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Pounding hooves, train's signal, music scores, gunshots; All the classic Western sounds are present here. Rough & tough men, fedoras, trenchcoats, trains, standoffs; All the strong points of Western are greatly detailed here. Oh, it also has Claudia Cardinale and Henry Fonda's stunning blue eyes thrown as a bonus. It is generally considered as the greatest western film ever made and subsequently, one of the greatest of all time. Now you see, I'm 50-50 with that comment. Sergio Leone was a great director, no doubt, but this film just did not have the fire, the intensity, the nail-biting atmosphere as his Dollars Trilogy had. This one had a more sombre, slow pace to it, something I both enjoyed and got irritated by it. I mean, I enjoyed it from A to Z but I was expecting a lot violence and epic standoffs, something this film offers little to none. Unlike the character-and-dialogue driven Dollars Trilogy, this film was more story driven. A stiff, hard on the edges story, more like. To tell you the truth, I liked the characters more than anything. They were greatly - and minimistically - written for the screen and superbly acted by the cast. There was a heavy sense of realism going around. No actor veered from their character and all stayed true to it till the very end; The mysterious remained the mysterious, the villain the villain and the greedy the greedy.
Moving forward, Sergio Leone is one of those directors that, when a group of people discuss and argue about his films, end up narrowing it down to just two: Once Upon a Time in the West and The Good, the Bad & the Ugly, widely considered to be his greatest achievements, and greatest works of cinema as a whole. The latter is the third chapter of the Dollars Trilogy I've mentioned above, while the former is original and has no connection to it. Both are at the top of the Western genre and are often ranked at the top. In my opinion, Once Upon..., mature and sensible it may look, is not better than The Good... It's like Need For Speed II: SE and Need For Speed Carbon. The no-laws-apply-here attitude of the former is much more enjoyable than the realistic approach of the latter. No matter how tuned-up and realistic the series become, many people still opt for the older, man-were-they-serious by-gone titles. I guess that's the case here.
Changing tracks, from the performances, I thoroughly enjoyed Jason Robards as Cheyenne. A character like Cheyenne might sound like a complicated character on paper, but Robards tackled him professionally and as uncomplicately as possible. An impressive performance, might win you over the first time. Being the sole female of the film, Claudia Cardinale handled the film on her shoulders amazingly. She was fun to watch. Granted, Charles Bronson never really was in my top 100, as I consider him to be an OK actor, his performance as Harmonica was also quite OK. I mean, he was perfect for the role, he just wasn't 100% into it, but still good if compared to today's standards. Now, the only guy who challenged Robards squarely in the eye has to be Henry Fonda as Frank, the antagonist of the film. Seeing him as a villain was disturbing, as he had by that time established himself as playing heroes. His hypnotizing stare and striking blue eyes made him a unique personality on-screen. I believe every weather-beaten, heartless villain should have these two characteristics, chop chop, as they are striking and dominating.
In all, Once Upon... is an impressive movie, and takes itself too seriously, which might repel some viewers. If you're not one of them, then it is for you! Try it!
8.5/10
