Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
★★★★★ — Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
Sergio Leone came to Once Upon a Time in the West fresh from completing his Dollars trilogy with Clint Eastwood, and the scale of ambition here was considerably larger than anything he had attempted before. Shot across locations in Spain, Monument Valley, and the Cinecittà studios in Rome, the film was a co-production between Paramount and Leone's Italian backers, with a budget of five million dollars that made it one of the more expensive European Westerns of the era. Leone and co-writers Bernardo Bertolucci and Dario Argento (yes, that Dario Argento) developed the story partly as a loving dissection of the classic Hollywood Western, casting Henry Fonda, beloved for heroic roles, deliberately against type as the film's villain. The American cut ran significantly shorter than Leone intended, a familiar frustration for him with US distributors.
"Did you bring a horse for me?" "Looks like we're one short" "No... you've brought two too many" Cold... as... ice... Ennio Morricone score is absolutely wonderful. I'm not sure if I like Charles Bronson as much as Clint Eastwood as the lead but that's pretty much my only gripe. The rest of the elements of this film are fantastic. It's a true masterpiece. A must-see.
Rating: ★★★★★ | Year: 1968 | Watched: 2025-04-13
Where to watch (UK)
Rent: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Buy: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Physical: Amazon UK
Affiliate disclosure: Movies With Macca may earn a small commission on purchases or subscriptions started via these links. It costs you nothing extra.
Related on Movies With Macca
More from Sergio Leone: Duck, You Sucker (1971) · Once Upon a Time in America (1984) · A Fistful of Dollars (1964) · For a Few Dollars More (1965)
More with Claude Cardinale: Fitzcarraldo (1982)
More from Italy: Nightmare City (1980) · Cemetery Man (1994) · One Way or Another (1975) · Chicken for Linda! (2023)
More from the 1960s: Viy (1967) · Persona (1966) · Carnival of Souls (1962) · Daisies (1966)
More drama: Viy (1967) · Wonder (2017) · A Better Tomorrow (1986) · Beautiful Boy (2018)
More western: The Ox-Bow Incident (1943) · Rio Bravo (1959) · Ride Lonesome (1959) · The Great Train Robbery (1903)
