Once Upon a Time in America

2. Depends on which version you saw but the studios butchered the theatrical release.

I started a thread asking two questions last month. Didn't get any answers. I'll leave them here:

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1. How did Max come to be with Deborah? I understand that he took the money and faked his death, but how did he wind up with Noodles' girl? I thought she went to Hollywood?

2. The garbage truck near the end of the movie. What does it mean? Noodles left Max's office without killing him, then he takes a long look at a garbage truck as he's leaving the house. Is it implied that Max committed suicide? It showed the truck churning up a bunch of garbage, but I didn't see any of Max's blood/guts.

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ORLY? I watched the 2-disc dvd release. Think it was around 2.5 hours

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The full version (at least that was actually released) is a little under 4 hours.

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All in all, though, I thought it was a fantastic movie.

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I love this movie and there are so many interesting notes that serve as a backdrop to the creation of the film. For instance, A very interesting note for those unaware is that the director, Sergio Leone, turned down an offer from Paramount Pictures to direct The Godfather in order to pursue his pet project, Once Upon a Time in America. The film actually ended up being released after The Godfathers due to long a strife with the writers and the writer of the novel on which the film is based.

As for this:

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2. Depends on which version you saw but the studios butchered the theatrical release.

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Wiki has this to say:

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he original version by the director was 269 minutes (4 hours and 29 minutes) long, but when the film premièred out of competition at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival,[1] Leone had cut it down to 229 minutes (3 hours and 49 minutes) to appease the distributors. This was the version that was to be shown in European cinemas. However, for the US release on June 1, 1984, Once Upon a Time in America was edited down even further to 139 minutes (2 hours and 19 minutes) by the studio and against the director's wishes. In this short version, the flashback narrative was also changed, by re-editing the scenes in chronological order. Leone was reportedly heartbroken by the American cut, and never made another film before his death in 1989.

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Crazy things surrounded this movie. I've seen the longest version and it's the best.

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^must resist

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Four hour version is the only version worth watching. And just think Leone original shot it 8-10 hours.

Anything other than the full version of OUTA is crap.