Showing posts with label Sergio Leone. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sergio Leone. Show all posts

Saturday, 3 August 2013

Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) - ★★★★

Director: Sergio Leone
Writers: Sergio Leone, Sergio Donati (Screenplay), Dario Argento, Bernardo Bertolucci, Mickey Knox
Stars: Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Jason Robards, Claudia Cardinale, Gabriele Ferzetti

It took me a while to warm up to this film, but in the end I really liked Once Upon a Time in the West. It has a rating of 8.7/10 on the International Movie Data Base (IMDB), making it one of the highest rated movies of all time. I wouldn't give it that title, not until I at least watch it again. The first hour of the film was flat to me. My energy levels depleted slowly but surely until I actually turned off the movie (a sin against cinema, I know). I decided that I should finish it today. Let's just say that the last hour and a half slowly built up this film in my esteem, until it reached a stunning climax that had my excitement and film fanaticism going wild. There were a couple of other big problems I had with it, but the ending was so masterful that it almost redeemed any fault I found with the movie.

Tuesday, 16 April 2013

Once Upon a Time in America (1984) - ★★★★★

Director: Sergio Leone
Writers: Harry Grey (Novel), Sergio Leone (Screenplay)
Stars: Robert De Niro, James Woods, Elizabeth McGovern, Scott Schutzman Tiler, Jennifer Connelly, Joe Pesci, Danny Aiello

This movie is more than a masterpiece. It's perfection. It was to me a more emotionally grabbing and stunning film than The Godfather. I used to believe that The Goodfellas was by far the greatest film about organised crime ever made. Once Upon a Time in America trumps them all. It's more than a film with a perfect story, cinematography, music and acting. It involves you in the lives of these criminals and you don't ever want it to end.