The Official 'Welcome To The Forums' Thread

[Groggy]

Hello to everybody:)

I'm a 21 years old male from Germany who has just recently rediscovered his love for Leone's movies and Morricone's music. Yesterday I ordered the Italian BDs for FAFDM, GBU and MNIN as well as the German one for OUATIA. Together with last year's BD of OUATITW that's quite a good start to rewatch these movies finally. When I first watched them I was 14 or 15 years old and had to buy them all on DVD instantly. It's great that now, only a few years later, most of them are available in HD and yet sad, because almost all of these BD releases are only a compromise of what would have been possible (regarding original cuts, music, crappy quality, ...)
I'm glad I finally joined this forum, I've been a reader for a few years now!
Well and that's it for now

Nice to meet you.

[dave jenkins]

Yeah, welcome.

[Tex]

Hey there! I just wanted to say hi, and I'm glad I'm doing it in the right place. It's nice to have this thread for this purpose.

I'm actually no stranger to this board. I was a member under the name Beebs (some of you may remember) several years ago. I suppose I should say a word of two about my long sabbatical. At the time I was about to head off to college, which meant re-prioritizing my activities. I think it's safe to say I was an active member, and it would have been hard to stay connected without staying fully involved, so I quit cold turkey.

Anyway, I have fond memories of this board and feel like saddling up once more. Yall have a good community here and I thank you for welcoming me back in!

[noodles_leone]

Hey welcome back Beebs!

[Senza]

Hello to all!

I'm a 19 year old male from Australia, but I feel that to get to know me better I need to tell my story of how I became a fan of Sergio Leone.
It was the winter of 2003, a 9 year old boy first became introduced to Clint Eastwood on TV through Dirty Harry, and thought he was the biggest badass, and wanted to see more of him kicking ass (and being a badass), so he went to the video store with his mother, and asked for a "Clint Eastwood" movie, to which the one of the workers there recommended "The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly". The boy took the DVD and looked at the cover, that picture of Blondie, Tuco and Angel Eyes was enough to tell him he was in for a ride. However, he couldn't stay up to watch it that night so he waited until the next day. He got up next morning, and watched the first 30 minutes before he went off to school, with the main theme of the title sequence stuck in his head throughout the entire day. He got back and continued the remaining 2 or so hours. At first he thought the movie was too long, but thought it was epic - and he didn't realise why it was so epic.

About a year later, in the summer of 2004, that boy rented A Fistful Of Dollars, watched it and loved it [it became one of his favourite movies - and still is], he then found out that TGTBTU and this movie were part of a trilogy, so he went out again to rent FDM, except this time he didn't think much of FDM [maybe because family guests were over and he was too distracted to immerse himself into the story]. It was clear to him that FOD was his favourite of three, and become one of the movies he could continue watching and not get sick of. Now, fast forward 9 years, that 18 year old boy decided to revisit TGTBTU, but was interested in watching the extended version. He had not seen TGTBTU in about 9 years, but managed to distinguish the deleted scenes from the rest of the movie. After he finished watching it, the deleted scenes only added to the spectacle, and the boy asked himself 'Why don't I watch this more often?' as he realised he was probably too young at the time when he first saw it to fully appreciate it. And after this, it became one of his favourite movies. He now realised why it was so epic - the story, the scope, the characters, the score, and last but not least Sergio Leone. Then came FDM, and through a 18 year old's view, the movie was EPIC, and together as a trilogy, it became one of his favourite movies, with each movie getting a 5/5.

That boy was now interested in Sergio Leone, and so decided to watch the Once Upon A Time trilogy, he watched them, loved them also, but was saddened that this man only made 6-7 movies, and died way too early. A few months ago, he bought the blu ray trilogy, and re-watched the movies with commentaries, getting new bits of information about the movies, and became interested to find out more so he stumbled upon this site which provided a wealth of information on deleted scenes, behind the scenes information and possible messages that are present in each of his films, and from then, he had grown a deep appreciation for these wonderful movies. And now, as 19 year old, I finish this story off with, "Sergio Leone...I take my hat off to you.".

(If you made it this far without getting bored, I appreciate  and thank you for taking the time to read this).

[Groggy]

Hey there! I just wanted to say hi, and I'm glad I'm doing it in the right place. It's nice to have this thread for this purpose.

I'm actually no stranger to this board. I was a member under the name Beebs (some of you may remember) several years ago. I suppose I should say a word of two about my long sabbatical. At the time I was about to head off to college, which meant re-prioritizing my activities. I think it's safe to say I was an active member, and it would have been hard to stay connected without staying fully involved, so I quit cold turkey.

