MovieFreak.com - "Once Upon a Time in the West" Special Collector's Edition DVD Review by Dennis Landmann

Paramount presents Once Upon a Time in the West in English 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound. Wait until you hear Ennio Morricone's music swell up through your rear speakers. You're not dreaming. It's real. His beautiful score is reproduced to great effect among the two front channels as well as the rear speakers. Dialog scenes are clear and easy to understand. Good dynamic range is very much apparent and supportive of the presenting the film as loud as possible despite all dialog being looped. Thing is, Sergio Leone didn't worry about where to stick the boom mike. He was more concerned and interested about "shooting" the film. Rightfully so, I must say. Music cues and sound effects, like the creaking windmill, the high pitch of the train or the gunshots, are very well accentuated. I don't think the soundtrack presentation is excellent, but it's pretty damn close.

"I saw three of these dusters a short time ago. They were waiting for a train. Inside the dusters there were three men. Inside the men there were three bullets." - Harmonica

This is a two-disc DVD labeled "special collector's edition". Each menu (on both discs) is nicely animated and composed to Ennio Morricone's beautiful score.

Disc 1 features an audio commentary track by most if not all of the same people featured in the three documentaries (more on those in the next paragraph) on the second disc. I will discuss the track later in this section.

Disc 2 contains the bulk of the special features. First up are three documentaries featuring interviews with author Sir Christopher Frayling (writer of Sergio Leone's autobiography), directors John Carpenter, Alex Cox and John Milius, actors Claudia Cardinale and Gabriele Ferzetti, director of photography Tonino Delli Colli and co-screenwriter Bernardo Bertolucci. Interviews were shot in Los Angeles, Paris, London and Rome. Sadly, Jason Robards and Charles Bronson only passed away within the past year. However, an old interview segment with Henry Fonda appears in the first documentary.

An Opera of Violence (25:14) educates about Sergio Leone from his childhood to his making motion pictures. Frayling touches on some pretty interesting stories. You don't get his biography, but valuable information for the viewer to get to know the man. The documentary also traces the preliminary paths of making the film, recalling casting stories and choices, namely those of Cardinale, Fonda, Robards, Bronson and Ferzetti. A 1975 interview segment with Fonda recalling his initial meeting with Leone is especially gratifying. Leone himself appears in a 1984 interview segment talking about his intentions of making Once Upon a Time in the West and Once Upon a Time in America. It's great to see and hear him reveal a few nice anecdotes. For some reason the documentary ends during an unexpected moment.

The Wages of Sin (19:34) features interviews with the same people as the previous documentary. However, this one goes more into describing the film's locations, set design and make-up. Other topics of discussion are Sergio Leone's excellent use of the widescreen aspect ratio in addition to his famous close-ups. Also learned from the documentary is the importing of dust used to match interior shooting in Italy, as well as Leone's very careful process of editing his films, sometimes taking him six months. Leone shot the film in an unconventional way considering today's standards. He didn't record the sound. Film clips and still photographs appear in-between the interviews. For some reason the documentary just ends after the point by John Carpenter about the classic close-up of Charles Bronson's eyes.

Something To Do with Death (18:15) reveals Ennio Morricone composed the score before Sergio Leone even started shooting the film. During filming Leone would play the score for the actors. The interview participants also touch on the relationship between Morricone and Leone. Also, Bernardo Bertolucci recounts writing the script in 1957, the interview subjects reference political aspects of the film as well as remembering when they first saw the film, Leone and Donatti rewrote the script because it was too expansive and long (about 20 minutes were discarded for release), there are only 15 pages of dialogue in the nearly three-hour film, and lastly Frayling touches on the film's reputation. The documentary ends with a picture of Leone walking out of a door with a "please knock" sign hanging on it.

Then, the picture fades out an the credits appear. Lancelot Narayan is the director and I think he did a very good job with the interview material. However, I'm not very enthusiastic about the way these documentaries play opposite each other. Still, I liked them for the interviews and information.

On a side note, all three documentaries could've been edited together as one large documentary and maintain a certain narrative and continuity regarding the topics of discussion. The information contained in these documentaries is not repeated per se, however, some topics are connected. Thus, they should have been presented as one whole documentary instead of breaking them up into three separate ones. Also, a "play all" function would've been pretty neat.

Now back to the audio commentary on disc 1. This track is an edit of comments from the various participants, each of them talking over specific scenes in the film. For clarity purposes, some guy with a British accent serves as the track's narrator, introducing the various people who will be talking throughout the show. As a whole, this is a pretty welcome and informative track. A few anecdotes and thoughts are carried over from the documentaries, but by and large the track stands well on its own regarding information.

Sir Christopher Frayling begins the track, speaking for the first 46 minutes. His comments are informative and he's very well-spoken. He knows his stuff. A few times he would point out the obvious. I mean, seriously. However, at other times he pointed out specific references to other pictures, such as Shane, during OUATITW's first 40 minutes, including Harmonica's introduction, Frank's family massacre, Jill arriving on the train and Cheyenne entering the bar. I appreciated his comments. Next is Dr. Sheldon Hall, speaking about the type of camera shots, the film's motif of water, and the characters of Mr. Morton and Cheyenne. He goes on about more things, but already he's provided some valuable information. Then, John Milius talks about his friendship with Leone. His comments were most likely taken from the interview in his office, which you can see in the documentaries, where he also lights his cigar.

Bernardo Bertolucci talks briefly about his love for westerns, though I didn't care for that. He shows up again a few times. His comments are followed by those of John Carpenter, who gives his take on Cheyenne's rescue of Harmonica. He acknowledges not having seen the film for quite a while. He also goes on about Bronson's presence in the film, that he's never scared and him being the point of view for the audience. Alex Cox, director of Repo Man, talks briefly about a deleted scene and wonders about a certain scene transition, among other things. Next, Claudia Cardinale remembers filming with Henry Fonda for the first time. We also hear a little bit from Gabriele Ferzetti and Tonino Delli Colli.

Overall, this track is edited very nicely. It has a natural flow. I think I preferred the comments of Frayling, Dr. Hall and Carpenter over the other ones. Fans of the film probably won't learn a great deal of new stuff, but this track is highly recommended nevertheless.

Disc 2 continues with the Railroad: Revolutionizing the West featurette (6:21), including narration, interviews, film clips and an on-screen essay about the effects of the railroad and how it was featured in the film. Locations Then & Now (4:27), a nice ode to the film's beautiful imagery. Film stills showing specific locations appear and then transition to pictures of the specific location as it exists today. This montage of stills is composed to Morricone's music. Location photography is by Donald Bruce, Mike Eustace and Marla Johnson.

Production Gallery (5:15) is a nice montage of film stills also featuring Morricone's music. Cast profiles are brief but informative and include those of Cardinale, Fonda, Robards, Bronson and Ferzetti. The film's theatrical trailer round out the extras on disc 2. English and French subtitles are available for the extras.

My thoughts on the extras? Well, they're great to have. They certainly stand up to the "special collector's edition" label.

You can select to view the film with optional English, subtitles. The 165-minute feature is organized into thirty-three chapters.

Great film. Great acting. Great drama and action. Most importantly, a great director. And great music. Well, many other things, too. Video/audio quality is top notch. The extras are very informative and valuable. A very nice and deserving assortment of features. Fans have to get this disc. Buy it as soon as possible. See the film like never before. Others should buy it, too. It's worth it. Highly recommended, not quite a Collector's Series item.

THE MOVIE	10
THE VIDEO	9
THE AUDIO	8
THE EXTRAS	8
OVERALL (not an average)	9