A letterboxed transfer of 'Once Upon A Time In The West' has been on the 'wish list' of many laser disc collectors for a long time. Paramount and Pioneer have finally come through. Few directors have so distinctive a style as Sergio Leone and it has been said of many of Leone's films that if one has not seen them wide, then one has not really seen them. 'Once Upon A Time In The West' certainly falls into that category. Leone is a master of the widescreen, using composition much more effectively than the majority of his peers. His penchant for scope cinematography has never been more evident than with 'Once Upon A Time In The West', making this new disc all the more welcome.
Overall, this new letterboxed transfer is very good. Colors appear accurate, though are prone to slight oversaturation. There is a bit of chroma noise most visible where color saturation is the highest and this seems to have been exaserbated by a high level of sharpness to the image. Personally, I don't mind a mild enhancement of grain to achieve the very crisp, detailed image seen here. Contrast and brightness are very good, preserving Leone's stylized use of light and shadow. The film was shot in Techniscope and the framing on this transfer trims the image only slightly with a ratio of just a fraction under 2.30:1, however, a number of scenes were composed using the entire frame, edge to edge, and those with more than a little monitor overscan may find these scenes appear a little crowded.
The soundtrack is mono and sounds pretty good, considering the age of the source material. Dialog is clear and much of the background hiss has been cleaned up. The Ennio Morricone score lacks the clarity and depth one would have hoped for, but still retains enough to satisfy most.
Paramount has thankfully presented the original theatrical cut of 165 minutes rather than the badly butchered 140 minute version so often seen in the past. There was rumored to be an even longer version, supposedly Leone's personal print, found by his estate following his death a few years ago. I suppose collectors can only wonder what this version may have been. The disc contains 33 chapters. No trailer or extras, however. List price is $49.95, probably higher than it should be, but most collectors consider this film a 'must have' so, many will consider it a bargain.
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