September 24, 2010

Once Upon a Time in the West

The Top 63 Marathon, part 41



Data
Title: C'era una volta il West
Year: 1968 (Italy), 1969 (US)
Length: 165 minutes
Director: Sergio Leone
Writers: Sergio Leone & Sergio Donati, with Mickey Knox; story by Dario Argento, Bernardo Bertolucci & Leone
Starring: Henry Fonda, Claudia Cardinale, Jason Robards, Charles Bronson
Music: Ennio Morricone
Distinctions: currently #24 on the IMDb's Top 250



My reaction
Synopsis: a woman's new family is murdered, and various outlaws take an interest
How I saw it: on video a couple times, most recently yesterday (rented from Netflix)
Concept: Good.
Story: Good.
Characters: Good.
Dialog: Good.
Pacing: Bad. It's agonizingly slow, which is great for about an hour. After a while, it's just agonizing.
Cinematography: Great.
Special effects/design: Great.
Acting: Good.
Music: Great.
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good). There are a number of great scenes - probably about half the movie - that stand up to the best bits of Leone's Clint Eastwood movies. A lot of the rest of it is dull, corny or misogynistic.
Objective Rating: 3.1/4 (Very good).

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