry Rapp) and of course, the finale (2:08:39-2:10:35)....3. Making small-talk with the chauffeur (producer Arnon Milchon!) while waiting for Deborah (Elizabeth McGovern) to go on their elaborate date, Noodles mentions the persecution of the Jews in Germany and that he's Jewish. The driver says he knows, and that he is Jewish as well, studying for a degree. He chides him for being a Jewish (and imitation Italian) gangster, making Noodles defensive, bragging about how much money he makes. Interesting, but it really doesn't add much except reinforcing why Noodles doesn't retaliate when the chauffeur shows his disgust and refuses Noodle's money after the rape (2:34:00-2:35:10)....4. After Deborah's rape there's a scene showing how he met his girlfriend Eve (the one who gets gunned down in the beginning). This scene later cuts to an extension of the scene showing Deborah preparing to take the train to California. The scene helps explain why he stays with her after their initial one-night stand (she's nice) (2:48:13-2:54:00)....5. Deborah is shown performing the lead in Shakespeare's "Antony and Cleopatra" with Noodles in the audience. It's the final scene in the play where she commits suicide by asp. Her soliloquy about being the downfall of Caesar and Antony is obviously meant to be a comment on the Max/Noodles paradigm. The scene leads into where they talk in her dressing room (3:28:03-3:30:20)....6. This scene adds the most to the emotional balance of the film, and quite frankly I can't understand why it was cut. At Bailey/Max's party, after the shot where Max is looking out the window at his son, it cuts to a scene with Jimmy O'Donnell (Treat Williams) that explains more fully why Bailey/Max is in trouble. At one point Treat's character even recommends he commit suicide. After Treat leaves, Noodles comes in as in the previous versions. This scene is the lengthiest addition and sort of puts to rest the view that the whole movie is Noodle's "opium dream." Max's self-loathing and sense of defeat throughout both scenes lends credence to his choice of "death by garbage truck" (3:41:42-3:46:45)....All in all, if you're a fan of the film, this version's a must. At first I wasn't sure if I liked the color palate, but upon a second viewing I kind of prefer it, the brownish hues lends a more autumnal quality to the film as a whole. The older "Director's Cut wasn't too shabby either, and as I've noted I'm sure many other viewers will prefer it's brighter picture and more vibrant colors. Leone fans will want to have both. An essential purchase......

Quedé realmente impresionado con esta historia. Hay partes donde se nota que agregaron las escenas, ya que NO fueron debidamente restauradas, y se nota la antigüedad de las mismas. Tiene una duración de 4 horas con 11 minutos, incluyendo el "Intermedio". Llegó el día programado, y en perfectas condiciones.A continuación, las características técnicas de audio, y subtítulos:- audio original en inglés 5.1 Dolby Digital;- subtítulos en inglés SDH, francés y español. Queridos compradores de películas físicas de Amazon, dejen decomentar que la película sería "perfecta" si estuviera "doblada alespañol". Eso es algo muy irrelevante, sin importancia. Cada vez que vea un comentario de ese tipo, lo voy a reportar, porque es demasiado desagradable esa clase de comentarios tan fuera de lugar. ¡Gracias, Amazon México!

The product came on time. The item was as described and was good entertainment.

Livraison exacte à ma commande ! Cet article n'était pas facile à trouver !Merci Amazon !!

Español latino. Para verla en VOSE perfecto, además es la versión extendida a un precio razonable. La calidad de video es buena para ser dvd, está remasterizada. Audio un poco bajo para mí gusto, 2.1.

Exactly what I ordered. Thank you so much! :)