ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (1968) was brilliant - FIRST TIME WATCHING!!! 

The most ultimate Western ever, and the saddest too.

One of the absolute best movies ever.

Since you’ve never before seen Henry Fonda, this is an atypical role for him as the villain, usually he is a good guy, but he nails it. Such a great actor. “12 Angry Men” stars Henry Fonda and is essential cinema viewing, one of the greatest movies of all time. Incredible writing and acting.

The opening scene of this movie is just cinematic perfection 🤌

Henry Fonda was cast against type when he took on the role of Frank. Before then Fonda was so well known for playing good and moral characters that many of his fans were shocked to see him play such a viscous villain. Fonda himself was said to have enjoyed playing Frank. Almost immediately after finishing this film Fonda signed on to play the lead villain in another western named Firecreek.

I love Henry Fonda's facial acting during his entrance. That slow smile as he looks at the boy, savoring the power to choose life and death for another human being. Then his annoyance at his henchman for saying his name and taking away his choice.

This movie is a masterpiece. My all-time favorite Western. While others cite the Good, the Bad & the Ugly, I claim this one. BTW for a good Leone-involved comedic western, try "My Name is Nobody".

The more you study and analyze films the more you appreciate this movie. It is an absolutely amazing work of art. My all time favorite movie of any type. There is so much being said without words, so many themes and homages being woven together, a briliant score, brilliant cinematagraphy, brilliant writing, it is just an absolute masterpiece of movie making--not only entertainment but social and historical commentary though it never hits you over the head repeatedly with the commentary. (That is a great part of why it is so brilliant. ) It lets you gradually unravel the themes without trying to shove them down your throat like what has become standard Hollywood modus operandi now. It is both a tribute to the westerns of old and a commentary on the effect of technology and progress on society. The railroad is the future and that future ushers in convienance and comfort for most but it also makes the rugged individualists like Frank, Harmonica, and Cheyenne obsolete and gives them no place to fit in with the rest of society. That is what the final conversation between Frank and Harmonica lays out. At the same time there is also tips of the hat to High Noon, Winchester 73, and just about every John Ford western ever made laid out throughout the movie. The entire stage coach trip was just an excuse for Leone to do a scene in Monument Valley which he had always wanted to do but could never find both a script and a budget that would allow him to until this movie. This film is a must for every student in every film school in the world. If you are a film student and have not seen this movie then you do not know everything you need to know about how to make a movie. (To tell the truth, it wouldn't hurt if every executive at every film studio in Hollywood rewatched this one or five hundred times either.)

I highly recommend Sergio Leone's other two masterpieces, "Once Upon A Time In America (1984) and "A Fistful Of Dynamite" (1971) which is also known as " Duck, You Sucker! " in America. I might actually prefer the european title "Once Upon a Time...The Revolution".

I've seen so many westerns. I'm 67 and have been watching them since the mid 60's. This is may fav Western of all time and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is a distant 2nd, and I've seen all of Clint Eastwoods westerns even way back to the TV series Rawhide. I first saw Once upon a Time in the West when it came out back in 1968. Back then Drive-in movies were all the rage and my father took the family to see it at the Drive in. it was also a bonding experience between us kids and our father, one of the few ones we had in my youth. Every time I see this movie it always takes me back to that time. Plus the climatic showdown is the best ever in cinema. Just Charles Bronson's weather worn rugged face. Squinting eyes, he looks like I imagine a real cowboy must have looked. Actually as a kid my fav western hero was WWII War Hero, Audie Murphy. he looked very young like a kid even in his later 20's and early 30's, but he was the real deal, a tiger or a lion inside a young man's body. He is confirmed to have over 250 German kills in WWII and was the most decorated soldier in the war. I didn't know this of course as a young child but I just loved his westerns such as Destry and No Name on a Bullet.

Henry Fonda was known throughout his career as the good guy in movies. Kinda like Tom hanks. So the start where the camera did the slow reveal of him as the bad guy had quite an effect on the audience.

Fun fact: The three cowboys in the opening of the movie were supposed to be played by none other than Clint Eastwood, Lee van Cleef and Eli Wallach! But unfortunately it didn't happen due to scheduling issues with the actors. But what a great surprise that would have been! 😉😂😂

When I saw that you were reacting to this movie, I actually got goosebumps. It is such a masterpiece.

