Once Upon a Time in America on DVD

There should be a law about studio executives taking a filmmaker’s movie and making their own cut. Arguably, in pretty much every case in Hollywood history, the execs butcher the film for whatever reason, creating an inferior picture that is quite often a theatrical and critical flop.

Possibly one of the greatest examples is Once Upon a Time in America, Sergio Leone’s pet project that received a 15-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival, only to be re-edited by the studio and released to American audiences as a completely different movie.

The real version of the film is 229 minutes long, and is hailed as a cinematic masterpiece. The edited version was cut down to about 90 minutes and was hailed as one of the worst movies of the year, and Leone himself felt he was robbed of the Oscar that year and was distraught for many years afterwards.

Now we get the full meal deal on this two disc DVD. Finally!

Beginning in the early 1930s and taking several leaps through time, Once Upon a Time in America is about Noodles (Robert De Niro) and his 50+ years as a gangster. First, we learn what happened to make him run away, then we learn what’s happening now, then we learn what happened to get him into the business, and back and forth.

The studio claimed they made the re-edit because American audiences would be too confused with all the time changes, but it’s not hard to follow at all, provided you pay attention. And pay attention you will; I noticed that once I started the movie, I found it very hard to not give it my undivided attention. It’s such a powerful film filled with incredible images and equally compelling performances by its cast. Although it’s odd that Joe Pesci, Burt Young and Treat Williams would get such high billings when their roles could barely be considered cameos.

It’s hard to talk about the plot because it’s so complex, and it’s hard to talk about anything other than how great this film is. It truly is a masterpiece and is one of the few movies that deserves every bit of its acclaim. Anyone who enjoys movies should take the four hours out of their life to watch the real Once Upon a Time in America. You’ll thank yourself for it later.

Even billed as a two-disc special edition, you can’t help but be just a little disappointed at the DVD presentation, however. Sure, the picture and sound are just fine, but the extras aren’t just minute, they’re also a tease.

The movie itself is spread over two discs, which is fine because it gives you a pee break, but it seems like it would have made more sense to make the switch during the intermission instead of where it actually occurs.

Presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen, 16x9 TV compatible, the picture looks good but dated. It’s a bit soft throughout, but this may have been intentional to give it a more authentic feel. This thought is supported by the fact that the scenes set in the 1960s look slightly better than those set earlier.

The audio is also good, but despite it being remixed into 5.1 Dolby Digital, it doesn’t really make as good use of the multiple channels as it could. There is almost no surround use (although there is a tiny bit), though the front channels are done fairly well. Dialogue and score are the two major players, and both are perfectly audible but not overpowering. At some points the dialogue is a little quiet (I found myself turning the volume up several times), but for the most part everything sounds fine.

The extras are where the biggest complaint comes in. There is an audio commentary by film critic Richard Schickel that offers quite a bit of information, but a commentary by someone actually related to the film would have been a lot better. Not to say that the Shickel commentary is bad by any means; in fact it is probably a lot more informative than a cast or crew commentary may have been, but it’s always nice to hear people reminisce about their experience on such a film (James Woods has called Once Upon a Time the greatest experience of his career).

There is also a mere 20-minute excerpt from the documentary “Once Upon a Time: Sergio Leone.” Produced in 1999, the doc profiles Leone’s life and career, particularly the making of his epic gangster movie. It features interviews with the cast & crew, as well as Leone’s family and friends. It seems like a very well produced feature that, since we only get to see 20 minutes, leaves us wanting to see a lot more. It feels like we only get to see a bit of it so that Warner Bros. could say there’s more than just a commentary here.

Even so, this “special edition” is more than worth the money because you’re getting such a great movie.

Once Upon a Time in America, from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
229 minutes, anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) 16X9 enhanced, 5.1 Dolby Digital
Starring Robert De Niro, James Woods, Elizabeth McGovern, Joe Pesci, Burt Young as “Joe,” Tuesday Weld and Treat Williams as “Jimmy O’Donnell”
Produced by Arnon Milchan
Screenplay by Sergio Leone, Leonardo Benvenuti, Piero De Bernardi, Enrico Medioli, Franco Arcalli, Franco Ferrini
Directed by Sergio Leone

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