This film is number 2 on my all-time list of films and I have seen it on Laserdisc the correct cut and the butchered version and it is right behind Braveheart as my all-time favorite film!

I am curious what those who have never seen the film think of the correct version we now get a DVD this week. Also what do those who have ONLY seen the butchered version think of the correctly Director's cut think?

I also think this film has the best musical score of any film ever made! The music stays with me for weeks after I have watched the film.

I just finished watching the se 227min version. This is an awesome film with out a doubt. I'm proud to have it in my dvd movie collection!

jg

My biggest problem with this otherwise classic film is this:

How come Elizabeth McGovern's character doesn't age at all when everybody else does quite noticeably? Over thirty years later and she looks exactly the same!

"Color so natural... only her hairdresser knows for sure!"

She's from the same stock as the supporting cast of The Shawshank Redemption, that's all.

Hey, even to look at Liz fairly recently in Twice Upon A Yesterday, she hasn't aged much at all.

Remember, the older Deborah is an actoress so you can assume plastic surgury had been done to prolong her career as is so common in Hollywood.

I haven't picked up the dvd yet, and I haven't seen the film in quite some years. However, I remember reading an essay about the film where it was mentioned that Elizabeth McGovern's character doesn't age for a reason. I forget what that reason is, but I've always been very certain that it was intentional, some sort of symbolism I would imagine.

It's a good film for sure, I can't wait to add it to the growing mobster movie section of my DVD collection.

There is a reason for it. Search the web for the sites that break down the movie because there are a few interpretations (immovable beauty, not everything changes, Noodle's regrets, more difficult for Noodles, etc.), all of which have a bit of truth. But, like all great movies it invokes thought and discussion and ultimately the interpretation is up to the viewer. Sometimes its more rewarding not to be spoon fed everything.

My biggest problem: Elizabeth McGovern has nowhere near the fantastic chest that Jennifer Connelly now sports

Seriously, I'd seen bits and pieces of this movie in heavily edited form on TV and enjoyed that. Things that strike me:

-The amazing, non-linear beginning. I'd never seen it and it's one of the best opening twenty minutes I've ever seen in any movie.

-The outstanding pacing and dramtic tension Leone builds. Example: the phone ring for five straight minutes befor someone answers. The movie takes it's time, but every scene is vital and interesting.

-James Woods out-acts DeNiro. That's pretty incredible.

-LOTS of graphic violence including two rape scenes and some truly awful murders.

-An amazingly detailed and accurate depction of the twenties and thirties. the sixties seem a little thin, but Noodle's childhood and adulthood scenes are incredibly vivid.

-Sergio Leone's cameo as the train station ticket seller towards the beginning of the movie.

It's a great movie, on par with the Godfather, IMO.

I hear from reviews now that the pacing is very slow and takes forever to go anywhere.

I find it amusing how some critics complain about the slow pacing. They must hate most of the foreign films I love which take time to develop. This is a film you can luxuriate in; release yourself to its charms. Take your time. It's not a TV show.

I have owned this on VHS, LD, and now DVD. IMO, the greatest film of all time. The DVD is outstanding.

In regards to McGovern's character, you must keep in mind that there's a possibility that the events in the film may just be an opium-induced dream. Remember the line "Age cannot wither her?" It seems symbolic to me.

What bothers me more about her character is that Jennifer Connelly had brown eyes and McGovern had blue eyes.

So this film is pretty violent actually? I've only recently scene the film on AMC months back in OAR..but edited for tv. Hardly seemed to be any violence at all in the film.

I bought the dvd..& plan to watch it eventually in one sitting. So it may be a few weeks or months before that happens with my crappy work schedule & brothers taking over the whole entertainment system most of the time leaving me very little time to watch even the shortest films!

On the commentary, It was mentioned that Noodles could have been looking at Deborah through his eyes (She does, however, look a bit aged at the party)

Yes, It's more violent than I remember. The beating of actually made me flinch a few times. And the hoods that get shot in the head/face cause quite a mess.

Probably the most crowning jewel of this purchase for me is Ennio Morricone's score. I tell ya, my DVD days have been glorious lately thanks to the recent release(s) of The Mission and Once/America.

Bring on Duck, You Sucker! aka Fistful of Dynamite!!

My problem isn't so much that McGovern's character doesn't seem to age, but that she is horribly mis-cast.

Is this really him?

If you look at the pics of Leone on special features (While filming on the set) He's got quite a waist-line. Where-as the ticket seller looks nowhere near as big.

More Leone trivia:

I've been trying to find Mario Brega's appearance in this movie. Brega was an extra who appeared in Leone's "Dollars" trilogy. He played a bandit in FISTFUL and FOR A FEW... And played "Wallace" in GOOD/BAD/UGLY (Wallace was the union soldier that kicked the crud out of Tuco)

I got a hunch that Brega plays one of the goons that searches for Noodles at the start of the film, but can't point out which one.

I thought he was the guy lifting hats looking for Noodles in the Chinese Theater.

I'm assuming that they used a body double and that's not really Jennifer Connelly's bare butt early in the film. She couldn't have been more than 13 or 14 when it was made....

Yeah, check out the IMDB listing, it's a double.

Also, yes indeed that is Leone as the train ticket seller.

I haven't seen this film in over ten years. I wore out a copy that I taped off HBO back in 1986 (it was the long version, minus a few odds and ends that are on the DVD). The movie still gets to me (particularly the childhood sequences), knowing how the friendship will eventually evolve when they become adults.

I still find how well the film holds up and just how "fast" the movie is. Seeing this restored on DVD is quite a revelation, since I'm seeing (and hearing) more details than ever before. The only other surprise was the aforementioned extended rape scene. I thought it was going to be but instead

Agree about Morricone's score; it's one my all-time favorites. The expanded CD that came out a few years ago includes some of the demo and unused cues that he wrote for the film. The liner notes cover some of the same details in the DVD supplements. Such as how he wrote the music before the film was made, and that Leone later made the film to the music. Or how the score was shockingly not even nominated for an Oscar because someone forgot to submit it! (It was blamed over the bureaucracy when the Ladd Company was disabandoning.)

Speaking of that, I wish the DVD included the original Ladd Company logo before the opening credits.

And that's one reason why he's my most favorite composer.

To create such mindblowing music to images that were yet to be filmed is amazing.

He also did this for Once Upon A Time In The West.

I just finished watching the new DVD, and I must say it looks and sound incredible. I had only seen the film once before, many years ago, and didn't remember too much about it except for the fact that at the time I thought it was a masterpiece. I was equally impressed this time around, but have a couple questions.

First of all, what was the significance of showing Frankie (Joe Pesci) at the hospital after Noodles and Max had visited Jimmy (Treat Williams)? Also, what was the importance of the garbage truck at the end of the film? I'm sure the answer to that last question will require some spoiler tags...

I just finished watching it for the first time and loved it. What an amazing movie. I didn't think it was slow at all. Those 3 hours and 50 minutes went by pretty quickly.

Question, how far is the rape scene into the movie. I watched parts, great movie, I had the commentary on, there looked like to be an attempted rape of some kind at the begning where a character rubs a gun on a womans nipples. Is this it?