The actor that played Mr. Morton (Gabriele Ferzetti) was Tracy Bonds father in On Her Majesty's Secret Service

Yes, this is also my favorite of Leone’s films. But I strongly urge you to see at least one more, altho it is not a western: Once Upon a Time in America. Exquisite music again by Morricone. Ambiguous ending to it, but leads to interesting discussions.

I've never yet seen someone react to both this movie and "Twelve Angry Men," but anyone who does will get a surprise.

Best western of all time. The camera work in this movie is astonishing

Another epic western is "The Big Country". The movie nowadays hardly gets any attention, but it is in my top 10 for sure. I love the main character and how he handles things. pretty different to most other westerns.

Regarding the "sound design", Morricone actually wrote the score in advance, based on the script, telling the scene with his music - and Leone often changed the pacing of the scene to match it. They knew each other extremely well, and so Morricone often anticipated what would work best for Leone.

Thanks for watching this. Glad you enjoyed it. You could watch the follow-up movie ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA by Sergio Leone, perhaps his masterwork. It follows a similar sprawling story, but set in the early 20th century New York, with Robert DeNiro in the lead role. It is epic and has an amazing score and cinematography too.

Once upon A time in America great soundtrack & "Fistful of Dynamite/Duck You Sucker/Once upon a Revolution" one movie with differing titles. Great review & the rich guy on the train was The mobster Draco from On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

This is such a great movie! I like how it is full of references to other Westerns but is so unique and distinct in its story telling. And what a cast!

After this one, Sergio Leone directed "Once upon a Time in America" with Robert De Niro (also music Ennio Morricone). This one is a story about the Mafia in the US. Also a great movie worth watching.

Morricone's music is a great substitute for dialogue. This story is told beautifully.

Rewatch the Leone Westerns (trilogy plus this one) again in a few years, then again a few years after that. Eventually you will see why this one is the best. You will need a seasoned appreciation of life and art to reflect upon how interesting, deep and affecting this masterpiece is. I didn't really get it many years ago on the first viewing, but I've probably seen this 30 or 40 times now, and it's the one I keep coming back too to re-fuel my spiritual fire. It also helps to appreciate the split in the Western movie genre between traditional Westerns and revisionist Westerns (which you may already know). If not, look it up and decide where Leone's films fit in the categories. How the roles of heroes, villains and ambiguous anti-heroes are played. There was a lot of cynicism and horrid philosophical views baked into the revisionist Western realm - even though some of the films are still great pieces of cinema, and some of the traditional Westerns are plain boring. But, for me, what tips this movie over the top of all the others is that it is a great film AND it has great heroic themes.

This movie is exceptionnal. The picture, the frame, the editing, the music of course, the dialogs, the actors...so much emotion. Everytime i watch it, it makes me think that, ,there's genius in humanity

"Your friends have a high mortality rate, Frank. First three, then two." "So, YOU'RE the one who makes appointments." "And you're the one who doesn't keep 'em." Fun Fact: Paramount's trailer for the film was created by future film director Brian Trenchard-Smith. Location Location Fact: Sergio Leone travelled to the U.S. to shoot some scenes in the iconic Monument Valley, one of John Ford's favorite locations, making it the first "Spaghetti Western" to be shot in the America. Best Of The Best Fact: The original treatment of the movie was written by Dario Argento and Bernardo Bertolucci, who were friends at the time. They watched a lot of classic westerns and came up with a story that accommodated many of their favorite western scenes. Casting Notes Fact: Henry Fonda originally turned down the role of Frank. Director Sergio Leone flew to the United States and met with Fonda, who asked why he was wanted for the film. Leone replied, "Picture this: the camera shows a gunman from the waist down pulling his gun and shooting a running child. The camera pans up to the gunman's face and...it's Henry Fonda." Final Bow Fact: Al Mulock, who played one of the three gunmen in the opening sequence, committed suicide by jumping from his hotel window in full costume after a day's shooting. Claudio Mancini and Mickey Knox, who were sitting in a room in the hotel, saw Mulock fall past their window. Knox recalled in an interview that while Mancini put Mulock in his car to drive him to the hospital, director Sergio Leone told Mancini to get the costume. Mulock had appeared as the one-armed bounty hunter in Leone's The Good, The Bad And The Ugly (1966), and he was wearing his costume from that film when he made his fatal leap.

There's actually three more Sergio Leone movies of note. Once Upon a Time in America which is actually a gangster movie in the style of The Godfather and two other westerns. A Fistful of Dynamite (aka Duck You Sucker) and comedy western My Name is Nobody also with Henry Fonda. As for Charles Bronson I would recommend the original The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, The Dirty Dozen, the first Death Wish and the Western Red Sun.

