Review of Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) by Grant S — 18 Mar 2014
Okay, but vastly overrated.
Decent spaghetti western by Sergio Leone. However, it suffers from the same problems as all of Leone's westerns: overly long, often-ridiculous dialogue and an abundance of hammy acting.
Starts off well enough. Good build-up with much intrigue. However, if you think only the intro is going to be slow, to build up the suspense, and are hoping the remainder of the movie will movie will move at a quicker pace, you're in for a rude surprise. The whole movie moves at that pace.
Has some good action sequences. Despite the unnecessary, and seeminly random, complexity of the plot, it comes together well at the end.
As mentioned, dialogue and acting often leave much to be desired. Henry Fonda is great in his role. Jason Robards and Claudia Cardinale are solid in their roles and even Charles Bronson is more-or-less okay (it is touch-and-go though!).
However, as usual in Leone movies, it's the supporting cast who are largely atrocious. Some of the worst acting you'll ever see. Prize for worst performance here goes to the villain who gets thrown off the train and shot by Henry Fonda. I hope he went back to his day job.
This review of Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) was written by Grant S on 18 Mar 2014.
Once Upon a Time in the West has generally received very positive reviews.
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