Once Upon A Time In The West | **Movie Reaction** | First Time Watching

[@IrishGuyReacts]

Where would "Once Upon A Time In The West" rank among your favourite Westerns?

[@gerardglass3717]

one of the best

[@putinscat1208]

This and Unforgiven are the best.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

I will definitely be reacting to "Unforgiven" at some point .

[@youdontknowme9279]

my all time favorite - heres FONDA talking about the role - at the time it was shocking for him to play the bad guy - he was his generations tom hanks kzbin.info/www/bejne/d3TLlKmDe7ljl9E

[@nwobw]

The best western ever made and one of the greatest movies ever made.

[@noahbawdy3395]

I think this is one of the best westerns ever made

[@IrishGuyReacts]

Definitely has one of the best villains in a Western I've seen so far. Henry Fonda is fantastic!

[@alanpage3973]

The greatest Western ever in my humble opinion

[@IrishGuyReacts]

Thanks for checking out the video.

[@tomantush4867]

McBain: an Irishman played by an Italian in a western movie set in America but shot in Spain. 😅

[@bilalkufait5195]

My favourite movie of all time

[@IrishGuyReacts]

Very iconic. Can see why it's so beloved. Leone is a truly talented director.

[@culturefan6363]

The way to shoot the movie, the editing, the score, everything is incredible in this movie . Leone is a master. The best western ever, maybe the best film ever (with Stanley Kubrick movies)

[@IrishGuyReacts]

There was incredible attention to detail. Leone's level of filmmaking is top class. Truly warrants the reputation he acclaimed.

[@arnodobler1096]

Once Upon A Time in America is my favorite Movie from Leone and Morricone

[@frozen1762]

The thing about Frank is that he is played by Henry Fonda who at the time was already a legendary actor, but he was known for always playing hc good, honest and moral men. So that opening was a shock for the audience just showing him as the main villain. It's like if Tom Hanks today played some super evil role.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

Not long after watching this I read about him being in other Western movies traditionally in a hero like role. I wish I'd watched some of them before this (I still plan to watch his other Westerns). Nonetheless his turn as Frank is one of the best villains of the Westerns I've seen so far. Thanks for the comment and checking out the video.

[@karlmortoniv2951]

@@IrishGuyReacts Fonda had a fucking BLAST playing a bad guy. Leone wanted Fonda to play the lead in "Fistful of Dollars" five years before but there was no way he could afford him then. It didn't help that what Leone submitted to Fonda's people was a poorly translated script which gave no indication of what the movie would ultimately be. When this movie came up Leone had more cash to play with and he approached Fonda again, his agent/manager mentioned offhand that this Leone guy had been pestering him for years to get Fonda in his movies but the offers were never passed on. So Fonda set up a screening of the Dollars movies, which he hadn't seen before, came out of that and said to his agent/manager, "So I could have been doing these things for the last four years??" and fired him. Or so the legend goes. Leone was beyond thrilled to land Fonda for Frank in this and met him at the airport when he traveled to Europe to make the movie. Fonda was in his 60s, had sort of an old man stoop and was kind of goofy and doddery as himself. Leone who had never met him before kind of freaked out, thinking if THIS was the great Henry Fonda now he might have made a horrible mistake. Leone's associate had a cooler head and got Fonda into wardrobe so he could start looking like Frank. Next time Leone saw him he was wearing the black suit and hat he was wearing at the end, which straightened his spine and put ice in his glare and he was well on the way to becoming Frank. Leone chilled out and got on with it and the rest is as you saw. The other odd thing that happened was that Fonda assumed that Leone wouldn't want this killer to have Fonda's baby blue eyes so before he left for Europe Fonda had himself fitted for dark contact lenses, figuring a dark-eyed killer bad guy would be more effective. When he put them in and showed Leone, the director was aghast - "What did you do???" Fonda told him about the contact lenses and Leone asked him to please take them out. It took a while for Fonda to realize what Leone was doing with Fonda's decades-established screen image but once he got caught up he had nothing but great things to say about his experience on this movie. Well, apart from this - apparently one of the first scenes he shot was with Claudia Cardinale in the hanging bed and Mrs. Fonda was NOT pleased at all which made things awkward for a bit, but everyone involved had been there before so it was fine.