The German title of "Once Upon a Time in the West" is "Spiel mir das Lied vom Tod" which translates to "play the song of/about death for me". In the German version these are also Frank's words, when he sticks the harmonica in our nameless protagonist's mouth during the hanging scene flashback. Whereas in the English version Bronson's character doesn't say anything at all, when he returns the harmonica to dying Frank in the same way, in the German soundtrack he quotes Frank by saying the same line: "Spiel mir das Lied vom Tod!"

There were several American actors in this movie beside Hank Fonda and Charles Bronson (harmonica guy). Two of the three guys waiting at the train station at the beginning, both were well established actors at the time, as well as the auctioneer (Keenan Wynn) and the old guy with the gravelly voice at the stop where Cheyenne first showed up and also Cheyenne himself (Jason Robards). You can see the harmonica guy again in another fantastic western, the original Magnificent Seven from 1960. Thanks for doing this reaction. It's one of my favorites.

Easily my favourite film of all time if I ever needed to name one. This is really a movie full of subtext, both film history (it's filled with references to other classic Westerns), as well as societal. This movie very much falls into the genre of the twilight western in which the lifestyle of the old West was slowly disappearing and being replaced by the coming of civilisation symbolised by the railway - along with all the negative aspects of corporate greed and immoral money men driving this forward along side it. It's a film that straddles that line between the optimism of advancement, both good and bad, yet also posing the thought that within that development it also means the sacrifice of the purity of life the way it once was, again both the good and the bad. In this, Jill is the messenger of the good in being firmly part of the future, the one who survives to drive it forward, while the men are all stuck in the past and invariably have no future, though Harmonica may one day be ready to join it as well now that he is freed from the demons that drove him forward before. There is such richness in character and story here that it's amazing how little actual talking there is to drive this home, the pacing being slow yet never dragging. Plus the music of Morricone, recorded beforehand so that Leone could play it on set for the actors, is phenomenal, while the cinematography is just gorgeous thoughout. And oh, those Leone revelations you mentioned! Here's a bit of morbid trivia: this is the final performance of Al Mulock, the third man in the beginning alongside Jack Elam or Woody Strode, who jumped out of the window of his hotel room still in full costume after doing his scene, dying at the hospital. Incidentally, Frank Wolff who played Brett McBain also committed suicide in 1971 after starring in a large number of other Italian Westerns, standing out as one of the best actors to ever star in these types of movies. I'd also like to add my voice to recommending Duck You Sucker (A Fistful of Dynamite), a very good Leone movie (none have ever reacted to this one), and his magnum opus Once Upon a Time in America based on the book The Hoods. starring Robert De Niro and James Woods.

Legendary all the way around. Yet another masterpiece by Sergio Leone. Ennio's score is brilliant and a character in itself. Then there's the legendary cast of Fonda, Robards and the man himself; Charles Bronson. Would love you to delve into more Bronson movies. Love and Bullits, Mr Majestyk, Borderline and the original The Mechanic.

Thanks Ollie for making my day with your commernt about "phobia for toast". I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.

They don't make them like this anymore it gives me chills every time the soundtrack to Harmonica and Frank at the end is just epic.

Thanks for reacting to this movie Ollie, my favorite Western for sure and probably my favorite movies too. For this movie Morricone wrote the 4 main theme songs, one for each of the main characters before the movie was made. The sound in the beginning was a squeaky windmill. When they got on set, someone suggested oiling it to get rid of the sound, but Leone wanted it kept in. The cricket’s go silent because there are bad guys sneaking around near by. Clint Eastwood WAS going to be in this movie as one of the guys that gets shot by Harmonica.

Thanks for watching this. It's long been my favorite Western and one of my favorites of any sort. Pretty much the epitome of cinema for me.

This film is a trilogy Once Upon a Time in the West, A Fistful of Dynamite (Duck you Sucker) and Once Upon a Time in America. Thank you bro for reacting this masterpiece starring Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Claudia Cardinale and Jason Robards.

Next: Once upon a time in America.

If you enjoyed Jason Robards performance as Cheyenne in this masterpiece then I would recommend checking him out in the great western "The Ballad of Cable Hogue" (1970), directed by the legendary Sam Peckinpah.

The more you watch this moviee, over the years. The more you start to think about the details this movie brings. For me, this is my all time favorite movie.

