'West' blu ray May 31

[drinkanddestroy]

Considering Scorcese's great interest in Leone's original works, I can't understand why he left the Harmonica Rising scene in there.

But truth is, I am sure that he did not have final say on what would be released; probably all he could do was give Paramount his print of the movie and allow them to use it how they wished. If they had removed that Rising scene, then the what they call the "restored version" actually would have been shorter than what they call the "theatrical version." And if Paramount was trying to use this new "restored version" as a way of selling Blu Ray discs, it wouldn't be a great advertisement to say "buy this disc for the new restored version -- which is SHORTER than the original!"

[cigar joe]

its interesting to note however that Scorsese's version has the "rising scene".

[drinkanddestroy]

its interesting to note however that Scorsese's version has the "rising scene".

Didn't Leone himself give Scorcese that print? If so, wouldn't that prove that Leone in fact did want the Rising scene in there?
(That scene never bothered me as much as it seems to have bothered others around here. But if Leone didn't want it in the final cut, then of course it shouldn't be there).

[Novecento]

Didn't Leone himself give Scorcese that print? If so, wouldn't that prove that Leone in fact did want the Rising scene in there?

Good question.

[stanton]

Scorsese wanted to restore the theatrical version. He did not.
I have never read anything about that he got a version from Leone. And what a version should that be? Another one with the wrong closing music?

I don't understand why he reinserts only 18 of the 70 sec of the first scene, and I don't understand why he even extends the Rising scene instead of dropping it completely.

[drinkanddestroy]

it's this Scorcese interview where he says Leone gave him a print of OUATITW http://www.fistful-of-leone.com/forums/index.php?topic=1302.msg156535#msg156535

of course, I have no way of knowing whether or not this is the same print that is the "restored version" on the blu ray disc.

(btw, in STDWD, Frayling says that when Robert De Niro was deciding whether or not to accept Leone's offer to appear in OUATITW, Scorcese gave De Niro his prized print of OUATITW to watch. Again, I'd guess it was the same print Leone gave him. Who knows....)

[stanton]

it's this Scorcese interview where he says Leone gave him a print of OUATITW http://www.fistful-of-leone.com/forums/index.php?topic=1302.msg156535#msg156535

of course, I have no way of knowing whether or not this is the same print that is the "restored version" on the blu ray disc.

I don't know either of course, but I doubt that there was another version nobody knows about.

And if Scorsese wanted to restore the film in its best possible quality he must have gone back to the Italian master, and not one of the later generation prints, which all have a considerably loss of quality .

[Novecento]

In Frayling's "Once Upon a Time in Italy" there is an interview with Scorcese when he also mentions his own personal print. He says it rarely gets it out to keep it in pristine condition.

[drinkanddestroy]

What's the deal with the end music on the blu ray disc: both the "theatrical version" and the Scorcese version? Is it identical to the wrong end music on the Paramount dvd, or have they put the correct end music on? I'm sure this has been answered somewhere earlier here, but if someone has a quick answer so that I don't have to go digging through all these pages, I'd appreciate it... I was just looking at Beaver's OUATITW page http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/dvdcompare/onceuponatimeinthewest.htm and on the section that begins "NOTE: Thanks to Daniel in email..." he says that the correct music was used for the ending on the blu ray. Based on what I recall reading a while back somewhere on these boards, Beaver is unfortunately wrong, but I just want to confirm it.


[Beaver needs to fix up his shit. His site is a great idea but it is not always accurate, they often say shit like "we are working on figuring out X" and then don't follow up, and it's difficult to find a single paragraph without typos. He needs to get his shit together.
 and btw, Beaver seems to love 5.1 audio re-mixes; I haven't seen anyone here bash him on it, which surprises me considering what I know y'all think of those re-mixes]

[stanton]

As far as I know, all the stuff sold by Paramount has the same wrong music at the end.

[Amaze]

Beaver says the bluray is region free. Can anyone confirm this?

[drinkanddestroy]

Has any blu-ray of OUATITW ever been released, other than the American Paramount version?

[stanton]

The Paramount Blu was released worldwide, except Italy. It seems that this Blu is the first Italian Blu of it.

Amazon.it lists it with a 160 min running time, which would be the Pal length of a 167 min version. Only that Blus don't hae a Pal length. But the new DVD is listed with the same runtime. T

This could be the 165 min version plus the exit music, or the 165 min version plus the Rising scene.
But most likely it is wrong and the Blu will contain the for Italy usual 178 min version.

Btw I just had a small discussion with a German who claims to have seen in the early 80s in Italy already a longer version of OUTW . He does not know how long this version exactly was, but he is sure that it contained at least the long travelling shot before CC leaves the train and the scene with Ferzetti playing with his toy soldiers. The 2 most distinctive scenes of the long version.
But it did not contain the Rising Scene, which he, just like me, first saw on German TV in 1998, when the 178 min version premiered there.

He thinks that the Italian theatrical version has a runtime of 175 min, just like it is mentioned in some books. Well, other books list OUTW with 168 min.

[drinkanddestroy]

so it's the same thing as the US Paramount one?

In other words, no matter how much of a fan (or "completist") I may be, there's no point in getting this new Italian blu-ray if I already have the US Paramount one?

RE: run times: Listed run times are as likely to be inaccurate as accurate. I never trust a word about listed run times; the only way to know is when you actually play the movie in your blu-ray player; or if you check a site like DVD Beaver, which actually lists the real run time and aspect ratio, rather than repeating what it says on the box.

[stanton]

so it's the same thing as the US Paramount one?

Possible but unlikely.
They won't use the Paramount master (why should they), from which many say that the colors are wrong. At least the colors were so far pretty different from what was released in Italy.

If it's the shorter version it probably contains the 70 missing sec from the first scene and will have the correct closing music. But I doubt that they will skip the rising scene.

But, as I already said, despite the listed runtime I expect them to release the long version again. Unless they only have the rights for the theatrical version.