Perhaps the greatest western that Leone made. Everything about it is just epic and oozes style. The cinematography, music, story and definitely the characters are great. All main characters are memorable from the mysterious and heroic "Harmonica" and villainous Frank, to the drop dead gorgeous Jill played by Claudia Cardinale! Gripping from the opening scene till the last shot, it's a thrilling ride for sure!

While it is still most commonly stated that 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly' is Leone's ultimate masterpiece, this label is quite unfortunate for another Leone masterpiece, 'Once Upon a Time in the West', which is also one of the greatest films ever made.First and foremost Once Upon a Time in the West is a masterpiece of storytelling. A lot of early scenes will leave you with questions that will only be answered later on after everything becomes clear. The story is a complex and multi layered mystery that is handled with impeccable editing and a slow pace which is always evolving. In the end all of your questions as viewers will be answered in one of the greatest reveals ever in cinema history when nearing its end. It also features an incredible use of sound, having birds chirping when everything seems safe and creating silence and awareness of the characters in question when there is danger brewing. Leone was a master of creating tension, and this way everytime the birds would stop chirping you are at the edge of your seat. There are a lot of close ups as usual in a Leone film, and emotions are put into the incredible facial acting ( especially by Henry Fonda ) and the once again terrific Ennio Morricone score.With Charles Bronson as the mysterious harmonica player who seems to be able to kill with his eyes, Henry Fonda as the intimidating blue eyed villain & Jason Robards as the charismatic bandit Cheyenne we have an incredible cast of actors who are used to the best of their abilities. Ofcourse Fonda was barely cast as a villain before this film, frequently appearing as the hero in a lot of Hollywood movies before this one, which makes his appearance all the more shocking and intimidating when the camera glances from his shoes towards his piercing blue eyes. However, i have a slight critique on Claudia Cardinale ( Jill ), whose dialogue seems to come across as forced, yet her facial acting is absolute world class. One of my favorite scenes has to be the one where she jumps off the train only to find there is no one there to pick her up. Her confused and melancholy look is absolute divine, and combined with Leone's elevating shot which shows the town right when Morricone's music hits its climax, it creates one of the greatest cinematic scenes ever made.The cinematography is absolutely beautiful as usual in a Leone film, especially during the shoots of all the workers working on the railroad, in the background, middle and foreground, all flowing across the screen effortlessly due to Leone's artistic directional talents. Jill's ride to the McBain farm is also one worth of notice, with a lot of beautiful widescreen distance shots of the western environment in a very similar style to John Ford, which was one of the influences of Leone.From its incredible opening sequence devoid of almost any dialogue whatsoever to the very end, it is a movie that grabs you and never lets go due to its incredible slow paced storytelling. It is just a brilliant piece of writing that manages to make every scene look useful and more mysterious, building up to an ending that has to be one of the greatest sequences ever put on the screen.

This has it all: operatic in its themes of revenge (Harmonica), and redemption (Cheyenne), epic cinematography (the last scene, shot from the train), and an emotionally driven score (Jill's Theme). My vote for the best western ever made, and one of the best films as well. See the full-length version. I saw it in the Neptune Theatre in Seattle, maybe 1983. The Seattle Times review said it was "heart stoppingly beautiful." It is.

Sergio Leone loves to keep the mood on edge by having repetitive annoying sounds, like the wind mill or insects overly loud. Not a real fan of this style, I know I am bucking the tide with all these glowing reviews, but the sound track is far to annoying to allow me to watch any longer, he would find a better use of his skills torturing audiophiles with chalk board scratching. As far as the best western ever, that I find laughable, another film firmly stuck in the time period it was filmed and it hasn't aged gracefully. This wreaks of spaghetti western, never an honest portrayal because the writing are always obtuse