This is also a Sergio Leone trilogy: 1) Once upon a time the Revolution 2) Once upon a time in the West 3) Once upon a time in America

This is my favourite western of all time, and by far, in my opinion, Leone's best film and morricone's best score, maybe the best score of all time. This film is immaculate

I'm pleased that younger people are watching these classics. Try "Duck You Sucker" -also by Sergio Leone

I like that each main character has their own theme music. But at the end of the movie they're all played together

Oh my God I am so excited to see this. One of my favorite movies ever and reactors hardly ever do it. I can't wait. You're in for a treat

There's still one more Leone western that you should check out but doesn't get enough love: Duck, You Sucker! (sometimes called A Fistful of Dynamite). Not as great as TGTB&TU or Once Upon a Time, but a little underrated.

What a great reveal of Henry Fonda. Sinister! The natural sounds at the beginning are very effective but the music in this movie is brilliant. Morricone always wrote great music for movies and Leone was famous for his extreme close ups.

Saying "Henry Fonda is an actor to look out for" is an understatement. Henry Fonda was one of the finest actors who ever lived. No matter what he was in, he never gave a bad performance. If he's in it, chances are you should see it. Speaking of which, I would recommend one more of these: a movie called "My Name is Nobody" starring Fonda and Terence Hill--a sort of spiritual sequel to this film in that it, too, concerns itself with the death of the West. Sergio Leone didn't direct it (though he directed parts of it), but it's the last great spaghetti western ever made.

12 angry men was another great Henry Fonda movie. But the Rabbit hole that needs to be explored is Charles Bronson, the death wish movies, the Mechanic, the great escape, the valachi papers, telephon, 10 to midnight, the white Buffalo ect. A fantastic reaction to a fantastic film as usual

Those four movies are just awesome. And at the opening, when the train pulls in to the station...notice the emphasis on the locomotive huffing and puffing...brilliant! The Danish Symphony Orchestra covered these movie music sound tracks during one of their concerts. Worth looking them up, you'll be glad you did.

Your review was great. This was an amazing movie. One of my fave westerns, esp. the full length version. The director was one of the best, introducing some different ways to tell a story with far less dialogue. There's a youtube video that explains his use of music themes for the main characters, and how far he took that. You might enjoy a comedy-type western that Fonda did with Glen Ford. The title is The Rounders.

Hanry Fonda - Twelve Angry Men, Western - My Name Is Nobody, On Golden Pond, many many more.

When our family went on a tour of Italy, there was only one thing I did OFF tour. When we were in Rome, my son and I took a train out of town, then got on a bus, then walked several miles to a cemetery. The gates were locked and it had a 6 foot wall around it. We went around back away from the road and climbed the wall, so that we could pay our respects and lay flowers at the grave of Sergio Leone.

Ah young Oliver, i can't believe you didn't figure out the Harmonica/Frank connection. You're normally quite astute about these things. We the audience don't know who Harmonica is but Frank does. Frank was asking throughout the movie, "who are you" because it had been many years and he didn't recognise him because he had grown up. Frank got his answer right at the end when Harmonica puts the harmonica in his mouth. He was that kid with his brother on his shoulders when Frank put the harmonica in his mouth. Harmonica was only there for one reason, to get revenge for his brothers death. That's why he saved Franks life earlier too because he couldn't have someone else kill him. He wanted to do it himself and he wanted Frank to know who he was before he died.

Ollie, it is SO cool to watch you reacting to MY FAVORITE MOVIE with such admiration for Leone and Morricone. Did you know that they were in the same grade school, and then met professionally much later ?

This movie and Blade Runner are my favorite movies of all time. Just get chills all the time watching it, no matter how many times I watch it. Thanks for the reaction!

Epic movie ... the music is also a character. Brilliant script, cinematography, sound and unforgettable characters ... masterful film making.

My favorite Western of all time.

A Fistful of Dynamite is a masterpiece, defo worth a watch.

The greatest western ever it actually bumped Shane off my number one it's so multilayered you really need to watch it more than once

"12 Angry Men" is a great old movie with Fonda that has as an ageless theme.

I heard that the title of the film goes back to this aspect: The end of the film is the construction of the train station and with it the start of train traffic. "The West" is characterized by lawlessness, remoteness... etc. and all of that ended with the opening up of the areas by railway. The railroad brought civilization and ended the "laws" of the West, i.e. that era. Accordingly, the film ends exactly at the end of the "West" (and the action of the film takes place in the "West", but at its end). Therefore, the term “once upon a time” was used with a bit of irony and a wink.

