Once Upon a Time in America

1984

Action / Crime / Drama

210
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 93% · 56 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 93% · 50K ratings
IMDb Rating 8.3/10 10 405674 405.7K

new york city epic regret lovesickness rape life and death

Plot summary

A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to the Lower East Side of Manhattan over thirty years later, where he once again must confront the ghosts and regrets of his old life.

Director

Sergio Leone Photo
Sergio Leone

Top cast

Robert De Niro Photo
Robert De Niro as David 'Noodles' Aaronson
Jennifer Connelly Photo
Jennifer Connelly as Young Deborah
Rossana Canghiari Photo
Rossana Canghiari as Speakeasy Patron
Estelle Harris Photo
Estelle Harris as Peggy's Mother
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
1020.99 MB
1280*720
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
3 hr 49 min
Seeds 59
3.63 GB
1920*1072
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
3 hr 49 min
Seeds 100

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by AlsExGal 8 / 10

Reviewing the 230 minute version here...

Because there is an even longer director's cut and a short 130 minute version which was the version initially released in America, and is incomprehensible.The film traces the lives of four Jewish gangsters from a New York City ghetto through 60 years of 20th century history in an odd way. It focuses on three time periods - 1920 when the gang is in their teens, 1932-1933 as prohibition ends, and 1968 when Noodles (Robert DeNiro) returns to New York as an old man after he gets a letter saying his true identity has been uncovered. Noodles has been living with regret this past 35 years, because he feels responsible for his gang having been killed by the police back in 1933. He wonders if someone is planning to settle an old score with him.The Godfather this is not. There are no family ties binding any of these characters together, and they are extremely unlikeable and only vaguely characterized. Only Noodles is humanized even a little bit, and then he ruins that by turning out to be a rapist as well as covering the requisite thief/murderer territory that comes with being a gangster.What does it do right? The cinematography by Tonino Delli Colli captures the gritty vibrancy of New York's Lower East Side, the glitz of the Prohibition era, and the melancholic decay of the 1960s. There is great attention to period detail, from costumes to production design, immersing the viewer in each era. Then there is that memorable score. As for the acting, De Niro shows the versatility that he always does, and James Woods as Noodles' best friend and gangster ally Max plays the part as ambitious and cunning. Plus Woods always injects just a little bit of crazy int his performances.What did it do wrong? Leone's last film has the same problem with editing that Scorsese has had with his later films. It's just too long and has lots of side stories about union bosses and strikes that add nothing to the narrative. Finally, there are a total of two rapes in this film, with one of them actually being played for laughs. Leone did this in "Duck You Sucker" and caused me to lose all sympathy for Rod Steiger's character as a result. Does Leone not get how such crimes are received in the United States?Overall this film actually transcends the gangster genre. It's not about family or the gangster lifestyle. It's about the passing of time, guilt/regret, memory, friendship and growing old. It's also just as much a mystery as it is a mafia movie, as there is much debate as to whether or not anything that happens in the 1968 segment is even real or is it a heroin induced dream of Noodles as he tries to forget his part in the death of his friends by getting doped up in an opium den. I'd say - You decide. It could go either way.
Reviewed by ccthemovieman-1 8 / 10

Leone's "Godfather" Version, And About As Good

This Godfather-type film was done by Sergio Leone, of spaghetti-western fame, so you know you will see and experience several of his trademarks. Namely: (1) a lot of facial closeups; (2) some slow-motion or slow-moving dramatic scenes; (3) good overall photography and (4) a unique soundtrack.The period sets here are magnificent. You get a real feel of the time, whether it's 1910, 1933 or 1967. The colors are awash in blacks, browns and grays and the DVD brings all these out very well, especially considering the film is over 20 years old.Despite some of Leone's slow moments, this is a fascinating film to watch for the story, too. There are numerous memorable scenes, some of them involving some downright shocking violence, even for today's movies. However, the amount of violence is less than what you see today.The movie also sports an interesting twist near the end involving the two major characters, played by Robert De Niro and James Woods. The story is not always clear, either, so be prepared to be possibly confused about a few things....at least on the first viewing. Confused or not, this film always is fascinating to view, especially with intense actors such as the two men just mentioned, along with Elizabeth McGovern, Tuesday Weld, Joe Pecsi, Burt Young, Treat Williams and more.The child actors in here take up almost half the movie and are excellent. What an injustice they don't receive any publicity for their acting, especially the kids who played De Niro and Woods as youngsters. One of the girls has become a famous adult actress: Jennifer Connelly. She was 12 years old in this film and was already alluring.This is Godfather-type crime movie that ranks right up there with that famous film, not taking a back seat to it at all.
Reviewed by john.brady 9 / 10

Friendship and love

Sergio Leone's last film is a belter (and, for my money, his best since "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly").Famously butchered into chronological order for it's original US release, this flawed masterpiece has an extraordinary flashback structure that spans half a century.Beginning in 1920's New York, the film depicts four boyhood friends and their journey from petty street crime to gangsterism. The the dramatic centre of the film is the relationship between Noodles (played as an adult by Robert De Niro) and his relationship with his friend and rival Max, and the beautiful but out-of-his-league Deborah.The childhood scenes in turn-of-the-century New York and poignant and beautiful. Leone takes the time to explore the milieu in which the boys live. They live in poverty, with crime and corruption an everyday part of live, and they use their wits to earn a living. They are also sexually precocious, and there is a bizarrely moving scene where one of the boys devours the cream cake he was going to use to secure a sexual favour. The way in which he hesitantly steals a dollop of cream and reties the parcel, before abandoning hope and scoffing the lot, is strangely touching.This sexual undercurrent pervades the film, and soon mingles with the violence in some harrowing scenes of rape. The defining moment in Noodles' relationship with Deborah is when, as an adult, she snubs his romantic advances and says she is moving to Hollywood. He rapes her in a prolonged and disturbing scene, but it is clear from the aftermath that this is not a "victory" for him but an abject failure - he has demonstrated at last why he has never been worthy of her. In the next scene, where he races to the train station to catch her before she leaves town, she pulls the shutters down on him and this is when his life falls apart.Equally key is the relationship with Max. In their first encounter they are rivals, then they develop a strong but uneasy friendship. Noodles is the ostensible leader of the gang, but Max slowly assumes control and it becomes clear by the end that Max has been pulling the strings all along.The plot is propelled by both the rise of the gang (told through flashback), and also the unfolding mystery (told in the 1960s) of what happened to each of the character's and their haul of money. But the relationship between Noodles, Max and Deborah is the emotional heart of the film.Robert De Niro is amazing as Noodles. There is a scene in which he does nothing other than stir his coffee for over a minute, and the menace he generates is absolutely palpable.With a superb supporting cast (Tuesday Weld, Joe Pesci, Danny Aiello), wonderful cinematography and one of Ennio Morricone's best scores, this is a classy production from start to finish.The film does lose its way towards the end, and there is an under-explored (and apparently heavily cut) subplot with Treat Williams as a trade unionist which serves mainly to confuse. The ending is notoriously obscure and open to interpretation.As a gangster film, it is equalled only by "The Godfather" (parts I and II) and "Goodfellas". Poignant, funny, moving, and at times horrifically violent, "Once Upon a Time in America" is a film with enormous dramatic range.
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