Sergio Leone’s 1968 epic Once Upon A Time In The West is one of the all-time classic Westerns.

By this point, Leone was confident enough in his own style and talent to carefully and slowly build lengthy sequences without dialogue or music and only natural sounds – stretching the tension out to the point of boredom, only to culminate in sudden violence. This is most notable in the opening scene, where 3 gunmen wait for what seems like an eternity at a deserted train station, only to be shot dead by Charles Bronson as soon as he steps off the train. 

Other than Bronson in the lead (after Clint Eastwood had turned down the part) Leone also famously cast Hollywood good guy Henry Fonda (Leone’s favourite actor) against type as the child-murdering baddie. Fonda in turn delivered one of the most memorable performances of his long career.

The movie’s nearly 3 hour run-time, meandering plot and leisurely pace is certainly not for everyone, but Once Upon A Time In The West has become hugely influential on many film-makers, notably Quentin Tarantino.

I once owned the UK quad poster for this movie but foolishly sold it for little money years ago.  Here is the French poster (where the movie was a huge hit), plus the Belgian version, and also a Spanish press brochure, which are available to buy here.  All of these feature the opening gunfight sequence prominently.