My all time favorite movie. I've lost count of how many times I've seen it. Apparently Vince Gilligan, the guy behind Breaking Bad, makes every director he recruits watch the beginning of this incredible movie. The ending gets me every time. Charles Bronson was one of the toughest/coolest actors ever.

1:41 That's Jack Elam with the injured eye. The story was that he was at a camp when he was 13 or 14 and had a stick of some kind poked in his eye. He had a career as an accountant and worked for movie studios. In time, he found the stress of looking at spreadsheets with his eye damaged was too much. Someone suggested he try acting.

The story goes that Leone had Morricone write the music for this movie before he penned a word of script. Those two were geniuses at what they did, letting the music and the facial expressions of the characters tell the story with a minimal amount of dialogue. This is my favorite Western.

The next Leone's movie after this one was "duck you sucker". Also a good movie set in the Mexican revolution with James Coburn and Rod Steiger.

This masterpiece by Sergio Leone is actually a film about the end of the western epic, the transition to the modern world without heroes, legends and honor, where wild capitalism, symbolized by the railway under construction, advances. Everything is underlined by the wonderful melancholy music of Ennio Morricone. Some curiosities about this work. The first, tragic, was that during filming the actor Al Mulock, one of the three waiting for Harmonica at the station at the beginning of the film, committed suicide by jumping from a balcony wearing his stage clothes because his wife had died the year before of cancer and it seems that he became a drug addict. The role of Harmonica was supposed to be entrusted to Clint Eastwood, but he refused perhaps because he had other commitments and Sergio Leone never spoke to him again for twenty years, then they made peace shortly before Leone died. The actor who played Harmonica's brother was the Italian production manager Caludio Mancini and since Sergio Leone often argued with the producers over budget issues, he had him hanged as a joke. There are several Italian actors in the film. The most famous are the beautiful Claudia Cardinale, Paolo Stoppa who plays the part of the man who drives the carriage that takes Jill McBain/Cardinale from the station to the house where all the members of Brett McBain's family were killed and Gabriele Ferzetti who plays Morton. Greetings from Milan, Italy

Someone else mentioned it, but I to highly recommend 12 angry men, a Henry Fonda classic. A vert intriguing movie, that keeps your interest to the very end. It's a black and white movie but still very good. By the way Seirgio tried to get Clint Eastwood as Harmomica but Eastwwod didn't want to do another character like in the Dollars movies, as they are called. And he has always wanted to get Henry Fonda from the very beginning and finally got to work with him in this movie.

The scenes in Monument Valley are great, such a beautiful film; it wasn't right for Eastwood, Bronson and Fonda are excellent together and Fonda being the bad guy is so cool.

"What do we do with this one Frank?" "Well, now that you've called me by name."

"Henry Fonda. That's a recognizable name." Now I really feel old. Good reaction.

Films are most impressive when the music and action fit together in rhythm. That's why Leone let the music play on the film set so that the actors and people controlling the cameras follow the speed and rhythm of the music. So with Leone, first the music was composed and recorded and then the scenes were shot with it. In other movie projects it is often done the other way around: first the scenes and then the music (or in parallel but independent from each other).

In my opinion this is the greatest Western ever filmed it gives me chills every time I view it,the good bad &ugly is a close 2nd followed by another Leone film A Fistfull Of Dynamite yes Dynamite not Dollars,did u notice every character in once upon a time in the west had there own music score accompanied with them,I hope u view your filme like this on a large screen accompanied with a surround sound system its the only way to fully appreciate the large scale of these films thanks for your great truthfull reaction

I liked when Frank inspected the angle of the sun with his eyes in the final duel, little attention to detail from Leone.

My friend, you also need to see Once Upon a Time in America. It is as good as Once Upon a time in the west and The Good, The Bad and The ugly. Frankly, it is Sergio Leone's most mature work. The non-chronological narrative structure alone would make Tarantino cream in his short-pants. You're gonna love it.

Best. Western. Ever.

Best western ever made

Claudia Cardinale is ridiculously beautiful in this film

Around the same time that Fonda did this movie, he also starred in a comedy with Lucille Ball, based on a true story called "Yours, Mine and Ours" about a widow and widower, both with very large families, who marry and try to deal with a house full of kids ranging from toddler to a teen-age boy (Tim Matheson) who is drafted into the military. The real life kids say the movie was far from the truth, as the father (Fonda) in real life was a real disciplinarian who was prone to beating the wife and children. Still, this movie is a classic, one that they use to show on network TV on New Year's Eve here in the US.

