THE ASTOR REVIEW

“What you’re watching here has absolutely nothing to do with the classical Hollywood western. That’s why Woody Strode and Jack Elam, familiar faces from countless westerns of the past, got blown away right at the start. What you’re watching here is the ‘Myth of the Wild West’ turned on its head; no more shining heroes, not an honorable motive in sight. Leone later stated that he had wanted to sweep away all of the lies that had been told about the colonisation of America. Once Upon a Time in the West tells of the blood and the dirty money that lubricated the wheels of civilisation”. Jurgen Muller’s book Movies of the 60′s
“What Leone makes of it all eloquently illustrates why Tarantino is right to be in awe of him” Tom Ryan – The Age – (****)

IMDB SYNOPSIS

Story of a young woman, Mrs. McBain, who moves from New Orleans to frontier Utah, on the very edge of the American West. She arrives to find her new husband and family slaughtered, but by who? The prime suspect, coffee-lover Cheyenne, befriends her and offers to go after the real killer, assassin gang leader Frank, in her honor. He is accompanied by Harmonica on his quest to get even. Get-rich-quick subplots and intricate character histories intertwine with such artistic flair that this could in fact be the movie-to-end-all-movies.