Which version to watch?

It depends how you feel about colors and whether you want to see a version which was approved by Sergio Leone.

Quick recap.

3hr 49min version:

The closest to the version released in Europe in the 1980s and in an interview in 1988 with Oreste De Fornari, Leone said it was his favorite.

Leone: "This one is my version. The other explained things more clearly and it could have been done on TV in two or three parts. But the version I prefer is this one, that bit of reclusiveness is just what I like about it."

Some feel that the colors on the Blu-ray have been pushed a bit but both Leone and Delli Colli have made statements about the colors and how processes were used to obtain much deeper blacks and much more luminous whites.


4hr 11min version:

Leone's first version was 4hr 30mins long but realizing that this would be unacceptable to the studio he reluctantly cut 50 minutes. The studio rejected the shortened version and wanted him to cut a further 60 minutes which Leone refused to do. The studio hired Zach Staenberg who had been working as an editor for the Ladd Co on the original Police Academy movie. A butchered 2hr 20min version was released in America whilst Leone's cut was shown in Europe.

The 4hr 11min version is an attempt to get back to Leone's original 4hr 30min version but 19 minutes are missing, there is a yellowish tint throughout, there are no whites, poor blacks, lack of contrast, the quality of the additional scenes is poor and it's up to individual viewers to decide whether the additional scenes are necessary or improve the movie.

On the positive side a new 4K scan was done for the extended version so there is the possibility of improved sharpness and detail over the previous Blu-ray.

Personally I find the additional scenes interesting and if, in a future version, the missing 19 minutes could be re-inserted and the colors sorted out, I would undoubtedly opt for that version.

So reverting to the original question, it depends on feelings about the importance of colors and authenticity which only individual viewers can decide upon. Both versions are worth watching.

Regarding the true version or nearer to the true version that's easy. The 3hr 49min cut.

We'll never know what Sergio Leone would have made of the 4hr 11min version since he never saw it. Leone's family and the restorers seem to have placed all their faith and trust in what they thought were knowledgeable fans of the movie. Either those fans were misguided on the color and look of the original, or they wanted to put their own stamp on it, or the 4K scan of the original was mishandled, or colors and contrast were adjusted to try to make the existing scenes more compatible with the 22 minutes of additional scenes.