[@DeanTheLaughingMann]

Funny thing with Tom is that he has tried villain/bad guy roles before - Road to Perdition, The Circle, Charlie Wilson's War, Ladykillers, Cloud Atlas, and even the Elvis movie recently. He's expressed that he doesn't like playing villainous roles because he's had trouble being convincing with it. But I like to think that with his role in Elvis, he actually got as close to a real villain as possible. And that is because if you look up Elvis's story, Colonel Tom Parker in real life was a bad man and then some with how he treated Elvis. That isn't to say Tom isn't a bad actor at all - He dared to try different roles to see where his strengths lied and where he could apply himself. He just knows what roles appeal to him, and what he is capable of.

[@davidekstrand8544]

@@karlmortoniv2951 “In the foreground of the little boy, you see this figure… and then the camera slowly turns… and Sergio Leone had cast me because he could imagine the audience at that moment saying ‘(OMG), THAT’S HENRY FONDA!’ (🫢😬😳😱🤯😨)” - Henry Fonda, 1975

[@Womberto]

One of the best films ever made and certainly one of the best soundtracks.

[@Mike-wr7om]

This is one of my favorite musical scores of all time. Also, one of my favorite movies of all time. Leone recognized the great and mystical artistry of capturing the power and mystery of the human gaze. Set beautiful music to the images of those gazes and you have fine art, a great and amazing work of art.

[@grjoseph]

This is one of my all time favorite western movies and one of the best. And I agree with your rating of the Serge Leone westerns!

[@ronaldmilner8932]

Once Upon A Time in the West is a Masterpiece!!

[@BrianVincent-gz2dq]

The greatest film of all time,.... not just the greatest Western of all time.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

Definitely seems to be a view shared by many. Personally, think the !Ox-Bow Incident" may be the greatest Western of all time. Which also stars Fonda.

[@marcotedeschi5340]

True

[@BrianVincent-gz2dq]

@@IrishGuyReacts Damn! Embarrassed to say I her never heard of it! I shall check it out.

[@LoSconosciuto57179]

This masterpiece by Sergio Leone is actually a film about the end of the western epic, the transition to the modern world without heroes, legends and honor, where wild capitalism, symbolized by the railway under construction, advances. Everything is underlined by the wonderful melancholy music of Ennio Morricone. Some curiosities about this work. The first, tragic, was that during filming the actor Al Mulock, one of the three waiting for Harmonica at the station at the beginning of the film, committed suicide by jumping from a balcony wearing his stage clothes because his wife had died the year before of cancer and it seems that he became a drug addict. The actor who played Harmonica's brother was the Italian production manager Caludio Mancini and since Sergio Leone often argued with the producers over budget issues, he had him hanged as a joke. There are several Italian actors in the film. The most famous are the beautiful Claudia Cardinale, Paolo Stoppa who plays the part of the man who drives the carriage that takes Jill McBain/Cardinale from the station to the house where all the members of Brett McBain's family were killed and Gabriele Ferzetti who plays Morton. Greetings from Milan, Italy

[@IrishGuyReacts]

Fascinating and thorough behind the scenes info. Thank you for the great comment Being an AC Milan supporter, always welcome Milan commenters 🙂👍

[@LoSconosciuto57179]

@@IrishGuyReacts In reality I have always been a fan of the other Milan team: Football Club Internazionale Milano! 😂 Another note about the film. The role of Harmonica was supposed to be entrusted to Clint Eastwood and not to Charles Bronson, who however he refused perhaps because he had other commitments. Sergio Leone became very angry and did not want to speak to him again for twenty years, then, shortly before Leone died, they made peace and spoke to each other again. I'm a cinema enthusiast, thanks for the compliments. 👍

[@missk8tie]

The whole train station opening could be a short film by itself. All the actors are famous character actors from many westerns. Also, I watched a lot of movies my Dad taped off of cable TV when I was a kid. Henry Fonda was always the good guy, and he has a very distinctive voice. I watched this movie in college, and when that family gets shot, and the camera pans up, and...it's Henry Fonda! "What are we gonna do with this one Frank? Now that you've called me by name..." OMG. I mean, I'd seen Pulp Fiction and Natural Born Killers by then and it was still chilling.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

I still didn't believe he would shoot the child until I heard that gunshot. Incredible villain. Fonda is fantastic. Agreed about the opening. Could have easily been a short film itself.

