As the railroad builders advance unstoppably through the Arizona desert on their way to the sea, Jill arrives in the small town of Flagstone with the intention of starting a new life.
It is mostly fun for the way it cherishes movie styles and attitudes from the past.
– Vincent Canby,
New York Times,
9 May 2005
fresh:
If only the first 10 minutes of Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West still existed, this most hyperbolic of oat operas would still be acknowledged as one of the genre's greatest exhumations.
– Chuck Stephens,
Village Voice,
27 Sep 2005
fresh:
Leone (1921-1989) is here at the peak of his epic powers.
– Andrew Sarris,
New York Observer,
29 Sep 2005
fresh:
'Once Upon a Time...' now looks like an over-cooked mess of style, metaphor and reference.
– David Jenkins,
Time Out,
24 Jul 2009
fresh:
There is something touching and maniacal about the two-and-three-quarter- hour result.