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The full version of this 1984 film is a masterpiece, as long and slow and character-deep as a Russian novel, rich in detail with a mystery at its core that lies unforgotten like the sand grain inside a pearl, but the short theatrical release should be avoided like a poxy barfly. Forget unfair and unflattering comparisons to The Godfather, the films are little alike, and weight down Once Upon A Time In America with misapplied expectations that sum it up as "a Jewish Godfather without the strong center of a family." It's true The Godfather had love at its heart and Once Upon A Time....well, it doesn't. If I were to contrast the two pictures, however, I'd note that in different ways each is brilliant, though one is about the glorious heights of a way of life, centering on figures far removed from the grit of criminality, and the other explores its depths, focusing upon characters who still have to get their hands dirty. If The Godfather is a tragedy so well disguised that most fail to see it, then Once Upon A Time In America is a tragedy so bluntly told it's easy to miss all else that it also serves to be. If you can find an uncut edition of this tale of a gang of streetwise Jewish hoods in the early 1900s fighting their way from the slums of the Bronx to the speakeasies of the mob to what lies beyond (political power, a life on the run, or the grave), grab it and settle in for the ride.

I saw that one a LONG time ago, but I don't remember which version I saw.

I saw the cut version during its U.S. theatrical run and it made no sense. Years later, I bought the uncut DVD . . . it's a great movie.