Once Upon A Time In America
This edition has the movie spanning two discs, but will be shipped together and treated as only one title on your ZipList.
"May be the definitive gangster picture. Rarely equaled." -David N. Meyer, The New York Times
Ten years in planning, Sergio Leone's epic Once Upon A Time In America portrays 50 years of riveting underworld history and offers rich roles to a remarkable cast. Robert De Niro and James Woods play lifelong Lower East Side pals whose wary partnership unravels in death and mystery. Strong support comes from Tuesday Weld, Joe Pesci, Jennifer Connelly, Elizabeth McGovern and the young actors playing the central characters as ghetto kids. To see this film (offered for the first time in the full version 1984 Cannes Film Festival audiences cheered) is "to be swept away by the assurance and vitality of a great director making his final statement in a medium he adored" (Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times).
Member Reviews
A true Segio Leone classic - Ziegler
Positive: The last movie the master ever made, very nice soundtrack, cinematography, plot and ending. with the excellent audio commentary, the plot is given more light especially with the ambigious but interesting ending. While the characters may be criminals, you still get a feel for them.
Negative: Movie can be overly long for novices but the plot makes up for it and flows nicely.
Conclusion: One of the best Sergio Leone movies. Surprised to learn it was panned and underrated when it first came out but now it is a true classic.Worth the investment of time. - Superdave
Some Zippers reviewing this movie complained about its length (almost 4 hours). So? Watch it on two successive nights in two hour installments, and count your self lucky. For years, the sole version of this movie that was available on video was severely cut down, shorter by 90 minutes, and the result was nothing less than butchery. It was like somebody deciding Picasso's Guernica was too huge, so let's take these scissors and make it smaller... Actions taken by the adult characters often made no sense, since those actions were supposed to resonate with actions taken when the characters were young, and those earlier actions were cut out. Spend the time, watch the movie and think about what you are seeing. This is, simply put, one of the five best movies of 1984 and in the long version you get to see it in all of its broad sweeping and elaborate narrative structure and all of its interesting little details. Marvel at the cast of young actors (including a then 13-year-old Jennifer Connelly) who dream of something better than the immigrant ghetto poverty they grew up in, and watch as their dreams and schemes and casual morality sow the seeds of the adults they will become. Live in their America, in the moment and across the decades - an America of limitless opportunity, but also of infinite potential for corruption and exploitation. Success in this America meant always having something on the go and it usually meant trying to keep one step ahead of the cops, whether you were a street punk or a 'legitimate businessman'. Note: other Zippers have made much of DeNiro's gangster's attempted rape of his former childhood friend in the film, but this scene was by no means gratuitous or exploitative. It was, in fact, a demonstration of how far the worlds of the two had grown apart, and this is just one example of how deeply and symbolically EVERYTHING in this movie resonates. A movie this ambitious or good can't ever be 'too long'.A melodramatic, sentimental and nostalgic story - Porkchop
Once Upon a Time in America (1984) centers around the lives of a
handful of youths who grew up together in Brooklyn, NY at the turn
of the 20th century, their highs and lows together and their
individual demise.
The movie is extremely consistent from start to finish, with top
marks in the visual department (scenes, timepiece aspects). It is
especially outstanding in the high-grade acting, mainly their subtle
demeanor and natural dialog, expressing as much from the non-spoken as
from the spoken. Much is due to the natural charisma and skill of James
Woods, Robert De Niro, William Forsythe, Tuesday Weld and James Hayden.
The multicultural reality of New York, even at the turn of the
century, is given plenty of time, from Yiddish delicatessens, to
Cantonese opium smoking salons.
The story skillfully manages to show as many uplifting moments as
sober moments, the former with celebrations of various types
(parties, champagne, dancing and high-fives) and the latter with
point-blank rubouts, double crosses, and 2 rape scenes, one in a
taxi limousine in particular, to another during a robbery that
turns out to in having been an inside job.
The street scenes are interesting, with hundreds of people walking
the streets, gang territory tension (brass knuckles, switch blades
etc) in between a rather cavalier approach by officers in dealing
with prostitution (a hearse actually used as a brothel),
corruption, stills in various places, spirits distribution, drive
by shootings in broad daylight, etc.
The tension between private ownership / profitability and labor
union/ work conditions is demonstrated, with muscle hired to exert
fear by on each other.
Lastly, the workhas a uniquely long playing time of perhaps 4
hours, spanning 2 DVD's, which is understanding considering the
goal of the director in telling an aging gangster's memories from a
strongly melod
Member Reviews
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A true Segio Leone classic - Ziegler
Positive: The last movie the master ever made, very nice soundtrack, cinematography, plot and ending. with the excellent audio commentary, the plot is given more light especially with the ambigious but interesting ending. While the characters may be criminals, ...Worth the investment of time. - Superdave
Some Zippers reviewing this movie complained about its length (almost 4 hours). So? Watch it on two successive nights in two hour installments, and count your self lucky. For years, the sole version of this movie that was available on video was severely cut ...A melodramatic, sentimental and nostalgic story - Porkchop
Once Upon a Time in America (1984) centers around the lives of a
handful of youths who grew up together in Brooklyn, NY at the turn
of the 20th century, their highs and lows together and their
individual demise.
The movie is extremely consistent ...