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Once Upon a Time in the West (re-release)
Metascore
80 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 8 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 8
  3. Negative: 0 out of 8
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  1. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Staff (Not credited)
    100
    Sergio Leone's masterpiece. In Once Upon a Time in the West, Leone pulls together all the themes, characterizations, visuals, humor, and musical experiments of the three "Dollars" films and comes up with a true epic western. It is a stunning, operatic film of breadth, detail, and stature that deserves to be considered among the greatest westerns ever made. (Review of Original Release)
  2. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marjorie Baumgarten
    100
    An additional treat is seeing Hollywood good guy Henry Fonda playing one of the nastiest curs in the West. Once Upon a Time in the West is one of the great films in cinema history. (8/30/2000 Review)
  3. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Dave Kehr
    100
    Leone brought back a masterpiece, a film that expands his baroque, cartoonish style into genuine grandeur, weaving dozens of thematic variations and narrative arabesques around a classical western foundation myth.(Review of Original Release)
  4. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Chuck Stephens
    80
    Akira Kurosawa once said that Toshiro Mifune could give him in three feet of film the emotion any other actor would take 10 to deliver, but in a single flash of Fonda's electric turquoise orbs, Leone (Kurosawa's first and sincerest flatterer-imitator) managed to say as much about John Ford, the devil, and the corruptions of the Way Out Western world as the genre ever would.
  5. Variety
    Reviewed by: Staff (Not credited)
    70
    Henry Fonda and Jason Robards relish each screen minute as the heavies, and Charles Bronson plays Clint Eastwood's 'man with no name' role. (Review of Original Release)
  6. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    63
    Good fun, especially if you like Leone's way of savoring the last morsel of every scene. (Review of Original Release)
  7. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Vincent Canby
    60
    The biggest, longest, most expensive Leone Western to date, and, in many ways, the most absurd... Granting the fact that it is quite bad, Once Upon the Time in the West is almost always interesting, wobbling, as it does, between being an epic lampoon and a serious hommage to the men who created the dreams of Leone's childhood. (Review of Original Release)
  8. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: Phil Hall
    50
    Alas, the big screen also magnifies the problems with Once Upon a Time in the West. Specifically, Leone's insistence on style trumped the need for substance. The film is basically a B-Western stretched an agonizing 165 minutes.
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User Reviews

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User Score
9.1 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 22 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 8
  3. Negative: 0 out of 8
  1. ERG1008
    9
    Family has house & plot of land, authorities want it, hired guns get involved, Mother of family returns, a real good hoe-down. Another one of Sergio Leone's masterpieces & if pushed would say as good as The Good, The Bad & The Ugly. (apart from the showdown at the end, you can't top that!!) The setting & characters are brilliant & then, of course, with the genius of Ennio Morricone's score on top. As with most Leone films there's a lot of Italian/Spanish extras so quite a bit of lip-syncing but the performances by Henry Fonda, Claudia Cardinale, Charles Bronson & especially Jason Robards are magnificent.… Full Review »
  2. YogaP
    4
    If Claudia Cardinale had not been in this, it would have been unwatchable. I know it's supposed to be a tribute to the American Western but it often seemed like a parody of the "spaghetti Western." People stared silently at each other so often I started laughing each time it happened. If you don't like Westerns, stay away!… Full Review »
  3. RonanC.
    10
    A poignant masterpiece, everything about this film is amazing. From the uncompromisingly rich musical score, the fine cast, and it's grand cinematography. Stands neck-to-neck with it's predecessor The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly.… Full Review »
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