Diagonaldi Very well executed

Calum Hutton It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Lucia Ayala It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

schless74 This is a powerful, emotional, and entertaining telling of major events of the settling of the West, and the clash between white settlers and the various Native tribes spread throughout the Western half of the United States. I stumbled upon the series on youtube, I hadn't previously heard of it, which seems astounding since there are so many well known actors/actresses, and the involvement of Steven Spielberg.One of the things I like about the series is the mysticism and spirituality surrounding the medicine wheel and the buffalo. I know it sounds cliché, but I think it was well done, to have as a central theme the stone medicine wheel of the Sioux and the coming of the wheeled wagons across the west. These wagons really did leave permanent scars on the Earth- where I lived in Wyoming there are still remnants of the Oregon Trail and wagon footprints.And I think many Native tribes did have prophecies about the coming of white people and settlers. The use of native languages is particularly appealing to me- I think to truly understand native cultures of the time you need to hear expressions done in their languages. Some of the prophecies have yet to be decided. It was only 20 years after Wounded Knee that the first world war started, followed by the second. We're now engaged in wars in the middle east which have sometimes been prophecied by natives.So many characters, Thunder Heart Woman and Jacob Wheeler standing out in my opinion (many people did not like the actor portraying Wheeler, but I enjoyed his narration and heart centered actions). The violence of the crow raid, the amazing scenes of the bison hunt, the western scenery, and the telling of important historical events are crucial to the tale. Many Americans are still not knowledgeable about the events.The only criticism is that one family might have been around to see and participate in all the historical events. Otherwise, there of course is creative license, but this is one of the best movies/series about the West I've seen.Recently John Trudell, native artist/activist passed away. I highly recommend his spoken word to those who are interested.

jane smith I liked this series at first, and let me be clear, it was well made and well acted all the way through, but it seemed to lose sight of the characters after the first couple episodes. After a while it no longer focused on the characters, but just on history. Not to mention that there were too many new characters being introduced, killed off, and forgotten about all the time. (for instance, whatever happened to Abraham?) I found it hard to pay attention to what was going on after a while. It seemed to morph from historical fiction to just plain history. Nothing wrong with that, but it wasn't how it began, and it didn't interest me as much. It could have been a lot better if they kept the series more character centric, and focused on less people at a time. And after a while I completely lost interest in the characters, as I began to realize that they were only props to convey a history lesson. They no longer went out and did anything, but instead just conveniently observed historical events, without ever fulfilling their own story. By the end I was glad to be done with it, because the series was beginning to drag. One thing I will say for it is that it portrayed the plight of the native Americans very well (so much so that I found it hard to watch at points)

wsroth I read details offered by IMDb on this movie; various summaries; external reviews & several user reviews: Why no one has mentioned or made reference to Michener's "Centennial" surprises me! One of the first ways we expressed our view of this miniseries was a comparison to the book & miniseries. "Of course Spielberg's "Into the West" was done better than "Centennial" though for it's time "Centennial" was done well & I've viewed it many times.Perhaps The Chronicles negative review might have been less critical had the writer refrained from mentioning the "weeks"?? he spent researching this screenplay. Perhaps his research included reading Michener's book.I feel the use of family lineage to report history through the eyes of those living it is a wonderful venue for teaching it. Far more people would recall what they learn if the reviewed it as a story. I learned more about the Trojan Wars through Marian Zimmer-Bradley's "Firebrand" than all the lectures & reading I experienced in high school & college. As did many children about the Roman gods through "The Lightning Thief"I hope to see more of this means of teaching and hope like my college professor in "Women in Antiquity" did with the use of Zimmer-Bradley's "Firebrand" Being one who failed miserably in history due to an inability to recall anything, I wished I could have understood it as my friend did: "... all as a collection of great stories" If our educators incorporated books like those I've mentioned in their instruction, perhaps even weaker students, much like myself, would not only improve grades but, actually retain the information thereafter.Granted Michener is a fantastic story teller & incorporates a wondrous plethora of fact & insight in his books, but, some of his novels aren't the quickest reads I've experienced, but I'm certain numerous authors have attempted to produce similar learning experiences in their books. After all, most avid readers seeking good fiction want "believability" & research is all the key.

nmckane I finally saw the whole mini series finally on the 29th. I have a great sympathy for the Native Americans. Even though I have European blood there is also some Shawnee and Cherokee. Steven Spielberg did an excellent job best movie since Dances with Wolves. There where a few times when the tears where ready to flow, the white men took the lands from the Indians and it never stopped. I can not image what it was like to live then in constant fear on either side. The historical view was well done, my hat is off to Mr.Spielberg. If the government would have keep there promises than things would have been much different at least I think so.