Surely it would have been better than ENEMY AT THE GATES.
On the other hand I think he was first of all a western director, he had a special love for westerns, and he renewed the western genre
He probably wouldn’t have been quite as remarkable doing other stuff
Btw, has anybody seen his earliest films, like The Colossus of Rhodes?
I saw The Last Days of Pompeii once but I can’t really recommend it, just boring sword and sandal drama without any of his trademark style. Maybe Colossus of Rhodes is better?
I really like the Colossus of Rhodes. On the most recent US release there is a great commentary by Christopher Frayling who points out many of the early signs of Leone’s forthcoming style. Sadly the disc is slightly cut; the uncut German release has no English audio and no Frayling commentary but does come in a nice 2-disc box set.
I haven’t seen the Last Days of Pompeii but there is a remastered French release which I have been meaning to purchase for a while now. However, this wasn’t really Leone’s movie as he was just filling in for Mario Bonnard, and he refused to have his name on the credits.
One thing worth noting is also that America was Leone’s first film for over 10 years, it’s not only that he could have lived longer, he could also have made more films during those years
Personally it doesn’t matter that much, his westerns are enough for me
Well Leone surely would have loved to film OUATIA faster, but it did not work out this way.
And its all about taste, i love the slow sequences of Leone.
I for example do not see the greatness of scorsese gangster films, especially Goodfellas. I think the protagonists act stupid a lot of times. But back to leone.
This is my favourite movie, but maybe it really does not fit the name tag SW, because it does not have the spaghetti feeling that TGTBTU has. less humour etc.
But it is nice to have a discussion and see other opinions on this masterpiece as well, hehe
I think a lot of people don’t like OUATITW because it has too many “American” elements, starting with the star power, the Monument Valley locations and the railroad theme. But it has amazing Morricone music, classic Almeria landscape, cruel violence, amazing cinematography and a really gripping story… to me it’s the pinnacle of the genre, the SW to end all SWs
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Not to go off topic, but those characters were based on real people. I dont see how theyre acting stupid. Thats how the mafia life was. I dont think anyone who watches that movie thinks they were smart people. They were crazy criminals who murdered each other.
yes, off topic for sure, I also dont like Goodfellas, haha…
Yes it’s a shame he died so young. I’m sure Tornatore will do a good job though. I hope he uses Leone’s one long opening scene starting with a close-up of Shostakovich’s hands playing on the piano, searching for the notes for “The Symphony of Leningrad”, as the camera then moves out of the open window to follow the civilians heading off to fight to then cut, as the explosions start, to a huge Shostakovich concert. Talk about an “Opera of Violence”!
I can top that!
I don’t like those mafia movies!!!
My biggest problem with this movie I think is the fact that I didn’t like Claudia Cardinale’s character. Right after the massacre, she goes right into scrouging around for money. Then she sleeps with the bad guy just to save her life. And I just think she is too full of self pitty.
she’s a bitch, it’s the wild west. that’s why they called it wild 
and she’s ultra hot!
Hot yes.
But it didn’t leave me with too much sympathy for her. I had more sympathy for Michelle Mercier.
She was a whore wasnt she? I dont think she had alot of motivations other than to stay alive. I like when Frank does the morse code “Dot Dot Deet Deet Dot” on her back. Damn she was hot.
you got that right 
yeah she was a whore… a whore with a golden heart maybe, but still a whore
Cardinale is central character. Shes moves to west just after some money but in the end changes to matriarch of the new times. All the male characters are unable to change themselves and are destined to vanish.
Her character is complex (& hot!). Ok, she was a whore but looked genuinely broken when her husband & new family were shot. Then she slept with Frank to save her life (I’m with her up til now). But then she appeared to ENJOY sleeping with the man who murdered her family. Then she wants him dead when Harmonica spares him. Now THAT"S a whore of epic proportion.
LOL! Great description!
I’m in the middle of watching “Once Upon a Time in the West” and up to now, I’m very impressed. The acting (especially by Henry Fonda and Charles Bronson) is generally excellant, but I still miss Clint Eastwood.
Despite it being directed by Sergio Leone, it dosn’t really feel like a Spaghetti Western. It feels more like a cowboy film Howard Hawks would make. Still, as I said before, up till now, its a very good film.