Once Upon a Time in America (1984) (Extended Director's Cut)

[Geoff D]

What the f....does Warners have my name on a database, so when I buy something elsewhere they announce it on US Blu-ray? First Caine's Get Carter (bought the DVD after years of waiting for a Blu-ray), now OUATIA:EE (literally just bought the Italian Blu-ray release). Grrrr!!!

[The Great Owl]

I bought the existing Blu-ray of Once Upon a Time in America only a couple of months ago, but I'm cool to double-dip if the transfer is improved and if this film is closer to the original premiere length.

[JimDiGriz]

Warner so not region-locked so good for me.

Im a big fan of the film but Im definitely waiting for reviews etc - I didn't like what I read about that Italian extended cut so it will be interesting to see what happens here. As long as the PQ is as good as the existing Blu-ray I will pick up this release.

[tenebre6]

tried to buy this form amazon.it .... it says they will not ship this title to America

[rickah88]

This is great news! I've been wanting to add this to my collection for some time, this looks to be the time!

AND Sorcerer is getting a digibook. I'll be getting that too!

As always, thank you for the good news Akijama!

[BaerGriggs]

Thanks for the news, been meaning to add this to my collection for a while since I love Sergio Leone, but held off because of issues with the current BD.

[HeavyHitter]

Originally Posted by MattPerdue

Really hope if this about the same length as the Italian BD (Hopefully not the same transfer) they put it on 2 discs! It's stupid to cram a 4+ film onto one disc.

Agreed. Unfortunately, Warner seems to like to cram everything on one disc.

[toddly6666]

Is the director's cut supposed to be better than the theatrical version?

[tylergfoster]

Originally Posted by toddly6666

Is the director's cut supposed to be better than the theatrical version?

[The Drugstore]

Finally, will be saving up to get this blu-ray!! One of my favorites

[KRW1]

Originally Posted by toddly6666

Is the director's cut supposed to be better than the theatrical version?

Yes and no. There's at least one scene that makes it more 'complete' (for me) but a lot of it could simply be deleted scenes and you'd be quite happy. The theatrical cut is still the way to go for a first viewing, even if they've done a proper restoration on the deleted stuff which I doubt as it was in a dreadful state to begin with.

[JackKnightStarman]

Is this the rumored 5 hr + cut that the studio had made Leone make cuts to? I remember this being released in theaters and showings on HBO were two versions...one was a 2-2 1/2 hour cut, and the other was the cut that was released on Blu a few years back of I believe almost 4 hours.

Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by tylergfoster

Not all DC's are, so it's a valid question

[tenebre6]

Originally Posted by KRW1

Yes and no. There's at least one scene that makes it more 'complete' (for me) but a lot of it could simply be deleted scenes and you'd be quite happy. The theatrical cut is still the way to go for a first viewing, even if they've done a proper restoration on the deleted stuff which I doubt as it was in a dreadful state to begin with.

the original theatrical cut was under 2 hours. its unwatchable.

the re-release was the full cut which runs ~224 minutes (this was Leone's cut)

AFAIK the theatrical abomination was never released on DVD/BD or laser disc. I did have it on VHS back in the day though

[KRW1]

Originally Posted by tenebre6

the original theatrical cut was under 2 hours. its unwatchable.

the re-release was the full cut which runs ~224 minutes (this was Leone's cut)

AFAIK the theatrical abomination was never released on DVD/BD or laser disc. I did have it on VHS back in the day though

Not in Europe. We've always had the longer cut as our theatrical cut, I've only ever read about the short version. I wouldn't have thought anyone now would think I meant the short version as the one to see first as, as you say, it's not available in any shape or form, but in case it did cause doubt -

If you've not seen the film in any shape or form, watch the 224 minute cut first, don't bother with the longer extended version as the shape it's in, it's more of a curio than anything else and a lot of the new stuff detracts. The extended version is not a directors cut, its a cut with some new stuff they found edited in regardless of the state of the negative. The 224 minute cut is a masterpiece. A flawed masterpiece but..oh you get the idea.

[tylergfoster]

There are three cuts. When Leone completed the film, it ran 269m. Warner Bros. screened it and insisted cuts had to be made, which Leone complied with, editing it down to 229m for Cannes 1984. However, Warner still thought it was too long, and slashed it to 139m without his participation, and released that version to theaters. Apparently it makes no sense, and it also reportedly broke Leone's heart; he never made another movie.

For the DVD, Warner restored the film to 229m, the international cut, which he approved. Then, in 2010, the Leone family found the remaining 40 minutes and set about restoring them to the film for Cannes 2011. Unfortunately, rights issues forced them to cut a 251m version instead. Shortly afterward, that print was pulled from theatrical distribution, and Martin Scorsese helped the family regain rights to the remaining 18m. So, what most people are hoping is that the complete 269m cut will be what is released on Blu-Ray.

Despite what the poster above me says, it seems that the 269m version is, for all intents and purposes, Leone's original director's cut.

[KRW1]

Originally Posted by tylergfoster

There are three cuts. When Leone completed the film, it ran 269m. Warner Bros. screened it and insisted cuts had to be made, which Leone complied with, editing it down to 229m for Cannes 1984. However, Warner still thought it was too long, and slashed it to 139m without his participation, and released that version to theaters. Apparently it makes no sense, and it also reportedly broke Leone's heart; he never made another movie.

For the DVD, Warner restored the film to 229m, the international cut, which he approved. Then, in 2010, the Leone family found the remaining 40 minutes and set about restoring them to the film for Cannes 2011. Unfortunately, rights issues forced them to cut a 251m version instead. Shortly afterward, that print was pulled from theatrical distribution, and Martin Scorsese helped the family regain rights to the remaining 18m. So, what most people are hoping is that the complete 269m cut will be what is released on Blu-Ray.

Despite what the poster above me says, it seems that the 269m version is, for all intents and purposes, Leone's original director's cut.

The 269 minute version would be very, very exciting. Stranger things have happened but I'm not getting my hopes up for this one. I'll be happy with a slightly better version of the Italian disc which is, um, messy.

[tylergfoster]

I guess I don't know how to count. THERE ARE FOUR CUTS.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by tylergfoster

I guess I don't know how to count. THERE ARE FOUR CUTS.

There's actually at least 5 I believe:

Original: 269
European release: 229 (Current BD runtime)
US release: 139
Restored: 256 (shown at Cannes)
Restored BD (Italy): 251 (not sure if that's the exact runtime, but it's less than the Cannes cut)

There's also another TV cut that's apparently about 3 hour long, but I don't know the exact runtime, or any other details, aside from what's mentioned on the Wiki:

A network television version of three hours (without commercials) was prepared in the early-to-mid-1990s, retaining the film's non-chronological order but left out key scenes.

[RudyC]

i have the italian extended blu...really enjoyed it..
ill pick this up if its much better PQ or something...but if its on 2 blu-rays ill skip it.
i like having it all on 1disc and the compression issues on the italian blu-ray werent even noticeable for me.