There’s a single piece of land around Flagstone with water on it, and rail baron Morton (Gabriele Ferzetti) aims to have it, knowing the new railroad will have to stop there. He sends his henchman Frank (Henry Fonda) to scare the land’s owner, McBain (Frank Wolff), but Frank kills him instead and pins it on a known bandit, Cheyenne (Jason Robards). Meanwhile, a mysterious gunslinger with a score to settle (Charles Bronson) and McBain’s new wife, Jill (Claudia Cardinale), arrive in town.

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Video Quality

Once Upon A Time In The West appears on 4K UHD Blu-Ray newly restored from the original 35mm Techniscope camera negative by Paramount’s archive team, L’Immagine Ritrovata, and The Film Foundation in 2160p/Dolby Vision. This version is said to honor the 2007 Film Foundation photochemical restoration overseen by legendary director Martin Scorsese by matching its build and color palette. We do not have any previous release of the film, but the included Blu-ray is from the same updated restoration. There are positives and negatives to this release, but despite all of the things it does right, we can tell that there was an opportunity to do things better that was not taken.

This presentation is impressive in many respects. The glorious Technicolor cinematography is stunning in Dolby Vision as the nuances of the earthy hues are brought to the forefront. Black levels are largely deep with outlines that have often been lost before to crush. The transfer also eradicates dust specks and print damage that previously plagued the best surviving elements. This picture showcases some excellent depth, revealing a sprawling sense of scale within the locale. Things take a turn toward the problematic with the utilization of DNR to smooth the natural film grain. There is a very discrete layer of grain throughout much of the film, but it is not quite to the textural level that you expect from a classic Western tale. The management is far from the travesty we have seen on some discs (this is not a James Cameron disaster), but the overall appearance is smoother than we would like. In motion, there appears to be at least a bit of textural details in the costumes and production design.

The fact that any modern studio thinks this is necessary is a problem all of its own. Most consumers still supporting physical media advocate for natural looking transfers rather than a “looking through a window” experience, and they should stop catering to this imaginary base of “average Joe” consumers that no longer exist. To make matters worse for this disc, Paramount does not provide this lengthy film with a BD-100 for more room to breathe. It gets a BD-66 when films of much shorter runtimes were previously afforded a BD-100. The disc features some intermittent dodgy compression which results in some digital noise against certain backgrounds, especially skies. For any film, and especially a classic like this, it should be given the best chance to succeed. In the end, your experience with this disc will depend on how sensitive you are to these issues. The movie looks pretty good on this upgraded format, but at this stage in the game, we should be striving for more than passable.

Audio Quality

The 4K UHD Blu-Ray disc comes with both a DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio lossless soundtrack and a Dolby Digital 2.0 restored mono track in English that handle this material well. The expanded 5.1 track gets the job done for those solely looking to engage more of their speakers, but the go-to track for most fans will be the mono track that captures the original intention of the film. The one drawback to this film is the decision to not provide this in lossless DTS which would allow this to sound a bit more robust. There do not seem to be any egregious instances of age-related wear and tear.

The score from Ennio Morricone is used perfectly to establish the tone of the story, and this track handles it famously throughout the film. There is never a moment where it threatens to overshadow competing sounds, and it maintains a good balance so that dialogue comes through clearly. There is a music cue at the end that has been substituted on most modern releases of the film that has still not been corrected. The track does not feature constant bombastic activity, but it springs to life during key moments in a brilliant way. The environmental sounds such as train engines and gunshots are rendered well alongside everything else. Paramount has done a better job with the audio side of things than the video, even if we still see room for improvement.

Special Features

Audio Commentaries: There is a new commentary track with two podcast hosts along with an archival commentary track stitched together of compelling subjects provided. These two tracks offer a ton of great insights into the thematic meaning behind certain actions, shot compositions, plot developments, the iconic score, and more.

- Audio Commentary #1: Hosts of The Spaghetti Western Podcast (Jay Jennings & Tom Betts)

- Audio Commentary #2: Directors John Carpenter, John Milius, Bernardo Bertolucci & Alex Cox, film historians Sir Christopher Frayling & Dr. Sheldon Hall, and Claudia Cardinale.

A Lookback with Leonard Maltin: A new six-minute piece with film critic Leonard Maltin in which he discusses the legacy of the film, iconic shots, the background of the performers, the production of the film, the film’s reception and legacy, and more.

An Opera of Violence: A 29-minute archival featurette in which various participants also found in the archival commentary track discuss the legend of the film, the work of Sergio Leone, the influence it had on the Western genre, the work of the cast, and more.

The Wages of Sin: A 20-minute piece with the same figures who go into more depth about the production of the film, the shooting locations, the insistence of maintaining authenticity, the costumes and production design, and more.

Something to Do with Death: A nearly 19-minute final outing with this group as they speak about the importance of women to Leone, his work with performers, the editing of the picture, the score, the film’s legacy, and more.

Railroad – Revolutionising the West: A six-minute documentary short on the early days of the railroad.

Locations Then & Now: A four-minute look at locations from the film in their “modern” state when the supplement was produced.

Production Gallery: A collection of photos from the production are provided set to music.

Original Theatrical Trailer: The three-minute trailer is provided here.

Final Thoughts

Once Upon A Time In The West is one of the greatest spaghetti westerns to ever hit the silver screen. The way Sergio Leone patiently opens up the movie before expanding it out to reveal intricate new layers with every scene is a thing of beauty. The line between a “good guy” and a “bad guy” is murky at best, and the moral complexity at hand is a blast to delve into. The performances are all very strong and the craft is in top form. Paramount Home Entertainment has released a new 4K UHD Blu-Ray through their Paramount Presents line with a decent A/V presentation and some great supplements. Everyone should have a copy of this film in their collection in some form. Recommended

Paramount Presents Once Upon A Time In The West is currently available to purchase on 4K UHD Blu-Ray.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the 4K UHD Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Paramount Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.