Ex-Gangster Reacts to Once Upon A Time in America

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  • Опубліковано 28 лис 2024

КОМЕНТАРІ • 73

  • @stephen.gillen
    @stephen.gillen  Рік тому +9

    Are you an Author, Writer, Producer or Creative? Stephen Gillen CEO of Roar Media Creative Studios is looking for stories, books, ideas & partnerships to commission and develop...sign up and more at link here www.roarmediacreative.com/events/

    • @Shteno
      @Shteno Рік тому

      Really?!? Do they have to be crime stories?!? Would You accept a story from the Balkan part of Europe?!?

  • @johnh1252
    @johnh1252 Рік тому +41

    Noodles was a proper criminal. Loved the scene where he warned James Woods's character that if they killed people for those guys then one day those guys might ask them to kill each other.

    • @MacrisMaQ
      @MacrisMaQ 11 місяців тому +1

      That's when it went to sh....

  • @ThisHandleWasTheOnly1Available
    @ThisHandleWasTheOnly1Available Рік тому +15

    1:50 That beating scene is probably the most realistic I have ever seen depicted in any movie. This is exactly how it happens in real life. The mannerisms, the ruthlesness, Noodles going for his knife, Bugsy spitting at Max's face, all of it.

  • @barry4649
    @barry4649 2 роки тому +12

    This film is one of the greatest of all time. If the gangster life isn’t authentic in it, first off how can anyone still alive judge what Prohibition gangsters’ lives were like, and if not true it would still make little difference to the impact of the film

  • @litmeister
    @litmeister Рік тому +16

    This is one the best movies ever made. Definitely one of my all time favourite

  • @gracchi132
    @gracchi132 2 роки тому +13

    Knew this old Italian man who ran an Italian shop, understated and quiet. We got to talking and I said about my Italian heritage and became good friends. He told me about his son that was a killer for the mafia in Naples, but he only comes to visit when he's done a job and needed to get away from Italy for a while.
    One day his son came into the shop and the old man said "ah this is my son, he's visiting from Naples". He told me about how his son introduced him to an elderly man in Italy who decided the hits and that the money the son got was put into the small shop over here.
    But what unnerved me was that the old man told me the house number and street that I lived in and what course I studied in uni. But if I needed anything just ask...

  • @Grandmastergav86
    @Grandmastergav86 Рік тому +7

    I hope one day we get to see the uncut version. Leone is the greatest director of all time, in my opinion.

  • @kennywilkinson913
    @kennywilkinson913 2 роки тому +15

    I read a theory online that noodles got killed in the opium den and the rest of the film is a hallucination of what he's life could have been hence the phone never stopping ringing, there was more to it and it kinda made sense.
    Not rewatched the film since but never understood why I liked it as a kid when I never quite understood it lol.
    Another good video tho, hope everyone has a good day.

    • @orsoncart1547
      @orsoncart1547 2 роки тому +12

      “The peculiarity of opium is a drug that makes you imagine the future as the past. Opium creates visions of the future. Other drugs only make you see the past. Thus whilst Noodles dreams how his life could have been and whilst he imagines his future, it gives me, as a European director, the possibility of dreaming inside American myth. And that's it, the ideal combination. We walk together. Noodles with his dream. And me with mine. These are two poems that fuse together. Because, as far as the matters which concern me, Noodles never leaves 1930. He dreams everything. All the film is the opium dream of Noodles through which I dream of the phantoms of cinema and American myths”
      Sergio Leone

    • @barry4649
      @barry4649 2 роки тому +2

      @@orsoncart1547oh wow so he basically confirmed it then

    • @JRRob3wn
      @JRRob3wn 5 місяців тому

      Noodles feels extreme guilt and grief at causing his friends death, so drowns his sorrows in opium. In this opium dream, he is absolved of all responsibility: Max was the one who set everyone up not him; Max has a son (with Deborah) who looks exactly like him, so Max survives exactly how Noodles remembers him - as a fresh youth, unspoiled by greed and betrayal; Deborah forgives the unforgivable; Noodles does his penance for his sins (by spending a life in hiding, like a monk) and eventually turns the other cheek in a saint like manner, thus redeeming himself. In this opium haze, Noodles knowing he is doomed, has forgiven himself for all his transgressions through this fantasy and maniacally smiles at the camera as the assassins are ultimately closing in to kill him (off camera). Just watched it the other night, and the opium dream is the only logical explanation to make the whole movie make sense. Take the scene where Max allegedly kills himself - the trash truck is curiously pristine and bloodless (once again sparing Noodles from visceral pain of seeing his friend die), then cars from the early 1930’s (likely celebrating the repeal of the Volstead Act) come barreling past Noodles, thus bringing him out of his dream, back to 1932 where he wakes up.

  • @roymunson1
    @roymunson1 2 роки тому +26

    The cinematography is incredible in this film. It took a long time to get made, but it's a classic. You wouldn't get away with a few of those scenes today.
    Well done, great review.
    Check out The General (martin Cahill) Arguably Irelands greatest mob movie.

