Users

Now Playing

FA Rankings

All Rankings
N
Top 1000 FA

Sections

TV Series

TOPs

Awards | Festivals

Information

Click here to copy URL

Once Upon a Time in the West

8.2

25,805

Ratings

Add to lists

where to watch

flatrate

rent

buy

Pro reviews

4 Related Movies

Related Documentary:

The Wages of Sin (S)

Original title: C’era una volta il West (Once Upon a Time in the West)
Year: 1968
Running time: 165 min.
Country: Italy
Director: Sergio Leone
Screenwriter: Sergio Leone, Sergio Donati, Dario Argento, Bernardo Bertolucci
Music: Ennio Morricone
Cinematography: Tonino Delli Colli
Cast: Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Claudia Cardinale, Gabriele Ferzetti, Frank Wolff, Al Mulock, Jason Robards, Woody Strode, Jack Elam, Lionel Stander, Paolo Stoppa, Keenan Wynn, Aldo Sambrell, Robert Hossein
Producer: Paramount Pictures
Genre: Western | Spaghetti Western. Revenge. Cult Movie
Movie Groups: Once Upon a Time Trilogy
Synopsis: Morton (Gabriele Ferzetti), the power-hungry owner of a railroad company, hires Frank (Henry Fonda), a gunfighter without a conscience, to kill anyone who stands in the way of the completion of the railroad. After Frank murders land owner Brett McBain (Frank Wolff), McBain's widow (Claudia Cardinale) hires two killers of her own to protect her and gain revenge: a mysterious, harmonica-playing desperado (Charles Bronson) and his rogue sidekick (Jason Robards).

Rankings Position

#3 Best Westerns in the history of film
#6 Best Italian Movies of all time
#76 Best Movies in the history of film

Awards: 1968: David di Donatello Awards: Best Production

1968: Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists: Nominated Sup. Actor (Ferzetti)

1970: Laurel Awards: 3rd place Male Supporting Performance (Charles Bronson)

Critics' reviews

"Leone is here at the peak of his epic powers"

Andrew Sarris: The New York Observer
"Granting the fact that it is quite bad, 'Once Upon the Time in the West' is almost always interesting"

Vincent Canby: The New York Times
"If only the first 10 minutes of Sergio Leone's 'Once Upon a Time in the West' still existed, this most hyperbolic of oat operas would still be acknowledged as one of the genre's greatest exhumations."

Village Voice
"[It] is a painstaking distillation of the style he made famous in the original three Clint Eastwood Westerns (...) There is also, unfortunately, Leone's inability to call it quits. (…) Rating: ★★½ (out of 4)"

Roger Ebert: rogerebert.com
"'Once Upon a Time in the West' has become what Leone had perhaps always hoped: the antiquated genre’s triumphant final masterpiece (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"

Nick Schager: Slant
"Fonda not only knows evil, but also embodies it in every inch of his towering frame."

Scott Tobias: AV Club
"This is a film that rewards the eyes and ears without properly considering the heart and head."

David Jenkins: Time Out
Show 2 more reviews

Movie Soulmates' ratings: Register so you can access movie recommendations tailored to your movie taste.
Friends' ratings: Register so you can check out ratings by your friends, family members, and like-minded members of the FA community.

Ranking Lists Position

5 My Favorite Westerns (820)
8 My Favorite Italian Movies (139)
23 Movies with the Best Beginnings (not including opening credits) (58)
54 Movies with an Incredible Soundtrack (OST) (221)
54 Best Directed Movies (38)
67 Movies with the Best Opening Credits (11)
69 My 10 favorite Film Directors and my favorite movie of each one of them (75)
75 My Favorite Movies from Europe & Latin America (34)

Is the synopsis/plot summary missing? Do you want to report a spoiler, error or omission? Please send us a message.
If you are not a registered user please send us an email to info@filmaffinity.com

All copyrighted material (movie posters, DVD covers, stills, trailers) and trademarks belong to their respective producers and/or distributors.

For US ratings information please visit: www.mpaa.org www.filmratings.com www.parentalguide.org

Tödlicher Irrtum

1970

Konrad Petzold
The Wild Bunch

1969

Sam Peckinpah

8.0
(25,417)
Damnation (TV Series)

2017

Tony Tost (Creator) ...

6.9
(1,168)
Lemonade Joe

1964

Oldrich Lipský

6.3
(147)