[@suecookson4817]

The best Western ever made.

[@dagnabbit6187]

I don’t think this is just the best western of all time , it is the best movie of all time .

[@Ceractucus]

This movie is without a doubt the best Western Movie ever made and for my money, just one of the best movies ever made. Leone had longed to make a movie that wasn't a western but the studios got him to agree to make one more so with that money he could practically have carte blanche on his next movie. Knowing this would be his last western movie for a long time he made it as an homage to other westerns. John Ford who was the most famous director of Western movies and he filmed a lot of them in Monument Valley. Leone decided to make Jill's journey home go through monument valley that's why that part of the movie looks set in the same place as Ford's films and other westerns, because it was.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

If that was the intention, it was a great throwback to those Westerns, plus just being a stunning location as well.

[@thunderstruck5484]

Love this film, it’s like a western opera for myself, thanks for sharing your thoughts and reaction

[@IrishGuyReacts]

Very interesting way of describing it. Thank you for the comment and checking out the video.

[@desperateambrose5373]

What's really impressive about Leone is how much he accomplishes without dialogue. So much of the movie is told through camera-work, music, noises -- and silence. (BTW, you don't need a stampede string when you're indoors.)

[@IrishGuyReacts]

Agreed. the opening scene in particular perfectly illustrates your point. Haha, thanks for the tip regarding the hat. I suppose I leave it for the Western aesthetic.

[@bdaunt]

The best. The undercurrent of the Railroad moving West and all the prairie backhanded politics involved. Iconic of the American expansion and prevails to this day. The only movie where Henry Fonda was a true villain. Legend has it that he brought brown contact lenses with him for the role but Segio opted for the Blue eyes - for effect. Jane Fonda said she was absolutely stunned to see her Father act so mean. Claudia Cardinal spoke very little English when she arrived on set. And, the best gun duel quote ever, “You brought two too many”… eclipses all the others by far. I only hope my ancestor in Cork “Thomas Daunt” (who held the dubious distinction of being the last man killed in an “official” duel in Ireland) had something similar to say 😉

[@IrishGuyReacts]

I dare say he leaned heavily on the side of a villain in "Fort Apache" too. But he is indeed flat out villain in this one. And what an incredible villain he is! Haha I must have a look into the history of gunfights in Ireland.

[@bdaunt]

@@IrishGuyReacts I think there’s some truth to that. He was known for doing heavy research into the characters he played. Ya, look into KilKaskin Castle in County Cork. Apparently there was an issue with the neighbor’s wife that didn’t end well for my kin. Somewhere it said it took three shots. So the drama isn’t all what it’s cracked up to be in the movies lol.

[@peterengelen2794]

Sergio Leone is (and will always be) my no.1 favorite director of all time.

[@stratocruising]

The best western ever made. A few other good ones that no one will ever recommend. "McCabe and Mrs. Miller", a Pacific northwestern, dark and dreary and rainy and the music by Leonard Cohen fits perfectly. "Hannie Caulder" in which Raquel Welch learns the gunfighting trade to set out after the men who done her wrong. I mentioned Raquel Welch, right?. Also, "Zachariah", a rock and roll electric western is the Firesign Theater's adaption of Herman Hesse's book Siddhartha about the life of the Buddha. These three movies prove that the western is a form that can be used to tell almost any kind of a story.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

Love getting the recommendations. Thank you kindly and thanks for checking out the video.

[@michaeldmcgee4499]

Casting Henry Fonda against type was pure genius.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

He was immense in this role.