Anyway, I have fond memories of this board and feel like saddling up once more. Yall have a good community here and I thank you for welcoming me back in!

Hey beebs! Always wondered what happened to you. Welcome back.

[drinkanddestroy]

 A few months ago, he bought the blu ray trilogy, and re-watched the movies with commentaries, getting new bits of information about the movies, and became interested to find out more so he stumbled upon this site which provided a wealth of information on deleted scenes, behind the scenes information and possible messages that are present in each of his films, and from then, he had grown a deep appreciation for these wonderful movies. And now, as 19 year old, I finish this story off with, "Sergio Leone...I take my hat off to you.".

Hey Senza, welcome aboard and thanks for sharing your story  

if you are looking to learn more about Leone -- both his life and his movies -- I'd suggest the best place to start is with his biography, called "Sergio Leone: Something To Do With Death" by Christopher Frayling. Frayling is  guy you've been listening to on those commentaries.
That book -- which is frequently referred to around here as "STDWD" -- is the Leone Bible (at least for English-language fans)  

[Senza]

Thanks a lot, mate! It's great to be a part of this community.

I ordered the book a couple of days ago, should be arriving soon. I'm definitely looking forward to reading it.

[Groggy]

Happy posting.

[dave jenkins]

Beebs: You were gone? Well, welcome back . . .

Senza: Welcome. I found your Leone story interesting. So, FOD was the one you liked most when you were younger? That's good to know. Probably when we are introducing our children, nephews, whoever to Leone, that's the title to start with. It's simple. GBU requires a fairly sophisticated viewer to appreciate what's going on. You have to be able to maintain interest in several storylines simultaneously, a skill that most young viewers haven't developed yet.

[drinkanddestroy]

Senza: Welcome. I found your Leone story interesting. So, FOD was the one you liked most when you were younger? That's good to know. Probably when we are introducing our children, nephews, whoever to Leone, that's the title to start with. It's simple. GBU requires a fairly sophisticated viewer to appreciate what's going on. You have to be able to maintain interest in several storylines simultaneously, a skill that most young viewers haven't developed yet.

I think GBU is a very simple plot to follow (only Leone could have stretched that basic a plot into a 3 hour movie). IMO, OUATIA is the only Leone movie with a plot that is difficult to follow -- even for a seasoned viewer. (Actually, come to think of it, The Colossus of Rhodes has an insanely convoluted plot  )
But no doubt, FOD is the plot that is the most straightforward.

[Senza]

Groggy - Thanks, dude!

Dave Jenkins - At the time it was, maybe because it was the shortest of three and had a lot of action. I remember knowing the dialogue about the mule off by heart and thought I should use it on someone at school haha. When it came to TGTBTU, I agree with you in that it does take someone a bit older to fully understand and appreciate it, especially the way in which the civil war gets in the way of the treasure hunt - at 9 years old I certainly didn't even think about any anti-war messages that maybe present there. When watching it, I almost forgot about Eastwood being in the movie because Tuco was stealing the show. When it came to the final showdown, and that wide shot of them getting into position in that circle, I thought it was so cool. I remember having a friend over watching it as well, and all he could say was "Come on! Shoot someone already!".

I personally think OUATIA is SL's most ambiguous and hard to follow film because I've read many interpretations/theories involving the ending, and when I first saw it, I was confused with Noodle's smile at the end, and I'm still baffled by it because it has so many meanings apparently.

[sargatanas]

Groggy - Thanks, dude!

Dave Jenkins - At the time it was, maybe because it was the shortest of three and had a lot of action. I remember knowing the dialogue about the mule off by heart and thought I should use it on someone at school haha. When it came to TGTBTU, I agree with you in that it does take someone a bit older to fully understand and appreciate it, especially the way in which the civil war gets in the way of the treasure hunt - at 9 years old I certainly didn't even think about any anti-war messages that maybe present there. When watching it, I almost forgot about Eastwood being in the movie because Tuco was stealing the show. When it came to the final showdown, and that wide shot of them getting into position in that circle, I thought it was so cool. I remember having a friend over watching it as well, and all he could say was "Come on! Shoot someone already!".

I personally think OUATIA is SL's most ambiguous and hard to follow film because I've read many interpretations/theories involving the ending, and when I first saw it, I was confused with Noodle's smile at the end, and I'm still baffled by it because it has so many meanings apparently.

outasite, you're back dude ! we could reform the old troop. there's a liquior store in space dying to be hit 

[philippe]

hello
 i am philippe, a french fan of sergio leone's film,
sorry for my english  i am 46 years

the first time i saw sergio leone's film was in 1984 on tv, and ..now blu ray...

see you soon

[noodles_leone]

Welcome aboard, from another French member