Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
Damn, Claudia Cardinale was smoking hot. Always been a fan. Great role for her, too. Bronson was alright in it. Nothing new for him. He was sure rugged as all get out. It might be the first role where I really liked Jason Robards, though. He was great. And Henry Fonda as a [horribly] bad guy is a hoot. Those steely blue eyes of his were magnificent for the badguy closeups. Good cast for what he was going for.
Overall, textbook Sergio Leone. Very slow pacing, timed as much by the music as the actual narrative. Unlike TMwNN trilogy he tells parts of this story as flashbacks, so you have to pay attention, and you don't really piece the whole thing together until late in the film. Much like TGtBatU, you're not always sure who's on which team, or even how many teams there are. They all seem to be badguys, only with different angles. That was a nice touch. Because of the slow pacing I really wasn't digging it until about 30 minutes in. From there it got better and better, culminating in a wonderful showdown at the end. Much like another of his famous showdowns, made all the better by working with the music. I don't think there's any question that Leone/Morricone pretty much perfected combining film and sound, and this was a real clinic. On top of the Morricone bit, the editing of it was absolutely perfect. I watched the final shooting like 5 times marveling at how well it was done.
Overall I'd certainly recommend it, but I get that most people aren't going to invest two-hours-forty in a movie so slowly paced. To those people I'd simply suggest watching the shootout between Harmonica and Hank Fonda, easily findable on YT. The inclination will be to compare it to the final showdown in TGtBatU, but that's probably not a fair comparison, with it being both iconic and original. That was Leone/Morricone at their finest. In some ways this one is just as good, if not better, though. It's certainly better edited.