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Message
Once Upon a Time in America--which version do you prefer?
Posted on 5/23/11 at 12:01 pm
Posted on 5/23/11 at 12:01 pm
The original about 4 hour non-linear version or the abridged American version that is more linear.
Personally, I felt like the original was way too drawn out. Too many scenes that were supposed to be "powerful" but just came off silly in the way they tried to present themselves so profoundly--the cupcake scene, for example. I just thought that over and over, scenes were extended way too long in an attempt to be deep. A lot of those missed the mark with me.
I do, however, like the non-linear way the original version told the story. It just could have benefited from a LOT of editing.
Personally, I felt like the original was way too drawn out. Too many scenes that were supposed to be "powerful" but just came off silly in the way they tried to present themselves so profoundly--the cupcake scene, for example. I just thought that over and over, scenes were extended way too long in an attempt to be deep. A lot of those missed the mark with me.
I do, however, like the non-linear way the original version told the story. It just could have benefited from a LOT of editing.
9
Posted on 5/23/11 at 12:04 pm to Jamohn
The American version is crap. The 4 hour one is Leone's masterpiece.
He's said to have filmed 8 to 10 hours. Wish I could see it.
He's said to have filmed 8 to 10 hours. Wish I could see it.
Posted on 5/23/11 at 12:05 pm to Jamohn
I've only ever seen the long one that jumps around.
Its a good movie, but makes Godfather 2 seem short in comparison..
Its a good movie, but makes Godfather 2 seem short in comparison..
Posted on 5/23/11 at 12:15 pm to Jamohn
quote:
I just thought that over and over, scenes were extended way too long in an attempt to be deep.
have u watched any of his other films?
Posted on 5/23/11 at 12:16 pm to Jamohn
Love the cupcake scene, Brian Bloom thinks to himself, "Hey, I'm not even pubescent yet, and she's a porker, we're in a major Depression right now, and this cupcake cost me serious cheese for a poor kid from the ghetto(I'm not gonna be making Escalade commericals for a few decades), to hell with feeling up fatty's jellrolls..I'm enjoying every morsel of this cupcake!"
Agreed it can be slow, but I'd watch all 8 to 10 hours if available, hell, I watch Das Boot every 4 to 5 years.
Agreed it can be slow, but I'd watch all 8 to 10 hours if available, hell, I watch Das Boot every 4 to 5 years.
Posted on 5/23/11 at 12:19 pm to Jamohn
quote:
original
This is the correct answer.
The first time I watched the film over 10 years ago, it was the american linear version. I couldn't make it 30 minutes into the movie. When I decided to give the film another chance, I got the original version and it was much, much better. I found myself caring more about the characters having seen them older first, and then seeing their youth.
Posted on 5/23/11 at 12:19 pm to Jamohn
I have never seen this movie.
I know.
I know.
I know.
I know.
Posted on 5/23/11 at 12:20 pm to Lacour
quote:
I have never seen this movie.
The 4 hour original is on Netflix streaming.
Posted on 5/23/11 at 12:22 pm to Jamohn
quote:
The original about 4 hour non-linear version
This is GREAT viewing on a boring Saturday or Sunday afternoon
the american version was a bomb when released and still is, thanks
Posted on 5/23/11 at 12:24 pm to CAD703X
quote:Only a couple. Sometimes that hits the mark with me, and sometimes it's just a little too much. I'm not fundamentally opposed to that type of device, but there were just a bunch of times during this particular movie that I just couldn't wait to move on.
have u watched any of his other films?
This post was edited on 5/23/11 at 12:26 pm
Posted on 5/23/11 at 12:25 pm to Jamohn
quote:
Only a couple. Sometimes that hits the mark with me, and sometimes it's just a little too much. I'm not fundamentally opposed to that type of device, there were just a bunch of times during this particular movie that I just couldn't wait to move on.
ADHD?
This post was edited on 5/23/11 at 12:26 pm
Posted on 5/23/11 at 12:25 pm to HideChaKidz
quote:I agree with all this.
I got the original version and it was much, much better. I found myself caring more about the characters having seen them older first, and then seeing their youth.
Posted on 5/23/11 at 12:25 pm to constant cough
quote:
ADHD
Possibly.
Posted on 5/23/11 at 12:48 pm to HideChaKidz
quote:
The 4 hour original is on Netflix streaming.
Whew, glad to know it is the original.
It has been in my queue for months but I haven't gotton to it.
Reading the thread I was wondering if it was the short one that I have never seen.
Sounds like I wouldn't want to see the revised one.
Posted on 5/23/11 at 12:55 pm to Jamohn
quote:I haven't seen the edited version, only the long cut, but I don't entirely disagree with this statement. I do think a lot of films, even OUATIA, could use a little editing in order to tell the story better. An 8 hour cut sounds interminable.
I do, however, like the non-linear way the original version told the story. It just could have benefited from a LOT of editing.
Posted on 5/23/11 at 12:56 pm to chinese58
quote:Unfortunately, it's not on instant anymore.
The 4 hour original is on Netflix streaming.
Whew, glad to know it is the original.
It has been in my queue for months but I haven't gotton to it.
Posted on 5/23/11 at 1:02 pm to Jamohn
From Roger Ebert's review:
LINK
quote:
This was a murdered movie, now brought back to life on home video. Sergio Leone's ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA, which in its intended 227-minute version is an epic poem of violence and greed, was chopped by ninety minutes for U.S. theatrical release into an incomprehensible mess without texture, timing, mood, or sense. The rest of the world saw the original film, which I saw at the Cannes Film Festival. In America, a tragic decision was made.
quote:
Here are some of the specific problems with the shortened version. A speakeasy scene comes before a newspaper headline announces that Prohibition has been ratified. Prohibition is then repealed, on what feels like the next day but must be six years later. Two gangsters talk about robbing a bank in front of a woman who has never been seen before in the film; they've removed the scene explaining who she is. A labor leader turns up, unexplained, and involves the gangsters in an inexplicable situation. He later sells out, but to whom? Men come to kill De Niro's girlfriend, a character we've hardly met, and we don't know if they come from the mob or the police. And here's a real howler: At the end of the shortened version, De Niro leaves a room he has never seen before by walking through a secret panel in the wall. How did he know it was there? In the long version, he was told it was there. In the short version, his startling exit shows simple contempt for the audience.
LINK
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