Alternate versions for
Once Upon a Time in America (1984)

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• For its U.S. theatrical release the film was cut by 90 minutes from 3 hours and 47 minutes to 2 hours and 19 minutes. Many film critics gave two seperate reviews for the film. While the complete European version was highly praised the edited US theatrical release was critically butchered.
  
  
• UK cinema and video versions were cut by 10 secs by the BBFC to remove a shot of a gun being pressed against a woman's breasts. The 2002 DVD is fully uncut.
  
  
• When the 'complete' film was shown in America, it still had to be trimmed slightly from 229 minutes to 227 minutes, to secure an 'R' rating. Cuts were made to the two rape scenes, and some of the violence at the beginning.
  
  
• The infamous 144 minute American version was the version given wide release in America. Heavily cut by the Ladd Company against Leone's wishes, the film's story was rearranged in chronological order, which had the effect of making it even more difficult to follow. Most of the major cuts involved the childhood sequences, making the 1933 sections the most prominent part of the film. All of the scenes in 1968 with Deborah were excised, and the scene with "Secretary Bailey" ended with him shooting himself (albeit offscreen), rather than the famous garbage truck conclusion of the 229-minute version. The shortened version, while briefly on VHS in the 1980s, is in little demand and almost impossible to find.
  
  
• A network television version of three hours (without commercials) was briefly available in the early-to-mid-1990s, which retained the film's non-chronological order but still left out several key scenes. This version has recently turned up in viewings of the film for the AMC TV channel.
  
  

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