[@HeinrichDorfmann]

Howdy do, first time subscriber here. If you ranked "Once Upon A Time In The West" down with "A Fistful Of Dollars", you were correct. Segio Leone obviously made some money off of his films, and when an artist makes enough money he's able to create the art that he himself enjoys to view. I particularly think that this was the case with this film, and "A Fistful Of Dollars". These films are metaphorical. It shares a story that you don't understand at face value, and to understand the real story being shared you must have already researched the kind of life people in that time period lived, and the values they held dear. Again, there's a different story being told in these films, other than what they present to your face. I guess the only other film I could compare these two to is Star Wars, but only the films 1-6? You can discount my opinions out of hand, it doesn't affect me, but does it affect you?

[@TheMusterion76]

Now you should react to the last western by Leone: "Duck You Sucker" aka "A fistful of dynamite" aka "Once Upon a Time... the Revolution". It's the second chapter of the Time Trilogy, between Once Upon a Time in the West and Once Upon a Time in America.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

"A Fistful Of Dynamite" is on my watchlist. Thanks for the suggestion and checking out the video.

[@laapache1]

if you notice each star has their own theme music

[@marcotedeschi5340]

The best movie ever

[@jamesconfrey9117]

One irish to another, This is a f...... great western. Cheers !

[@IrishGuyReacts]

Glad you enjoyed it. Henry Fonda plays one of the most magical villains!

[@missk8tie]

"There were no dollars in them days." "But sons of bitches, yeah."

[@fabricnt]

When Leone took Clint Eastwood for "A Fistful of Dollars", Clint didn't agree because he had to smoke the cigars and Clint has always hated smoking. He said: "But can't we make the character not smoke?" Leone replied: "Are you joking? Do you want to remove the "starring" from the film? This was Sergio Leone's love for details.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

Such a distinct aspect of his character too

[@peterengelen2794]

1.''The Good, The Bad And The Ugly'' 2. ''Once Upon A Time In America'' 3. ''Once Upon A Time In The West'' 4. ''A Fistful of Dynamite'' 5. ''For A Few Dollars More'' 6. ''A Fistful of Dollars''.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

My reaction to a "Fistful of Dynamite" should be up this month.

[@aaaht3810]

Best opening to a western film ever. And yes, some of the scenes were filmed where parts of "The Searchers" was filmed, Monument Valley, Arizona/Utah USA.

[@NoLegalPlunder]

Frank is one of the greatest villains in movie history -- no doubt.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

Unbelievable villain!

[@76ludlow]

Thank you for your reaction to one of my two favourite westerns, the other being the John Ford/John Wayne classic The Searchers. Once Upon a Time in The West is superb. It is unique within Sergio Leone's rather limited movie output as being his only western filmed partly in the American west, and with a mainly American male speaking cast. This was Sergio Leone's fourth western out of a total of five, and considering that this director made only two other non-western movies it is remarkable how his meagre output ranks among the best of the best. The opening credits scene, using natural sounds for its soundtrack is still remarkable. Imagine how it was seen by the audience at its first showing back in 1968. Many American movie goers would have instantly recognised two of the three sinister gunmen as western movie legends Jack Elam and Woody Strode and they could have been forgiven for imagining that they would be the stars of this movie. Imagine the general shock caused by the deaths of these three characters before the end of the opening credits.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

I've hard but don't know if it's true, that Leone wanted Eastwood as one of the three men at the beginning. Would have been interesting.

[@76ludlow]

@@IrishGuyReacts I have actually heard that he really wanted Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach and Lee Van Cleef from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, all to appear in that opening scene. He really wanted to make a statement by having the three of them all killed off, but they weren't interested, so he considered Jack Elam and Woody Strode, two veterans of many westerns, to be ideal substitutes.

[@laapache1]

each star had their own theme music

[@larindanomikos]

Oh...this was before I discovered you. Fonda is a terrific villain. Those cold eyes.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

Hands down one of the best villains in a Western.

[@uriadelavaro3956]

Masterpiece Movie. And to answer your question: number 1. Very alone up there.

[@Grandmastergav86]

You need to check out A Fistful Of Dynamite from Leone, it's a beautiful, misunderstood movie which speaks to the reality of "revolutions" (a concept which is often falsely romanticised). IMO it's just as good as these four films if not better (I'm definitely in the minority on that one). As a young man, Leone was an avowed Socialist who believed in revolutionary acts however over time he both witnessed and read of the horrific violence committed in the name of such and hence produced one hell of a film.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

I've see that one too. Agree, that it's one of the best of Leone's Westerns. Here is my reaction to it kzbin.info/www/bejne/mpOaiJhrebOUpac

[@maryg8152]

Agreed Irish Guy. It is strange not seeing Eastwood in a Leone western.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

I heard that Leone wanted him but he turned it down.

[@earth7551]

I believe also Steve Reeves who played Hercules was going to play that made Clint Eastwood and Sean Connery super star's The good the bad the ugly And Dr.No But Steve Reeves would have been a awesome Clark Kent as Superman no doubt about it

[@fabricnt]

@@IrishGuyReacts When Leone took Clint Eastwood for "A Fistful of Dollars", Clint didn't agree because he had to smoke a cigar and Clint has always hated smoking. He said: "But can't we make the character not smoke?" Leone replied: "Are you joking? Do you want to remove the "starring" from the film? This was Sergio Leone's love for details.

[@mocrg]

I saw this on a re release on the big screen! Monument Valley is a must see in real life.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

It looks absolutely stunning. Would love to visit there.

[@egoneiermann-tn7sc]

There's just too much good stuff in this movie. Henry Fonda as the villain, Charles Bronson for the first time in his parade role as the avenger and Claudia Cardinale (in blonde) as the man's dream of the time. Plus a brilliant director and Ennio Morricone's music, which had a specific theme for each of the main roles. Something like this cannot be repeated.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

Fonda is the highlight for me. One of the absolute greatest villains in the near 100 Westerns I've watched.

[@davidbright3063]

Most of it was made in Spain

[@IrishGuyReacts]

I thought by this point with bigger budgets, they might have filmed North America.

[@shaunholt]

Skipped to the duel at the end. Whoa, different seeing it flipped. My brain can't take it. 13:53 It also quite well answers the question if Frank would have let the boy at the beginning live if the man hadn't called him Frank. Probably, yes, he would have, because he let Harmonica live too. He has no problem being cruel to or killing kids, but at the same time might opt to let them live because he doesn't see them as a threat. Maybe it's one small way Frank thinks he is a good person. He can show a bit of mercy. But he is also a cold-blooded killer. So he might have let the boy live, but when the guy called him Frank, that was the tipping point that made Frank decide to kill him. Till then, he could've gone either way.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

Had to flip to avoid copyright. Sometimes it can be an issue

[@skinheadjon901]

"he looks like Odo from Deep Space 9!!!!" 😂😂😂 Liked & subscribed on the strength of that hilarious comment 🎥🤩🙌👍

[@IrishGuyReacts]

And that will go down as the greatest reason one subscribed to my channel. 😂👍

[@brandonflorida1092]

Fabulous choice of movie and great reaction, but the film volume was pretty low. I had to have you very loud and the film hard to hear to be able to understand both at the same time.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

Glad you enjoyed the reaction. Leone with another great entrant to the Western genre. Apologies you had some issues with the audio.

[@BrianVincent-gz2dq]

How can YOU NOT KNOW this film? Shame on you.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

This was last year when I was at the early stages of exploring the Western genre.

[@innercircle341]

I came on to say the same thing about the audio. It has been the same on all the Leone film reactions. In order to hear the audio in the movie I have to have your voice way too loud for comfort. Great film though. Robards steals it for me

[@IrishGuyReacts]

Thanks for the feedback. I'll try adjust the audio between both more seamlessly in future reactions. Jason Robards brought an interesting performance to the film. Was sad to see his character die at the end.

[@petrusinvictus3603]

Movie is about American expansion in railways, the rest is for boys.

[@petrusinvictus3603]

Then Sergio made:"Once Upon in America", so sad.

[@owenywanperoni7939]

Found it 👍🏼🤣🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 please review the producers 😂

[@IrishGuyReacts]

Is it from the 60s?

[@owenywanperoni7939]

@@IrishGuyReacts Mel Brooke’s movie Gene Wilder you will find it’s really famous 🤣 just watched another 3 of your reviews! I love watching someone watch a classic for first time 👍🏼

[@owenywanperoni7939]

I think 67

[@IrishGuyReacts]

@@owenywanperoni7939 Idea for the channel all came from the fact I'd seen virtually nothing from the Western genre. Older films have a certain charm that I don't generally find from modern films.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

@@owenywanperoni7939 Just confirming as the first film that came up when I googled was a musical called "The Producers" from 2005. 👍

[@benoitliboiron1581]

Pourquoi the horizontal flip

[@IrishGuyReacts]

Fear of the copyright issues

[@glaight6362]

You're to far away, can't see you

[@IrishGuyReacts]

I've since altered the video presentation in my videos.

[@69coolchris]

I may be one of the only people who found this film incredibly boring! Which is odd as i love the Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns. I think it's because there were long periods in the film where nothing happened, and i found myself fast forwarding through a lot of it.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

I definitely think they could have trimmed some of the runtime. "For A Few Dollars More" is my favourite of the Leone Westerns I've seen so far. Appreciate the comment and checking out the video.

[@myflatlineconstruct]

Its a different frame of mind you tap into to enjoy this. Its a moving painting. Each shot is a masterpiece. The protracted shots were meant to draw attention to the sound and background. Its art. Ya get it or ya don't. No big.

[@OroborusFMA]

Other than Henry Fonda this movie is the biggest snoozefest imaginable. It takes all the bloat and cornball music from The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly and puts them on steroids. Just the worst.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

I agree Henry Fonda is the best part of the movie. They could have trimmed a bit of the runtime but I still enjoyed it.

[@myflatlineconstruct]

Art. Its not for everyone. The subtle complexities in every moment is savorable . A fireworks blast is boring to the colorblind.

[@jaysonspann8042]

The absolute best. Ever shot is beautiful. Charles Bronson is one of the most believable tough guy leads growing up in a coal mine, surviving a cave in, as well as serving in the navy in ww2 all shows in his eyes. Frank is literally like a devil hunched over and evil dressed all in black with those crazy blue eyes. I also think this is Ennio Morricone best score.

[@IrishGuyReacts]

Couldn't agree more regarding Frank. Fantastic villain, masterfully portrayed by Henry Fonda.

[@jaysonspann8042]

Also! You're 100% correct. That is Monument Valley Arionzona. John Ford loves too film his movies there and all the directors of 60s and 70s grew up watching his stuff. The making of says this movie is full of small references too classic westerns movies as well

[@IrishGuyReacts]

Absolutely stunning location. Perfect setting for a Western.

[@jaysonspann8042]

Idk if anybody hasnt recommend it...but you gotta react to the Quiet Man!!!! Like for real.....its about John Wayne moving to Ireland after he kills a guy in a boxing match on accident. You'll legit be the first Irish person to react to it on KZbin!!! It would be really interesting too see what you think of it!

[@IrishGuyReacts]

I hope to have a reaction of "The Quiet Man" up next week for St. Patrick's Day. It's actually been recommended by quite a few subscribers. Thanks again for the recommendation. They are always welcomed.

[@youdontknowme9279]

you should really watch this as the trilogy it was designed to be - ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (1968) - ONCE UPON A TIME THE REVOLUTION (1971 - aka DUCK YOU SUCKER - aka A FISTFUL OF DYNAMITE) - ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA (3 hour version) (1984) - all three deal with the dawning of the modern age and the evolution of the outlaw from cowboy to gangster

[@IrishGuyReacts]

"Duck You Sucker" is on my Western Watchlist. I'll have to watch "Once Upon A Time In America" at some point.

[@youdontknowme9279]

@@IrishGuyReacts you have to watch the european/directors cut its 3 hours long but worth it - the american cut makes no sense at all - too much cut out