boblangridge-79889 Re: The American West. I normally enjoy programs like the American West and rarely challenge quoted 'facts'. However, I must take exception to one glaring error which the narrator (I believe to be Robert Redford) quotes about 20 minutes into the first program in the series. He states "from the Missouri River to the coast of California the frontier is almost 500 million square miles of wide open land". Whilst I appreciate that correct grammar is often sacrificed in order to provide the viewer with the basic facts, this statement is clearly wrong. The entire surface of the Earth is just under 197 million square miles which is well short of "almost 500 million square miles". Please keep the program factual. Bob Langridge

robotovictor This Series are the perfect introduction to the Old West for the young and not so well familiarized with it audience and good overall summary that will enjoy the vast mass of western lovers (like myself) that had already seen all those movie versions of the popular stories. All those Hollywood titles evolved trough the years towards better and more accurate depiction of characters and this documentary series of are the last and best so far to show it altogether, in a larger scale.There are some new facts for everyone to discover in the series. For me the big revelations came in the Sioux story with the fact that the mass extinction of an animal kinds was actually masterminded. The photograph of four thousand skulls of killed animals represents what was deemed heroism in it's real light for first time like that. That is the new course to truthfulness in the depiction followed now in the 21st century. And doesn't steal any of the drama! As Isaac Asimov has written: ''The Truth is the most powerful Lie''. There is a new fact to everybody here or there, i guess..or not but the strong point is the big picture. The big question is what it would have been if the authors have divided the story lines in separate episodes focusing at only one at a time instead of focusing of separate and uninterrupted development of the not linked characters. That would have given them the opportunity to include also the story of Geronimo that took place mainly after all of the rest story lines. I bet new facts would have appear that have not been covered even by the perfect 1993 Geronimo biopic.. But the timeline of that relentless Indian and his fate were different to be honest. Here we have another goal: the rapid loom of an epoch and its fatally bittersweet end.The 8 episodes can't cover everything but focus on a somewhat of a quarter century period (1865-1890) in which the Wild West became Old West and gradually died. Perhaps that i why the four separate stories are presented not separately but part form the only flop: the alleged meeting between Jesse James and Billy The Kid in Arizona where its very doubtful the former has ever been. Good at least it is admitted it part of a LEGEND. Because of that it should not have been part of the otherwise accurate series.It is not so important how many gangs and members Jesse James had or who shot who and where exactly in Tombstone. What does matter are many facts that seem to have been contradicted or set aside so far in the big cinema: like Pat Garett as former member of a gang. What we are being shown fully here is the formation of the certain stereotypes of the West instead of losing ourselves counting bullets and badges. We are the ones who unveil the facts missing from the known history while set in a overall situation where we are capable of accomplishing that task that we are doing anyway... Or Asking and answering to what extent exactly was Jesse James following a credo of defeated but not surrendering South. The Big story in this large glimpse of the Wild West where ''people didn't live that long'' is of Wyatt Earp. IT the best known as facts and stands alone and most defining for the image of the era. And in the same time was never presented in such a full light, given history, reasons and ways of Wyatt that are both new and determining. i will not reveal it here of course. I will just comment how really struck do i feel that is possible the mass audience (at the time) to be so fond of the criminals, proclaiming them heroes while celebrating defeat of the law enforcement.With grasping the historic era of the USA emerging as the one and only free country and promised land for settlers from around the globe while being born in tones of unlawfulness and mortal sins that are present not only in all of the characters (except the Native Americans) but mark with filthy stigma all layers of that society. I almost can not believe how bad was that Old West with real sheriffs unable to do justice and even being persecuted or hired to ''convert'' into man hunters by rival governor candidates. As one of the documentary specialists said it in the series: The Justice system was ... (totally corrupt)- probably cut in the editing as it sounds... not good - left after the editing.Everyone has to see how the West was ''cultivated''. Because this is the foundation of the so-called Modern World we live in. There is good and bad mainly for everyone to find...

Ian Van Temperley Well what can I say , the budget went totally on the stars who read a script about the history. The remake footage is terrible , not accurate to the time. Colonel Custer looks like Joe Dirt. Come on stop wasting my time and your money. I am sure every historian and actor that has been involved with this project still hasn't watched it , The subject matter and the whole idea could have been brilliant but alas it fails in every way. Costume mistakes and mowed grass outside a Cavalry fort, Black men playing Indians and ladies riding horses as cavalry soldiers. Lets stop trying to remake action footage with weekend warriors and get some professionals in on the project. The only good thing about the series is I watched two episodes and it made me laugh until I cried. I am sure the was not intended.

tbetts26 Sorry I love these documentaries on the West but this one has to be one of the worst. It's full of inaccuracies, mistakes and much left out of each character's story. The bouncing back to characters is irritating to say the least so most continuity is lost.When you never show Doc Holliday, Bat Masterson or any of the other Earp brothers when talking about his time in Dodge City you've lost a lot of the story of Wyatt Earp. No mention of his wife Matty or the rest of the family.Once scene in episode 6 shows Brisco County and Bowler from the Adventures of Brisco County Jr. riding into town. Now how can you take a documentary seriously after that. Robert Redford should be ashamed of such a poor production.