    • @coreyhall1150
      @coreyhall1150 Рік тому

      It has underage prostitutes and everything. In the 70's they stuck to reality. Movies were dark. Now you get watered down bullshit and only 1 or 2 directors taking risks while everybody else is bowing to the woke mob.

    • @Erosgates
      @Erosgates Рік тому

      When they set the cop up with the “young” hooker.

  • @brendancronin3796
    @brendancronin3796 2 роки тому +13

    The morricone soundtrack per usual is amazing in this film

  • @alexlyons5856
    @alexlyons5856 2 роки тому +14

    You have to do Goodfellas please & casino & Bronx tale once upon a Time in America is without doubt a masterpiece very long film but I still watch it massive fan of de Niro and Sergio Leone films you can be a movie critic a good one that least

  • @SeeDaRipper...
    @SeeDaRipper... 2 роки тому +14

    What a bloody great movie, everything from Leone's direction, to the acting/ casting and the fucking amazing score from Morricone. An epic of the greatest proportions...9.5 out of ten.

    • @barry4649
      @barry4649 2 роки тому +1

      What takes the point 5 off?

  • @jamesbrannigan5620
    @jamesbrannigan5620 2 роки тому +10

    It is beyond me how this channel isn't huge. In an increasingly fake world it's always good to see obvious authenticity. Respect for not going down the clickbait route too , your content is excellent 👏

  • @vantheman1238
    @vantheman1238 2 роки тому +10

    Recently come across your UA-cam channel Stephen. Very entertaining watching your content and listening to your educated opinions on crime and movies etc. You do not glorify violence and crime; however, what you do is spell it out for the viewer. Enjoy it very much. Thank you 👍

  • @Peter_Schiavo
    @Peter_Schiavo 2 роки тому +13

    Just an idea for the future. Terence Stamp made a movie, The Limey. Aging gangster goes to LA to investigate after his daughter dies. I thought it was excellent.

    • @pd220783
      @pd220783 2 роки тому +2

      Brilliant film, worth a review on this channel

    • @nadas9395
      @nadas9395 2 роки тому +1

      A great watch

    • @heywoodjablowme8120
      @heywoodjablowme8120 Рік тому +2

      You tell him, you tell him I'm coming. Tell him I'm fucking coming!!!

  • @donsmithered5623
    @donsmithered5623 2 роки тому +5

    Have you read ‘ Hoods ‘ I think by Harry Grey?
    The films based on the book,,I read the book randomly when I was about 12/13 and I loved it!
    Read it twice!
    That was ‘93 ish I think? 🤔
    Then a few years later I watched this epic! Didn’t know Sergio Leonne directed it 🌟

  • @Audiojunkk
    @Audiojunkk Місяць тому +1

    Love this breakdown and perspective. Great to have such insight on one of the best films ever made! Thank you!

  • @eh7256
    @eh7256 2 роки тому +8

    Amazing movie .. can you review state of grace next , about the Irish mob in Hell’s Kitchen gary oldman is superb in it

  • @kcvfr400
    @kcvfr400 2 роки тому +5

    Thank you, I do love this film. But really enjoy your reaction also. you have a natural love of films to go with explaining the life you once lived. New subsciber added.

  • @matthewtuckey
    @matthewtuckey 5 місяців тому +1

    Manhattan bridge, not Brooklyn, on the poster. Good analysis. Best film ever made.

  • @lucashunt4172
    @lucashunt4172 Рік тому +2

    Would love to see a deep dive into Line Of Duty. My top crime show of the last decade. Love your content.

  • @geraldinegaitens9190
    @geraldinegaitens9190 2 роки тому +6

    Aww Stephen I absolutely loved this..your review once again..excellent ❤️👏🏻👏🏻

  • @SG-xe1mv
    @SG-xe1mv 2 роки тому +2

    Steven please keep going with this content. It’s awesome and your genuine perspectives are super interesting. Great job!!

  • @misteropinion2869
    @misteropinion2869 2 роки тому +5

    Could I suggest an old but Classic for you to review Stephen? James Cagney - Angels with Dirty Faces. Amazing film, with a great message at its end. :)

    • @stephen.gillen
      @stephen.gillen  2 роки тому +4

      Top classic my brother 💯👌

    • @roymunson1
      @roymunson1 2 роки тому +1

      The crying scene. Brilliant..

  • @psychette8846
    @psychette8846 8 місяців тому +1

    Noodles was shaped by his prison experience, not shown, but his performance issues tell you what happened to Noodle.

  • @marksteele1023
    @marksteele1023 2 роки тому +3

    Another one out of the park soldier! Nice work

  • @XanderGallois
    @XanderGallois 2 роки тому +5

    Great review!

