Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)

Sources

Influenced By

1. The Searchers (1956)
   "Leone's epic explicitly cites Ford — the Monument Valley vistas, doorway compositions, and Wayne-style gunfighter framing all descend from The Searchers." source
2. High Noon (1952)
   "Zinnemann's real-time small-town showdown is a Leone touchstone — gunfighter-must-face-his-past structure echoes throughout Once Upon a Time in the West." source
3. Shane (1953)
   "Stevens's lone-gunman-protects-settlers template is a direct Leone reference; the Frank/Harmonica relationship inverts Shane's mythic outsider." source
4. Johnny Guitar (1954)
   "Nicholas Ray's stylized Western — colors, theatricality, female-gunslinger as central agent — is a documented Leone influence on Once Upon a Time in the West." source

Influenced

5. Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
   "Leone's own thematic and structural successor — Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Once Upon a Time in America: title-as-genre-statement was Leone's invention here." source
6. Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019)
   "Tarantino's title is direct homage; Tarantino has called Leone the director who 'made me consider filmmaking' and 'showed me how a director does what he does.'" source
7. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
   "Tarantino's Leone obsession surfaces in Kill Bill's Bride/O-Ren showdown choreography, slow-burn music cues, and revenge-arc structural rhythm." source
8. Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)
   "Volume 2's desert-and-gunfighter texture, slow zooms, and Morricone-style score continue Tarantino's Leone homage." source
9. Inglourious Basterds (2009)
   "The opening dairy-farm sequence is Tarantino's most explicit Leone homage — extended dialogue under tension, the camera lingering on faces, Morricone needledrop." source
10. Django Unchained (2012)
    "Tarantino's overt spaghetti-western tribute — title borrowed from Corbucci's Django, structure and music vocabulary descend from Leone." source
11. The Hateful Eight (2015)
    "Tarantino's snowed-in Western is a direct Leone descendant — Morricone score, slow theatrical builds, sudden eruptions of violence." source
12. No Country for Old Men (2007)
    "Coens' modern-Western inherits Leone's slow-burn dread, sound-design-as-character, and the gunfighter-as-mythic-force-of-nature framing (Chigurh as Leone's Frank)." source
13. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)
    "Dominik's Western inherits Leone's mythic-deconstruction mode and contemplative pacing." source
14. The Power of the Dog (2021)
    "Campion's revisionist Western inherits Leone's psychological-grandeur-in-landscape mode and slow-burn menace." source
15. Escape from New York (1981)
    "The film's influence is evident in the Western archetype embodied by Snake Plissken, reflecting Carpenter's admiration for the genre and its themes of rugged individualism." Escape from New York: John Carpenter’s cult sci-fi classic transformed Kurt Russell from a Disney Kid into one of the greatest action icons of all time MANK'S MOVIE MUSINGS
16. The Untouchables (1987)
    "Composer Ennio Morricone, who scored "The Untouchables," had previously worked on this epic Western. His experience with grand, operatic scores influenced the musical backdrop of "The Untouchables."" Film Notes: THE UNTOUCHABLES | Yale University Library Web
17. Gangs of New York (2002)
    "Leone's epic, like Gangs, locates a personal vendetta inside the founding violence of an American identity. Scorsese's framing of Bill the Butcher carries Leone's mythic enlargement." source
18. Oppenheimer (2023)
    "Nolan referred to "Oppenheimer" as his "western," drawing inspiration from classic westerns like Sergio Leone's "Once Upon a Time in the West" to create a natural and honest world for the film." How Christopher Nolan Crafted the World of Oppenheimer Bilge Ebiri Vulture