MOVIE: ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA [1984]

REVIEW# 122
MOVIE: ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA [1984]
Genre: Crime/Drama
Cast: Robert De Niro,James Woods
Director: Sergio Leone
IMDb rating: 8.4/10
Deeps rating: 8/10
Verdict: A classic gangster movie which is just too long.

#PLOT.
   The story of  David Aaronson[Robert De Niro],famously called 'Noodles' and his friends,from an eventful childhood to the world of organized crime.The story of their friendship,crime,love,lust,greed and finally betrayal.From great friends to foes ,that's what they finally become.No one is your friend the the world of crime.It's money,power and lust that decides the relationship there,just as 'Noodles' realized in his life.

#POSITIVES.
1. The tale of 'Noodles' life well told.With precision and in detail.The eventful life of him and his friends are depicted with a lot of conviction and excellence in this movie.
2. A masterly performance from the great Robert De Niro,is the back bone of this epic saga.His emotional control over the character through the whole journey of life is just outstanding.
3. Great direction and screenplay which makes the movie look like an epic poem.An epic poem of violence and greed.
4. The movie excels in it's technical aspects especially the cinematography .Rich production values makes it an extremely interesting watch.

#NEGATIVES.
1. The main drawback of the movie is it's length.3 hrs and 50 minutes is toooo long for any movie.No one can spare time at one stretch to watch this one. The length of the movie affected it's fate at the box office and may be it was the only drawback of this epic saga.

#RELEASE AND BOX OFFICE.
1. The film was premiered at the Cannes film festival.But the length of the movie was a great concern for the makers.Finally they decided to release a shortened version of the movie at the domestic box office.
2. Major cuts were made in the whole movie and the story was rearranged in a chronicle order to attract the audience.Several versions of the movie was tried in many different countries.The original version without cuts was released in Europe.
3. In USSR also the trimmed version was shown and it was critically acclaimed there.

4. As many scenes that involved violence and adult content had to be removed which made the movie looked silly,lacking the real punch.
5. How ever the movie turned out to be a disaster at the box office.It could just gross around $5 million only against a huge budget of $30 million making it an all time disaster at the box office.But in the later years the Dvd sales of this movie topped the charts and now it's considered one of the best gangster movies ever made in Hollywood.

TIP OF THE DAY: TIME IS THE TRUE UNIT OF ANY MEASUREMENT.