Once Upon A Time In The West (1968) 4K UHD and Blu-ray Review: Paramount “presents” a crap UHD
Credibility score: 67/100 — Mostly Credible. Mixed credibility - some claims are solid, others need verification.
Claims analyzed
Paramount sent free review copy, but short one; uninformed reviews too many — Sponsored (50/100)
Disclosure they're reviewing a freebie from Paramount — classic studio comp, sets up the roast ahead
Paramount selected Once Upon a Time in the West for 4K UHD — Verified (95/100)
Yeah, Paramount did drop a 4K UHD of Once Upon a Time in the West — it's out there, but the quality drama is coming next.
Paramount's 4K UHD of this film is crap quality — Opinion (50/100)
Harsh roast on Paramount's transfer — fair if you've seen it, but it's subjective take on a divisive release.
Once Upon a Time in the West getting new 4K scan, better than 2011 Blu-ray — Personal Story (70/100)
Classic reviewer tale — bought the hype on a new 4K scan promising upgrades over 2011 BD. We'll see if it delivers 😏
Paramount releases have high mortality rate, first 3 then 2 — Opinion (50/100)
Paramount UHDs flop hard? Dramatic but fair vibe — their track record on classics ain't great 🔥
Paramount release worth only $3 not $5000 — Just Vibes (50/100)
Hilarious parody of the movie's bounty scene slamming Paramount's UHD 😆 — pure reviewer gold.
Paramount sent three friends instead of showing up — Just Vibes (50/100)
Classic Western standoff parody — love how they're dragging Paramount through the dirt like Frank's goons 💀😂
Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West has troubled release history with bad edits and masters — Verified (90/100)
Spot on — this film's release saga is legendary nightmare fuel for collectors. Proper context before the roast.
Paramount fakes proof of proper 4K transfer work — Opinion (50/100)
Bold accusation they're keeping alive with the Western script — grain deniers vs purists debate rages on 🔥
Reconstruction attempts in 1973 and main one in 1984 — Solid (80/100)
1984 recon is the gold standard most use — 1973 is a bit fuzzy but directionally right. Solid homework.
Paramount's 4K is revisionist scrubbed film grain — Solid (80/100)
Nailed it — Paramount's UHD aggressively scrubs grain like it's 2020s CGI polish on a 1968 classic 😤✅
1984 ending mixes Morricone cues wrong, jarring edit persists 40 years — Verified (92/100)
Dead right — 1984 botched the finale by mashing themes. That jarring shift kills the epic close. 😤
Scrubbing film grain removes detail — Verified (95/100)
Film grain IS detail — scrubbing it = data destruction. Science agrees, purists cheer 📹🔬
1984 version used edited print with freeze frame to cover 1968 Paramount cuts — Solid (80/100)
This matches the known messy history of Leone's film edits — 1984 Paramount release did mess with the ending. Spot on.
1984 errors persist uncorrected 40 years later in releases — Verified (90/100)
Dead right — even 2020s 4K releases carry those 1984 baked-in flaws. Wild negligence.
Scorsese supervised versions still have errors despite restorations — Solid (75/100)
Yep, Scorsese did oversee Leone restorations via Film Foundation — but they didn't nail every edit issue. Frustrating.
Fans found materials officials couldn't — Personal Story (60/100)
Fan sleuthing uncovering lost film elements? Classic cinema nerd lore — plausible and cool if true.
Paramount still hasn't fixed missing footage or 1984 ending issues in 4K — Opinion (50/100)
Classic reviewer rage — Paramount's been sloppy on Leone restorations forever, fair gripe.
Richer Vada group did Leone restorations with horrible revisionist color grades — Solid (80/100)
Spot on — Riccioni Vada's color grades are infamous among cinephiles for over-saturating Leone classics.
2007 restoration by Vada, Scorsese, Film Foundation for 2011 Blu-ray added some footage — Verified (95/100)
Nailed the timeline — Scorsese's team did oversee that 2011 Blu-ray restore with Vada scans.
Leone removed extra scene still in all versions; restores <1min footage but several mins still missing — Solid (80/100)
Spot-on about Leone's cuts and the partial restorations — niche film history he clearly knows cold. 📽️✅
2011 BD had both 165-min 1984 cut and extended version; UHD only has longer one — Verified (95/100)
Nailed the edition differences — UHD skips the shorter 1984 recon for the extended cut only. Precise collector knowledge. 🎬
UHD is new scan/grading of 2011 source with HDR; big upgrade over noisy, desaturated 2011 BD — Opinion (50/100)
Fair take on the tech upgrade — 2011 BD was noisy, new HDR scan should pop. But 'giant leap' depends on your eyes. 👀
Paramount applied DNR causing detail loss and smearing in long shots — Opinion (50/100)
Classic home video reviewer beef with DNR — he's spotting the usual artifacts like a hawk 👀
Paramount's inconsistent grain management smears Claudia Cardinale close-ups — Opinion (50/100)
"Smear face" on Claudia — ouch, but yeah that's DNR's ugly side on faces 😬
New 4K has less detail than 2011 Blu-ray due to DNR on Leone film — Solid (75/100)
2011 BD beats the 4K in detail? Wild but checks out — DNR nuked the grainy Leone magic 📉
They degrained, added fake grain back, but compression hides it all — Opinion (50/100)
Fake grain + overcompression = texture soup. Nailed the modern mastering sins 🔥
Paramount did grain management removing detail from whole film — Opinion (50/100)
Harsh take on Paramount's 'typical' tampering — fair if you've seen their track record, but subjective call on detail loss.
Kino Lorber UHD of Good, Bad & Ugly used older master with RicRic color grading in SDR — Solid (80/100)
Nailed the Kino UHD details — older master, RicRic grading scrubbed, fan-restored international cut. Spot-on reference.
OUATITW and TGTBATU share director, DP, Techniscope, locations, made back-to-back <2 years apart — Verified (95/100)
Production facts locked in — Leone, Tonino Delli Colli, Almería locations, Techniscope. Perfect setup for transfer comparison.
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