This is a favorite of mine. Two other westerns you might like are "The Cowboys" and "Silverado". Fonda tried to disguise himself when he showed up on the set but Leone wanted him immediately recognizable. I saw it first in a large theatre and when the first reveal of Fonda as the villain made everyone gasp. For more Fonda try "Grapes of Wrath", "The Oxbow Incident", "Midway" or "In Harms Way". Good reaction.

Thanks for giving this classic film the delightful Ollie treatment. Although Good Bad & Ugly is my favorite, this one has the most emotional depth - an elegy to the old West.

Once upon a time in America is another necessary leone/morricone film to watch. But make sure it’s the European theatrical release.

Once Upon A Time In America is perhaps the greatest western ever made! Before you leave Sergio Leone, you should react to his film, "Duck you Sucker"! Arguably it is on the level of Once Upon A Time!

Morricone forever.

Charles Bronson ❤️

This may be the best Western ever made. And it has the best soundtrack. Almost every Hans Zimmer tune seems to have a bit of this in it.

This is considered one of the best westerns ever made

This is an awesome one , glad to see it getting some attention!

The reason why the music was perfectly synced with the movie is that the music was already made before the movie was made and was played as the actors did there thing playing with the music that i think were on speakers. Another thing, Henry Fonda was always a good guy until this movie and Leon wanted Fonda originally for TGTBTU but turned it down. Then again was asked to play in this and Fonda asked a friend, should he. It has been said that it was Eli Wallace who convinced Fonda, to go you'll love Leon, "Go, just go" and do the movie. Well, Fonda did and researched how he should play this "mean son of a bitch" even growing a goatee and wearing eye contacts to make his blue eyes brown. Leon saw it and told Fonda, "Off" Leon wanted Fonda clean shaven and his "baby blues". Hence, the reveal of Fonda after the family was killed because Leon wanted people to say, "JESUS CHRIST, THAT'S HENRY FONDA". There's a video on YT with Fonda telling the story better.

How this movie qas mot nominated for Best Picture and ESPECIALLY best score is beyond me

Greatest western EVER. And Fonda as a villain is a masterstroke.

Fun fact. In alot of the wide shots, or dolly shits over the town or draws, the actors didn't have to do the scenes dry and just imagine what the music would be afterwards. Sergio Leone had Ennio Morricone compose much of the music in advance before he even started shooting. He had a speaker system set up and he would be blasting the music when he was shooting the scenes. It made the actors job easier when they were doing the draws (gun duels) because they could play their scenes off the music.

I guarantee that some of the music will stay with you and haunt you most of your life.

Story by three iconic Italian directors. What other film can say that? BTW, the harmonica music will haunt you forever. Bronson was a legit badass.

There are 2 more awesome movies by Leone. The underrated western "duck you sucker" and my all time favourit "Once upon a time in america". Greetings from germany.

While GBU is probably still my favourite, this is Leone's finest achievement. He had some Hollywood money, hence some of those shots in Monument Valley, and Hollywood royalty (Fonda). It's also the only one with a decent female role, and Cardinale nails it. Also worth mentioning that Robards and Bronson are also pretty huge, not just in Westerns. So this wasn't half-washed-up TV actors trying to restart their careers in Italy, which had been the case with Van Cleef and Eastwood (Eli Wallach was already highly regarded, which is why he stole the show in GBU). This was Hollywood recognising what Leone had done in Europe and bringing him fully mainstream, after the delayed US releases of the previous three. Obviously being Italian, he and Morricone grew up with opera, and this is very operatic - the musical themes for each character, lingering on key moments, and those scenes that are shot with the soundtrack playing on set so the actors move in time. He made the western beautiful for the first time since John Ford. And as you spotted, the sound design was also magnificent. Some of that is down to Morricone too, who had a background in Avant Garde music and found sound. When Jill's theme swells as the camera sweeps over the station as she gets her ride, I tear up *every* time! And I've seen this on big screens and small many, many times!

I’ve been to Monument valley. It’s an incredible experience. So many iconic movies and this is the best soundtrack for it.

It’s one of my favourite ever movies of any genre. Fonda, Bronson and Robards were never better.

This is the best Western movie of all times!

I personally like a movie that doesn’t feel like it’s spoon feeding me every detail but leaves it to me to pay attention and get the details. The scene where they drive the surrey through the railroad camp and you can look down at the rails being laid is duplicated at the start of Blazing Saddles just so they can make a good shot to start the movie.