I have seen all of them apart from The Colossus of Rhodes. I think they’re all brilliant and all have that distinct Leone-feel and style to them. My favourite is The Good, The Bad and the Ugly whilst my least favourite is Once Upon A Time In America
Yeah I like Once Upon A Time In American/West more cus both movies have more deeper complexities in the characters. The Dollars Trilogy are quite entertaining, but I didn’t care for the characters much.
own them all but The Colossus of Rhodes which is probably unfindable, plus i heard it isnt that good annyway
he’s my favorite director period, beats Kubrick, Spielberg, Scorsese, all these guys
his films have everything i look for in a film; slowness, attitude, balls, music, stunning visuals, stunning locations, length, close ups, wide shots, …
favorite: Il Buono, Il Brutto & Il Cattivo (best film ever made, will never be topped)
My fav is Once Upon A Time In The West. That movie’s just pure magic. I love all of them, but Fistful of Dollars is below anything else Leone has ever done in my book (excluding Colossus of Rhodes).
I’ve seen little and Once Upon a Time In America is my favourite one, I prefer it to his fairy tales. I’ve never liked tGtBatU that much, though it’s really pleasurable to watch.
[quote=“Buck”]
Yeah I like Once Upon A Time In American/West more cus both movies have more deeper complexities in the characters. The Dollars Trilogy are quite entertaining, but I didn’t care for the characters much.
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Colossus did air on TCM over here sometime around last year, but I missed it.
My Leone History:
Once/America was the first movie of his that I saw in my early teens, but I didn’t take notice of who the director was or who composed that awesomely emotional music. Even though it was the “Butchered” version that I saw, I still acknowledged it as a very good movie.
Saw GBU a few years later and instantly loved it. Had to seek out more of this guy’s work.
Watched FOD and FAFDM later that same month and wasn’t let down. The reason why I knew these were Leone pictures was because Cinemax had a Sergio Leone special that month and played a marathon of these movies. Since I had no books,magazines, or the internet to provide me with info for what other movies Leone made, I just had to rely on my TV Guide and see if something rang a bell.
Around that same time (Since I loved Morricone’s western music) I went out and bought a western-compliation tape (It wasn’t on CD) and on this compilation were 2 interesting pieces. One was called “Once upon a Time in the West” and the other was “The Man with the Harmonica”. I thought these two were seperate movies and just figured they must’ve been awesome westerns. Plus, since no credit was given to Morricone for composing these tunes on the tape, I didn’t know (At the time) that he made these.
But then on July 4th, 1995, I spent the holiday over at my Grandpa’s. While eating our barbeque lunch outside on the patio, I heard some familiar music coming from the living room. It was that eeire harmonica tune. “What the hell?” I said outloud as I ventured into the room to see where that music was coming from. And what I saw just absolutely blew me away.
On the TV was this incredible scene unfolding before my eyes being accompained by that memorable music.
I sat down in awe and just watched the rest of the movie play out. Then came the also-familiar “Once upon a time in the west” theme music when the Charles Bronson-character says he has “to go”. Holy Shit! This is all the same movie! ;D I think from that point on I didn’t need to know that was another tremendous western directed by Sergio Leone. I caught the replay of the full-length film later on that year and was truly fulfilled.
A few years later, the internet was in full force and I finally got to see the career of Leone. Duck You Sucker would be the final movie of his that I would see but WOULD NOT be disappointed. Again, even though it was yet another “Butchered” version of a Leone film, I still loved what I saw.
Now I’m just waiting for the Special Edition DVDs of FOD,FAFD,and DYS to venture stateside. But if the wait continues to be unbearable, I’ll just have to order the R2s…And to someday see Collossus 1 of these days.
Yeah that scene in WEST is truly brilliant. Coupled with Morricone’s music, it’s one of the greatest scenes in movie history for me.
GBU was probably the first film I ever watched. It was definitely the first film I remember watching. I equate my childhood with this film (amongst others) and everytime I watch it, it brings back all those happy memories. Shit, GBU is up there on the Legendary status now. The whole film including it’s soundtrack is so fucking legendary and brilliant, it isn’t even funny. My dad got me into watching westerns, I used to watch all sorts as a kid. Heck, I’ve probably seen more westerns from 1-10 years of age than I have 11-19 years of age!!
I have his 6 most famous films all on Special Edition DVD’s with commentary and everything and I fucking love them. Christopher Frayling is an un-matched Leone expert, his views and insights in to the world of Leone are nothing but interesting.
Did you know?
That Sergio Leone’s mother appeared in the very first Spaghetti Western?
Sergio Leone is THE best. I’ve seen all of them except The Colossus of Rhodes. GBU = the greatest movie ever. The whole graveyard part of GBU is pure brilliance.
One of my earliest memorable theatrical experiences was seeing Once Upon A Time in America when I was 10. At that time I really didnt know who Sergio Leone was though, but I remember really having the images burnt into my memory. The first Leone films I saw on TV were The GBU and Once Upon A Time in The West. I definitely became a fan of his after that. The only one of his films I still havent seen is Colossus of Rhodes.
Talk about his films here! and the books about him. and vote!
Did you know that before his death he planned on making a film called The 900 Days about the siege on Leningrad. He was able to get $100 million in financing without even having written a script and he planned to cast Robert De Niro. The opening shot was to be the single most expensive take in cinema history…
It would have started with a close-up shot of hands, pulling back to see that they are playing a piano and continue to pull back (with the music playing) out the window and then tracked through the entire town. It started following a group of people walking to a train carryng rifles, then you saw orators, German POWs, starving beggars, etc. in the streets, and it ultimately kept going to the Russian trenches, and finally out to reveal one thousand German tanks. One of them fires a shot - cut back to the concert hall.
Am surprised to see the peplums on the voting options. Most die-hard Leone fans have either never seen them or dismiss them as stints as a fledgling assistant director. Also, My Name is Nobody is really not a Leone, as he only directed brief segments and basically acted as Producer on this film. I cast my vote for FOD, as it is his purest of all Spags. As his budgets grew, it seemed his creativity shrank, and had to rely on gimmicks(Tuco in GBU/Fonda killing a child in OUTITW). Not to say his latter films were bad, it just seemed they had a lack of the hungry drive that makes a young artist do his utmost best.
