Shawn Spencer I love Westerns. The best ones (Naked Spur, The Searchers, Ride the High Country, Shane, etc.) told gritty tales of struggle and hardship, of man at war with nature, evil and himself. They are not alabaster saints, they are real people struggling with real temptation and real failures, but in the end they are redemption stories of people making amends and saving others from their mistakes.In "Lonesome Dove", however, the message is different: Life Stinks and Then You Die.8 hours of talk, talk, talk with no point but vanity and stupidity will get you killed. If that's news to anyone, just surf the internet for five minutes, it'll save you wasting a lot of time.

Mike B This is much more than a Western – it's a great story. Everything in this six hour epic is captivating – the characters, the settings, the music. There is an authenticity that is beyond reproach. It's got tenderness and pain (get the Kleenexes out for the last couple of hours). This is truly a magnificent performance by all. A must watch!I have watched it a few times since it was first released on TV in the late 1980's. I am still enthralled by it and so happy to see it now on the clarity of Blue-ray (still remember the crappy version I recorded on VHS)!Read the book too – it provides more depth to this awe-inspiring story!

Mr-Fusion I don't want to muck about with hyperbole on this, but . . . yeah, "Lonesome Dove" really is that good. And even though the word epic has been vastly diluted lately, it certainly applies here. This miniseries ably translates the sprawling journey to the screen, a story that spans the length of the United States, Texas to Montana (and back). Characters converge, separate and reunite later on, the trip fraught with peril, but a deeply moving adventure nonetheless.Captain Augustus McCrae is one of my very favorite literary characters, and Robert Duvall is the ideal casting choice. Same for Tommy Lee Jones; theirs is a curmudgeonly but unbreakable bond. And they're backed by a cast that's pretty much everyone who was working in Hollywood in 1989.If there's a negative to this, it's that the claustrophobic TV aspect ratio doesn't do the vistas justice. But it works wonders in spite of the format's limitations.Good luck keeping a dry eye by series' end.9/10

ShelbyTMItchell A lot of Westerns are out of date these days. But this is an exception. Due not just to the star power headed by Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones. As both are the lead characters.With the support from Rick Schroder, Danny Glover, Angelica Houston, Diane Lane, Robert Urich, etc. As they face lots of adversity and lots of casualties due to the fact, of moving the cattle of Duvall's and Jones from the South to Montana for a better life.It has a great a script and a great acting along the way. For four nights. It also spawned two sequels in the process. It turned into a ratings blockbuster for CBS when it aired originally in 1989.We now have the tapes to the mini series! You will not be disappointed.