In the annals of western film lore, there are good and bad films. This is one of the finest. Because "Once Upon A Time in The West" is such a remarkable film, it is hard to define what makes it so memorable. The story centers on a beautiful former prostitute called Jill McBain (Claudia Cardinale) who arrives to assume the role of wife to a stubborn, crazy, red-headed Irishman with a dream. Waiting, instead is tragedy and 'Mr. Morton' who is a powerful, but ailing land grabbing baron (Gabriele Ferzetti) who desires to crush everything and everyone who stands in his way to reach the Pacific ocean with his railroad. To help him is an equally ruthless gunfighter named Frank (Henry Fonda; the success of this movie owes much to Fonda who plays a very convincing heavy) who has been removing obstacles for years and now targets the McBain family for death and that includes Jill. Unfortunately for Frank, he has accrued many enemies over the years with one particular, mysterious and deadly Harmonica playing stranger seeking revenge. Frank arranges for three of his best and fastest gun hands to meet and eliminate the stranger at the train-station. Joining the instrument playing stranger is an unpredictable, half-breed, renegade, who is a notorious gunfighter called 'Cheyenne.' ( Jason Robards ) The entire film is a triumph to the superb direction of Sergio Leone, who christens each major character with their own theme song. Each theme was created by Ennio Morricone and when the character makes an entrance, the theme prepares the audience for mood change, drama, action, and lifelong memories. Special guest appearances, by Woody Strode, Jack Elam, Keenan Wynn and Lionel Stander add to the classic nature of this excellent story. ****

One of the great classics : a riveting, wildly immersive Western set against the historical backdrop of the expansion of the railroads. The Ennio Morricone music is rousing, the scenery is jaw-dropping and the various characters spring to colourful life.

This last fact owes much to the casting, which includes a bit of truly inspired counter-casting : actor Henry Fonda, used to playing pretty decent guys, takes on the sable-black persona of an amoral middle-aged mercenary fully capable of killing random children. It's a marvellously chilling performance - but wait for the ending of the movie, where a short flash-back shows the mercenary as a young man already much given to taunting and torturing. Fonda takes on a sick, twisted intensity that can only be described as diabolical.

Now this is a long and intense movie which requires attentive viewing, meaning that it is a good idea to create an intermission and watch it in two parts. But do watch it - it's excellent.

I have absolutely loved the Sergio Leone "Spaghetti Westerns" that he made before ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST. So, given that I have given very positive reviews for FISTFUL OF DOLLARS, FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE and THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY, my being far from impressed with this film isn't because I dislike the genre or have it out for Mr. Leone! No, I have some legitimate reasons why I think the film is overrated--certainly very few of the IMDb users can honestly think this movie is one of the best 25 movies of all-time (despite its high IMDb score).

The biggest problem is the terribly slow pacing. While none of his films of the genre are fast-paced, they are deliberately paced and hold your interest. However, this film could easily have had 45 to 60 minutes chopped out of it without a major negative impact on the movie. The buildup is just way too long and drawn out to allow this to be a great film. Self-indulgent in its pacing, yes, but not great. I don't want to watch Jack Elam blowing a fly off his face again and again and again. I don't want to see closeups of the actors eyes again and again and again. And I certainly do not want to have a scene take three times longer than it would in any other Western! The second biggest problem is that although the film seems like a meticulous labor of love in some places, a few other ones it is just plain sloppy. The absolute worst is the actor who seems to play a younger version of Charles Bronson. Not only does it look almost nothing like him, but the eye color doesn't even match--and considering all the closeups of eyes, this is just sloppy (Bronson's are bright blue-gray and the other has dark brown eyes). Also, in a few other places it looks like scenes were missing as the movie just jumped from one scene to another--and I DID watch the extended version of the movie, not the edited version. And finally, how Jason Robards was able to carry on the entire final portion of the movie--apparently fine--only to keel over dead in the very end just seemed ridiculous and sloppy.

Now as far as what I liked (and boy did I want to like this film). I loved having nice-guy Henry Fonda play a cold-blooded creep. This was great. And, although I generally hated the long, slow pace, the opening scene was worth the very long wait. The music, while not Ennio Marricone's very best, was still excellent and haunting. My advice is see these other Leone Westerns and then compare them. Even THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY (a very, very long movie as well) is much faster paced than this film.