Once Upon a Time in the West (Sergio Leone, 1968)

[yoloswegmaster]

KL insider has let slip that Paramount will be releasing the 4K UHD themselves:

[flyonthewall2983]

I’d like to get that big coffee table book about the movie released some time back

[Lighthouse]

So I can hope again that they now restore for the first time on disc the real theatrical version of the film, instead of releasing again their slightly faulty Paramount master.

Best would anyway to release 3 versions to satisfy everyone:

The original theatrical version, which imo is the only uncut version and which is also the DC, as it was shown in Europe and also for a short time span in 1969 in the USA.
The longer Italian version, which comes apparently from the private archives from Leone, but should in no way viewed as a DC.
The Paramount master, which has 3 faults, of which at least one is rather idiotic.

No need to re-release then the so called Scorsese restoration, which tried to restore the theatrical version, but surprisingly failed to do so.

[yoloswegmaster]

A listing for a 4K release has been found on a German site and the release date is for May.

[flyonthewall2983]

Is 69 the greatest year for Westerns ever?

[yoloswegmaster]

It's up there. I would also nominate '66 as being another great year for westerns, with GBU, Django, and The Big Gundown being released that year.

[therewillbeblus]

I'd say almost every year from the 40s and 50s beats one from the 60s, and I like revisionist westerns

[FrauBlucher]

I have to agree with therewillbeblus. I can't speak to specific years (I'd have to do some homework) but a top ten Westerns list for me would include only one film from the 60s, it's this one

[Maltic]

It's up there. I would also nominate '66 as being another great year for westerns, with GBU, Django, and The Big Gundown being released that year.

+ El Dorado (if you count the Japanese premier) and the two great Monte Hellman films

Hard to beat 1959 though: Rio Bravo, Ride Lonesome, No Name on the Bullet, Day of the Outlaw, and The Hanging Tree.

[bottlesofsmoke]

For me it’s pretty easily 1950:
The Gunfighter, The Furies, Winchester ‘73, Stars in My Crown, Devil’s Doorway, A Ticket to Tomahawk, Wagon Master, Rio Grande, Broken Arrow, The Baron of Arizona, Branded, Trigger, Jr, Trail of Robin Hood

Also to support therewillbeblus assertion, here’s some random years from the 1950s. A reminder of how many good to great westerns were made this decade:
1952
The Big Sky, Bend of the River, The Lusty Men, Rancho Notorious, Son of Paleface, and if it’s to your taste, High Noon

1954
Johnny Guitar, The Far Country, Vera Cruz, Silver Lode, Apache, Broken Lance, Track of the Cat, River of No Return

1956
The Searchers, The Last Wagon, Jubal, Backlash, Three Violent People, Giant, Seven Men from Now, Stranger at My Door, Great Day in the Morning, Bandido

1957
The Tin Star, Forty Guns, 3:10 to Yuma, Run of the Arrow, The Tall T, Decision at Sundown, The Halliday Brand

[ballmouse]

1956 also had The Fastest Gun Alive

[therewillbeblus]

1950 is up there, as are a lot from those mid-50s years, but there are some 40s hidden gems that may catapult a few years from that decade on par. Also 1958 is a contender on the strength of just Man of the West and Gunman’s Walk

[Maltic]

There was a wider gap, quality-wise, between prestige Westerns (your Fords etc) and B Westerns in the 1940s compared to 1950s though, I guess?

[Walter Kurtz]

This is a horse opera.
But it's also a horse OPERA.

[Lighthouse]

Is 69 the greatest year for Westerns ever?

Maybe, but OuTW is from 1968, but The Wild Bunch is from 69, and both are for me the best westerns ever.

The years from 1966 to 1970 beat every other time span for westerns.

[Lighthouse]

A listing for a 4K release has been found on a German site and the release date is for May.

But it is listed as an import from the USA. Not as a German release. If there is no announcement for an US release yet, this can't happen.

[Crimlaw25]

Once Upon a Time in the West was released in the U.S. in May, 1969, approximately 3 weeks before the Wild Bunch, followed by True Grit in July and Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid in September. Great year in the U.S.

1970 wasn’t bad either: A Man Called Horse; The Ballad of Cable Hogue (underrated); Two Mules for Sister Sara; Soldier Blue; Little Big Man (great), and There Was a Crooked Man.

[flyonthewall2983]

I streamed the 4K version last week, and was pretty blown away by how crystalline it looks. For something that is this filled with closeups it is amazing how much more of the nuances in performances were now plain to see.

[hanshotfirst1138]

Damn, Paramount lossy mono and an alleged downmix? That sucks, which a boutique label could pick this up and do it properly.

[MichaelB]

Damn, Paramount lossy mono and an alleged downmix? That sucks, which a boutique label could pick this up and do it properly.

Eagle Pictures in Italy is a boutique label, and they did as conscientious a job as anyone could realistically have done (their UHD disc is certainly a marked advance on the Paramount one) - but their hands were ultimately tied by the materials that they were supplied with.

[hanshotfirst1138]

Damn, Paramount lossy mono and an alleged downmix? That sucks, which a boutique label could pick this up and do it properly.

Eagle Pictures in Italy is a boutique label, and they did as conscientious a job as anyone could realistically have done (their UHD disc is certainly a marked advance on the Paramount one) - but their hands were ultimately tied by the materials that they were supplied with.

Did it have the original English mono?

[Tuppence]

No, the Eagle Pictures doesn't, but since Paramount's English mono appears to be a fold-down of the 5.1, it's less egregious than it might otherwise be. It's certainly the best home video version released thus far.

[Stefan Andersson]

A question about the Eagle Pictures release -- does it have the original Italian score for the ending, with Jill´s Theme playing over picture, followed by Cheyenne´s Theme over black leader? This differs from the scoring of the English-language prints of the film, and shot play out like this fan reconstruction video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhoPspV5fRM

[hanshotfirst1138]

No, the Eagle Pictures doesn't, but since Paramount's English mono appears to be a fold-down of the 5.1, it's less egregious than it might otherwise be. It's certainly the best home video version released thus far.

No mono, no sale for me personally, sadly. Has there even been a version with the proper mono since the laserdisc? I’ve heard all of the US releases are downmixes. There’s a curse on the home video market releases of Leone films. God, I hope we get some news about what Arrow is doing with the Dollars trilogy soon…

[Walter Kurtz]

A question about the Eagle Pictures release -- does it have the original score for the ending, with Jill´s Theme playing over picture, followed by Cheyenne´s Theme over black leader?
Like this fan reconstruction video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhoPspV5fRM

Does anyone know if the 1984 U.S. theatrical re-release had the original (fan re-constructed) ending with Cheyenne's Theme not playing until black leader?