What film are we looking at?

Rating: Null/10 (25 June 2006)

I suppose this should go to a bulletin board - but given some of the reviews I've seen, I think this needs to be emphasized again.
I am not going to rate this film - or even comment on it, directly. Leone's fans will understand as I go on.
As we all should know (but it is quite clear from reviews that many do not know) Leone planned a film some 250 minutes long; the original version of this film ran 239 minutes; it was then cut down to about 120 minutes (hey, that's nearly half the movie!) and it was restored - well, unfortunately, that's part of the story.
This film appeared on broadcast television twice in - supposedly - two different forms, the 120 minute version and a "restored" version, which later showed up on cable TV.
Well, I saw them both, and I originally saw the 120 min. theatrical version, and all three versions were the same. The supposed "restored version" that got shown the second time on broadcast TV had exactly 45 minutes more - of commercials. (To be fair, I think there was actually 5 minutes more of film.) Does anybody else remember that? shown on two or three nights? Yeah, - more commercials (I believe it was on ABC). Worse yet, the TV version hit the VHS rental stores as the "restored" version first - and some rental stores still rent it out as such.
The "original" American release of this film is wretched. Characters in the 2nd half of the film talk as if they were introduced in the 1st half, only we never saw them. Events are alluded to that never occurred. And the chronologically linear presentations of the sequences actually makes the story difficult to follow since the transitions from scene to scene are abrupt and unprepared for.
I don't know when I gave up hoping to find and see the original film. Eventually, I know I'll bump into it. But, until then....
My remarks here are for those who think they may have seen a "restored" version, but didn't.
No, actually, my remarks are for those claiming to have any right to present this movie to the public. The original American release version should be destroyed; the original TV broadcast version should be destroyed; the "restored" TV broadcast version should be destroyed; the "restored' VHS version should be destroyed.
Get the director's cut done and - burn all previous versions!