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

[Geoff D]

English is the original audio, it was shot with sync-sound and everything!

I wouldn't get the Italian Warners disc. It's in the proper 1.85 aspect unlike the slightly cropped 1.78 Warners worldwide disc but the blacks and the colour are even more washed out and the compression is horrendous. The ironic thing is that the worldwide disc has a lower bitrate but the compression is noticeably better; as always with these things, it's not about what you use but how you use it that's the key.

[Tech-UK]

The problem is Geoff, I don't know what to believe in terms faithfulness anymore, as WB are known for their tinkering of contrast/saturation.

Perhaps the Italian release is the more faithful. I do prefer the framing of the Italian disc, and yes the compression is shocking at times, but in some cases, the AVC release has issues that are not there in the Italian release.

Although I do prefer the grading of the releases from the 4K scan. The initial release looks to much like video IMO.

I may just buy the Italian VC-1 release and view it on my Kuro, and then decide whether to buy the AVC release.

One last thing, the VC-1 encode does prove that Blade Runner: The Final Cut, could look a lot better in terms of compression, as its clear that however they encoded the Italian release of OUATIA, it clearly has major issues with fine/dense grain structure that 4K scans produce.

It doesn't seem to have issues with this scene:

http://www.caps-a-holic.com/hd_vergl...ss=1#vergleich

The VC-1 Italian encode looks to have an advantage because it hasn't been zoomed in and thus it hasn't 'blown up' the grain.

This scene on the other hand is piss poor though:

http://www.caps-a-holic.com/hd_vergl...ss=1#vergleich

[Geoff D]

I think it's fair to say that the movie's been given a revisionist tinkering for this new release so it's purely down to personal preference rather than accuracy, and for me the blacks are so poor and the colour so wretched on the Italian that I wouldn't care even if it was the more "faithful" version.

As for the compression forget about the caps, I can tell you from comparing the two in motion that the Italian encode is downright nasty.

[Scottbu21]

Why did this go out of print so quick.The single disc version does not give you the whole 169 minute movie.Some answers please.

[willo007]

Originally Posted by Scottbu21

Why did this go out of print so quick.The single disc version does not give you the whole 169 minute movie.Some answers please.

Out of print through Warner Bros, but very much in print with both versions of the film through Fox.

[bigG71]

Not true. Fox Connect only has the extended cut 1-disc version available.

[ckt]

The two disc Warner is $70 on Amazon.

[BobbyMcGee]

Is this OOP in other territories as well?

I see Amazon U.K. has the extended cut for relatively cheap but it is listed as OOS at the moment.

[ckt]

BestBuy's site has it for $35 but it's listed as "backordered." Disappointed if this is not available anymore. Was going to buy it.

[Cranston37]

Are we sure this isn't a 2 disc? The picture says it is...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B010G...I355YG2UJQ9C2N

[Ray Jackson]

Once Upon a Time in America is in my personal top ten, but there's absolutely no way I'd spend good money to double dip on something just because it has a few extra scenes included that look like crap and aren't really vital to the story.

...not that there's anything wrong with that.

[ckt]

Originally Posted by Cranston37

Are we sure this isn't a 2 disc? The picture says it is...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B010G...I355YG2UJQ9C2N

That listing looks shady...


*Edit: Must have been looking at another, similar listing when I wrote this. Sorry.

[rdodolak]

Originally Posted by ckt

That listing looks shady. And the product description near the bottom says 1 disc. You cannot rely on pictures with Amazon unfortunately.

What's shady about it?

[HeavyHitter]

Geoff,

At the end of the day, do you prefer the (U.S.) Extended Director's Cut in terms of image quality over the original theatrical release? It looks a hell of a lot more film-like and detailed based on the screencaps, but the colors are so radically different from the theatrical which are said to mirror the the original theatrical release.

[rdodolak]

Originally Posted by Cranston37

Are we sure this isn't a 2 disc? The picture says it is...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B010G...I355YG2UJQ9C2N

It's a 2-disc release.

https://www.foxconnect.com/once-upon...r-s-cut-1.html

[ckt]

rdodolak, I must have been looking at another, similar listing. Yes, that appears to be a 2 disc.

[Nawroz]

Guys any news on the extra unreleased footage? some 20 more minutes was said to be still in the works.

[HuggyBear73]

Originally Posted by rdodolak

It's a 2-disc release.

https://www.foxconnect.com/once-upon...r-s-cut-1.html

Cool! This and the 2-disc GOODFELLAS are coming out in a standard case without the swag. How bout ENTER THE DRAGON now, Warner?

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by HeavyHitter

Geoff,

At the end of the day, do you prefer the (U.S.) Extended Director's Cut in terms of image quality over the original theatrical release? It looks a hell of a lot more film-like and detailed based on the screencaps, but the colors are so radically different from the theatrical which are said to mirror the the original theatrical release.

The previous one has much better colour but much softer detail, whereas the new one has awful colour but much better detail (as befits a 4K resto). I liked the inserted scenes and it's not a movie that one can really revisit on a whim so I'll stick with the extended version.

[tama]

Originally Posted by HeavyHitter

Geoff,

At the end of the day, do you prefer the (U.S.) Extended Director's Cut in terms of image quality over the original theatrical release? It looks a hell of a lot more film-like and detailed based on the screencaps, but the colors are so radically different from the theatrical which are said to mirror the the original theatrical release.

I wanted to chime in after watching the extended cut last night and comparing it to the first release.

According to information provided with this release it makes a bold statement stating every frame has been color corrected. Sorceses Film Foundation in partnership with Cineteca di Bologna at L'Immagine Ritrovata with assistance from Sergio Leones family and also the living film collaborators worked on this release with WB doing the 4K scanning.

I have to say while the first release has colors that are not de-saturated I do feel they can be oversaturated at times. It has that look that several old masters have in giving that pink/reddish hue throughout. That being said colors on the newer scan can go from looking very good most of the time to sometimes questionable.

Overall I'd go with the new release. The old one is very very soft/blurry in several scenes and colors do not look 100% correct on the older release either.