  • @salvatoreripulone9008
    @salvatoreripulone9008 Рік тому +2

    Great movie my friend played the part Robert DeNiros character was when he was younger the one who stabbed to cop

  • @uchungnguyen7180
    @uchungnguyen7180 Рік тому +1

    Once Upon A Time in America one of the cinematic monuments on the subject of accusations.This film depicts for viewers that America in the 1940s during the Prohibition period was a period when organized crime reached its peak, the most famous of which were the Italian-born criminal organizations (Sicilian), Irish, Jews, etc. The film also shows viewers the process of forming the lives of street orphans who become criminals and the high price to pay when embedding themselves in the underworld.

  • @alsturrock8940
    @alsturrock8940 2 роки тому +2

    Always a favourite of mine. Great review

  • @nigelgreaves2027
    @nigelgreaves2027 2 роки тому +3

    Excellent observations.

  • @CrispinBac0n
    @CrispinBac0n 2 роки тому +6

    Beautiful Film

  • @thetruthseeker8142
    @thetruthseeker8142 2 роки тому +6

    Beautiful film.

  • @marcomeneghini80
    @marcomeneghini80 Рік тому +2

    Hey Stephen, I watched few of your commentary on movies and i share the passion for Guy Ritchie' ones. I also share the same "sad face" (but unusually focused, my wife would say) in presence of raw violence

  • @rossnorman4485
    @rossnorman4485 2 роки тому +6

    Great movie great reaction do King of new York different stye but another great underrated one

  • @JingleJangleJam
    @JingleJangleJam 10 місяців тому +1

    I think I've got it the other way around to Stephen's interpretation of the jealousy behind the mob girl Noodles is seeing from Max - Max isn't jealous of Deborah's love for Max but of Max's attention to Deborah in an almost subliminal homoerotic attachment between the two characters. ''I stole your girl'' Max tells Noodles. He stole her not because she's Deborah, because he loved her, but because he was his girl, and to take her away from him. Noodles was the only one Max truly loved, Max wanted Noodles to end his life because he was the only one he could imagine killing him, because only Max he ever regretted wronging it seems.

  • @realdeal8225
    @realdeal8225 2 роки тому +4

    Great review. Would you consider doing something similar to the film "Rise Of The Foot Soldier"?

  • @katieadams3080
    @katieadams3080 2 роки тому +4

    great film, great review liked your take on sexy beast too

  • @mattnic13
    @mattnic13 Рік тому +1

    Best gangster movie ever the music is beautiful…

  • @nopillpill
    @nopillpill Рік тому +1

    I would love to see a reaction to the criminally underrated; Gangster No. 1 (especially given Stephen saying insanity is one of the likely outcomes of the gangster life).

  • @chickencharlie1992
    @chickencharlie1992 2 роки тому +1

    Great film. 💗 Glad for this discussion

  • @strangeexchange1
    @strangeexchange1 2 роки тому +3

    Was ever in the ssu'swith andy russell just your from same area east end been in same jails and both got sort of an irish connection..hes the one who.did the helicoptor escape from gartree and the whitemoor break out of the ssu where the guard got shot

  • @yesway980
    @yesway980 2 роки тому +3

    Any chance of a reaction to The Long Good Friday or Get Carter?

  • @ButtaMilkBiscuitsGaming
    @ButtaMilkBiscuitsGaming Рік тому +1

    Good review man and loved ur story aswell.. Subscribed!

  • @niamhryan9677
    @niamhryan9677 2 роки тому +1

    Brilliant video Mr Gillen. Yeah you do look like Robert De Niro. Actually if you don't mind me saying so I think you're much better looking.

  • @MarkGould-e6j
    @MarkGould-e6j Рік тому +1

    A Fantastic Film , Quality

  • @mushroom4051
    @mushroom4051 2 роки тому +1

    Theres loads of diff edits to this classic

  • @horeai4864
    @horeai4864 2 роки тому +1

    Nice vid

  • @gennerobootz6490
    @gennerobootz6490 Рік тому +1

    I love this movie

  • @daveUK1066
    @daveUK1066 2 роки тому +5

    Keep it British Stephen , do the long good Friday 👍👍

  • @marcmorrissey1147
    @marcmorrissey1147 2 роки тому +1

    League of your own pal.

  • @jameseubanks379
    @jameseubanks379 2 роки тому +1

    Did not know till this very day! That I coulda been
    A contenda I coulda been somebody! Noodles was a peeping Tom,

  • @anthonyscully2998
    @anthonyscully2998 Рік тому

    Great film but it is a romantic representation of gangsters

    • @StanZ-i6w
      @StanZ-i6w 6 місяців тому

      I agree, there is nothing romantic about gangsters, and movies glamourizing them are a bad influence on young people!

  • @k-baye6292
    @k-baye6292 Рік тому +1

    Phanominal movie =.

  • @capone6014
    @capone6014 Рік тому +1

    Subscribe people one of the best channels out their and genuine nice polite guy in Stephen gillen