BLU-RAY REVIEW

Once Upon A Time In America

Featured In Issue 191, November 2014

Picture3.5
Sound3
WSR Score5
Basic Information on new release titles is posted as soon as titles are announced. Once reviewed, additional data is added to the database.
(Studio/Distributor):
Warner Home Video
(Catalog Number):
3000059372
(MPAA Rating):
R
(Rating Reason):
Strong violence, sexual content, language, and some drug use
(Retail Price):
$19.98
(Disc Type):
Single Side, Dual Layer (BD-50)
(Widescreen Edition):
Yes
(Full Screen Edition):
No
(Running Time In Minutes):
251
(Color Type):
Color
(Chaptered/Scene Access):
Yes
(Closed Captioned):
Yes
(Regional Coding):
Not Indicated
(Theatrical Year):
1984
(Theatrical Release):
Yes
(Direct-To-Video Release):
No
(Disc Release Date):
09/30/14
(THX® Digitally Mastered):
No
(Director):
Sergio Leone
(Screenplay/Written By):
(Story):
(Music):
(Director Of Photography):
(Production Designer):
(Visual Effects):
(Costume Designer):
(Editor):
(Supervising Sound Editors):
(Re-Recording Mixers):
(Executive Producers):
(Co-Producers):
(Producers):
(Academy Awards):
(Principal Photography):
(Theatrical Aspect Ratio):
(Measured Disc Aspect Ratio):
(Disc Soundtrack):
Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS HD Lossless 5.1
(Theatrical Sound):
(Theatrical Re-Issue Soundtrack):
(DTS Bit Rate):
(Dolby Digital Bit Rate):
(Additional Languages):
(French Language):
(Spanish Language):
(Chinese Language):
(Subtitles):
(Cantonese Language):
(Mandarin Language):
(Japanese Language):
(Italian Language):
(German Language):
(Portuguese Language):

"Once Upon A Time In America" is Sergio Leone's acclaimed gangster epic based on the novel "The Hoods" by Harry Grey. This is the 251-minute extended director's cut of the film that has been restored by Cineteca Di Bologna at the L'immagine Ritrovata Laboratory. The story portrays 50 years of riveting underworld history and provides rich roles for a remarkable cast headed by Robert De Niro and James Woods as Noodles and Max, friends since their turn-of-the-century ghetto childhood and partners in a criminal empire during Prohibition. The story is told through a series of flashbacks, which depict their transition from young neighborhood friends who vow to stick together in their life of crime in turn-of-the-century New York City. "Once Upon A Time In America" was the final film of Sergio Leone's illustrious career. (Gary Reber)

Special features include the behind-the-story documentary "Once Upon A Time: Sergio Leone" (SD 19:34) with optional commentary by Richard Schickel, and the theatrical trailer.

The film was originally reviewed as a LaserDisc release in Issue 12 with a 1.90:1 matted frame, followed in Issue 74 as an anamorphically enhanced 1.78:1 DVD. The previous Blu-ray Disc™ was matted also at 1.78:1, as is this latest restored edition, which was scanned at 4K. This powerful stylized film puts the viewer in the middle of the Prohibition era, with its inspired cinematography that defines that period filmatically. Colors have a warm wash, with lots of browns and golds. Blacks are quite deep, but drop off in the darker scenes, with little definition, due in large measure to poor contrast. While images can be quite sharp and detailed, overall this is a softly-focused presentation with some smearing and occasional loss of finer details, as well as some scenes that are fuzzy. At times, the picture has a soft, hazy appearance that seems to be intentional. Still, compared to the previous releases, detail is improved, though, not outstandingly so. The added material is non-color corrected and generaly of poor quality, but expands the creative palette of the filmmakers in the telling of this epic tale. This is the best that this classic has ever looked and is sure to mesmerize. (Gary Reber)

The LaserDisc soundtrack was undistinguished mono, though, it was mixed in stereo. The DVD's Dolby® Digital 5.1-channel remastered soundtrack was noticeably restrained in spatial activity. The DTS-HD Master Audio™ 5.1-channel soundtrack retains the often-biased soundstaging toward center-channel mono. The dialogue reproduction is improved but at times muffled. Fidelity sounds dated, and on occasion some inherent distortion can be noticed, including dialogue and effects. Ennio Morricone's emotionally beautiful music score seems to be the most active element of the soundtrack repurposing, with some bass enhancement, including the LFE channel. Overall, the sound is dated but a decent presentation that supports the storytelling. (Gary Reber)