Originally posted by Camillus Don
Have we found out any more about th efull length flick tho ?
I used to own it. It is 227 min long. It is sometimes known as the 'European version' and was the one shown at the Cannes Film Festival in 1984. It cost me about £45 (I guess this is about £70 dollars or so)as it is a deleted title over here in the UK. We get the full version on cable here split over 2 nights to make it more palatable to our British short attention spans.

Sergio Leone ran into difficulties with the American release - The Ladd Company for US and Canada specified a length of less than 165 minutes. A test audience in Boston in February 1984 did not like the 228 min version - finding it confusing.

This was trimmed to a 147 minute so called 'American cut' with all scenes arranged in linear chronology to avoid the 'confusion' experienced by the test audience.

From my discussions with other members of the board it seems that those who have seen the film
have now seen the 226/227/228 (must be the same one)minute original version and that it is fully available in the USA. I am guessing this, because you have talked about the flashback method being used with frequent switches from the nineteen thirties to nineteen twenties to nineteen sixties and back again etc etc.

I believe that this longer version was not readily available in the States for some years and that the 147 minute version
was predominant. I therefore attach a

SPOILER***********SPOILER*******SPOILER

- spoiler warning in case you do not want to know
how how the short version omits elements from the original.

In the amended 147 version:- (SHORT VERSION)

1. Deborah leaves by train in the 1930's and never returns - this eliminates the the relationship triangle between Max, Deborah
and Noodles - as Deborah never ends up as Max's girl.

2. Eliminated are the scenes introducing Young
Max and the establishing his relationship with Noodles.

3. Cut from the 1920's section is the scene where the guys roll a drunk and the rooftop scene
involving Noodles, Max, the cop and Peggy.

4. Noodles and Deborah at the restaurant is trimmed - including the brutal rape scene.

Some of the changes were geared towards toning down violence - particularly sexual violence.

I would guess that a DVD version is on the cards
by 2004 - yet to be confirmed, presumably and hopefully in the original 228 minute cut. I
would guess a VHS version of this would come out in tandem.

However, there are rumours of longer versions
integrating another 45 minutes of material.
Leone wanted to reinstate this material for an
Italian TV mini series version, but my sources say this never happened.

This is a complicated and messy affair. I am
truely sorry if I give you any incorrect info,
it is always possible that there are even more versions out there.

Like a wise man once said
THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE.