2) Paramount - Region 1 - NTSC SECOND

4) Paramount - Region 2 - PAL - THIRD

3) Paramount - Region FREE - Blu-ray RIGHT

ADDITION: Paramount - Region FREE - Blu-ray - May 11': Comments coming soon! Firstly, I had some difficulty getting a few of the captures with the exact frame due to a permanent time-bar on pauses, but some are exact. The new Paramount dual-layered Blu-ray offers both the 2:45:24 Theatrical cut and the 2:46:01 'restored' cut of Once Upon a Time in the West. These two cuts are seamlessly branched so the quality is exactly the same in the parallel scenes. My fear was that the image would appear too glossy but I am satisfied - grain is there - a shade blotchy by the overall picture quality is significantly richer. I'll put this down to more adept contrast. Skin tones seem warmer. The DVDs looks green now compared to the Blu-ray which may be slightly blue. The trademark Leone close-ups are tight and pleasing. The scope achieves a much grander scale (epic landscapes) and visually in-motion this is an impressive film to see it 1080P.

The DTS-HD Master 5.1 at 2786 kbps does an excellent job of utilizing Ennio Morricone score's 'marriage' with the film. The film has plenty of subtlety tucked into the effects (squeaky windmills, cracking knuckles etc.) and there is some notable aggression. The depth was never floor rattling but I enjoyed the uncompressed audio - hearing it's superiority over the last DVD I watched. There are optional subtitles and the Blu-ray disc is coded Region FREE.

NOTE: Thanks to Daniel in email "I was reading the comparison piece about Sergio Leone's 'Once Upon A Time In The West' on your website and I think you have missed an interesting difference between the new Blu-ray version and the original DVD.

In 1984, the restorationists, confused as to why the Finale music lasted 4 seconds longer than the negative solved the music synchronization problem by replacing the last 74 seconds of the correct exit music with the last 70 seconds of the tonally inappropriate Cheyenne's Theme. This alters the whole operatic sweep of the ending. I know there is a story about how Leone played Morricone's the music on set and choreographed the camera movements to the music in order to get the maximum emotional fusion of the two elements. Whether he did this on the final scene I don't know, but watching the scene with the two conflicting music cues is as different as night and day.

In the new issue of Video Watchdog, Tim Lucas's editorial cited the new 'Once Upon A Time In The West' Blu-ray as one of the key releases of the past year and noted that it does indeed fix the music mishap that flawed the original DVD release. Your comparison review doesn't note this, and not having the Blu-ray, I have no way of confirming whether this is accurate or not, but I thought the information might be of interest to you nevertheless."

Extras duplicate the last DVD package - which means about an hour's worth of excellent featurettes on production with input from many directly involved and the wonderful commentary is still there with Sir Christopher Frayling, John Carpenter, Alex Cox, Sheldon Hall, John Milius and Claudia Cardinale. The commentary does not have the optional subtitles that the Special Edition DVD does.

Every time I see this I judge it as the quintessential 'Spaghetti Western'. I never seem to tire of the languid pace always teeming with 'foreboding' and atmosphere. Characterizations are a strong part of the film - everyone is so good. Once Upon A Time in the West  is truly a film to just sit back and soak-in. I don't think you have to be a western fan to appreciate it - this is pure cinema in many respects. I much-waited for Blu-ray takes advantage of the format to offer both cuts on the same disc - as well as all the excellent extras accessible on one BD. This is being offered at a great price - don't hesitate!

***