Once upon a time in america extended directors cut blu-ray

As I sat on my couch re-watching 'Once Upon A Time in America' for this review, the thought kept coming to mind, 'With big stars and an amazing director, this type of film would never be made today.' It's reported that Martin Scorsese had to fight endlessly just to get his three-hour cut of 'The Wolf of Wall Street' on the big screen, so how much more would one have to fight to get a four-hour film out there? Then I realized something – of course we'd never see this type of film on the big screen these day; Sergio Leone couldn't even get it on American screens back in 1984, so we'd really never get something like this today.

When 'Once Upon A Time in America' first started playing at film festivals in early 1984, Leone's cut ran north of four hours in length. It was praised, yet Warner Bros. brought in "the assistant editor of 'Police Academy'" (according to James Woods) to trim it down to 139 minutes for its theatrical cut. As you would expect, with nearly half of the film being removed, it was a flop and critical nightmare. After Leone's death, a 229-minute "director's cut" was compiled by the producers and Leone's family that featured as much of the director's original cut as they could find. Over time, more of the original footage has been found, so this new "extended director's cut" runs 251 minutes and is said to be the closest we'll ever get to seeing the filmmaker's original version of the film.

I hate the overuse of the word epic because it has taken away from the integrity of the grand word, but epic is the proper word to describe 'Once Upon A Time in America.' This mobster drama is all encompassing, telling the full story of one man's life in New York. The narrative is insane, constantly jumping around from three different periods in his life, but it absolutely works. The reason for it is imperative to the overall film, which is why it's appalling that it was altered for the theatrical cut. As fluid as the narrative flows in this new cut, I can't imagine how the entirely linear theatrical cut kept the momentum of the story moving. Obviously, it didn't, which is why the film was a failure.

Robert De Niro plays the lead character, Noodles, during the two adult portions of the character's timeline. The film kicks off with middle-age Noodles involved in some tense mobster moments. The wild storytelling perfectly pans out in a completely unconventional manner. We see Noodles in danger, but we don't know why. Nothing is revealed for a very long time. In fact, only a few short lines of dialog are uttered in the first 20 minutes of the film. It literally takes us hours to find out what is going on during the first 40 minutes of the film. No filmmaker in their right mind would ever consider starting the movie this way, but Leone did and it's absolutely brilliant.

After 37 minutes of jumping between Noodles as a middle-age man and old man, the film jumps back to his childhood. We see many of the moments that molded Noodles and his friends as the men that they would be become – for better or worse. Even though I didn't grow up in the early 1900s, personally, this is the portion of the film that I can connect with the most. No matter the time period that you grew up in, so long as you can remember your childhood well, you'll recognize how much the screenplay truly nails childhood and adolescence. 'Once Upon A Time' literally takes its time establishing these main characters. They're developed so strongly that despite them being mobsters, thieves and eventually murderers, you still root for them. You've seen the good in them. You know that they're just as capable of doing good as they are of doing bad, only (most of them) are mostly good. Especially with Noodles, he only seems to do bad things when, one, the job calls for it and, two, when he's backed into a corner – be it a physical corner or an emotional corner.

'Once Upon A Time In America' is an all-around perfect film. De Niro gives a stellar performance alongside James Woods, Elizabeth McGovern and many others. Even the young cast, which includes a very young Jennifer Connelly, is top-notch. The writing is genius, highly detailed and unforgettable. The direction is consistent, focused and, for other filmmakers, something to be studied and applied. The director's cut was flawless and the extended director's cut is even more so. Leone's masterpiece is worth owning and re-watching more now than ever.

The Blu-ray: Vital Disc Stats

Warner Bros. is releasing the Extended Director's Cut of 'Once Upon A Time In America' in two packages. For this review, I was sent the single-disc release that includes a BD-50 disc in a blue eco-Elite keepcase that features new cover art. This release only contains three special features: a 20-minute excerpt from a documentary about Leone and two of the film's original trailers – but the other Blu-ray release features a little bit more. If you opt for the two-disc Collector's Edition release, then you'll get this same disc with the addition of a commentary by film historian/critic Richard Schickel, a second disc containing the 1984 theatrical edition (which I'd really like to see), Digital HD copies, and special packaging that contains a 32-page booklet with photos, production notes and a letter written by Martin Scorsese. Take your pick and choose wisely.

Is there a director's cut of Once Upon a Time in America?

Is there an extended version of Once Upon a Time in America?

Are there two versions of Once Upon a Time in America?

How many versions of Once Upon a Time are there in America?