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The first feature film to be photographed and projected in the panoramic three-camera Cinerama process, this epic Western is almost as expansive as the West itself, chronicling a pioneering family's triumphs and tragedies in numerous episodes spanning three generations and a half century of westward movement. Divided into five segments directed by veteran Hollywood filmmakers Henry Hathaway, George Marshall, and the legendary John Ford (and including uncredited sequences directed by Richard Thorpe), the film was one of the most ambitious ever made by the venerable MGM studio. Its stellar cast reads like a virtual who's who of Hollywood's biggest stars. Debbie Reynolds plays a sturdy survivor of many pioneering dangers, and the eventual widow of a gambler (Gregory Peck), who is later reunited with her nephew (George Peppard), a Civil War veteran and cavalryman who heads for San Francisco as the transcontinental railroad is being built. Many more characters and stories are woven throughout this epic film, which is dramatically uneven but totally engrossing with its stunning vistas and countless outdoor locations in Illinois, Kentucky, South Dakota, Monument Valley in Arizona, California, Colorado, and elsewhere. --Jeff Shannon
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
An historic epic in more ways than one.,
This review is from: How the West Was Won [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)
This is a big movie in almost every respect. A big cast of big names, covering a big sweep of US history. The vistas are big across the extra-wide-screen Cinerama process. It has big ambitions, and it mostly succeeds. This movie about history is itself an imporant piece of history.It's not a perfect movie, and the home video experience is significantly diminished from the theatre presentation. Still, it's surprising how well it holds up. On the surface, there's a "white man brought civilization to a primitive land and primitive people" spirit. But the actual story is much more nuanced, showing the spread of that "civilization" was a decidedly mixed bag. The "Civil War" chapter is a particularly good example of using drama to explain political issues. A major achievement of this edition is the almost-completely-seamless integration of the Cinerama image into a single wide frame. The Cinerama experiment is an important chapter in the development of film as an art form. That story is well told in this disk's supplemental feature "Cinerama Adventure," a worthy documentary in its own right. The story behind the Cinerama process is a fascinating piece of film history. An important Blu-ray bonus is the "Smilebox" presentation of the film. It gives a pretty good hint of what it was like to see the film on the original curved Cinerama screen.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Classic,
By
This review is from: How the West Was Won [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)
Nothing need be said about this movie, blu-ray enhances the experience as we would expect but to fully appreciate the smilebox you will need the 50' screen.Then it truly becomes the masterpiece it was meant to be.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
The penultimate jaw dropping western,
By Trevor Street "StreetScape" (Toronto,Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: How the West Was Won (Ultimate Collector's Edition) (DVD)
This is the kind of epic film-making that has all but disappeared. Three of the top western directors each took on a major segment (Henry Hathaway The Rivers and the Plains, John Ford The Civil War, George Marshall The Railroad) of this huge sprawling family saga. Made to be appreciated on the Cinerama screen (a wide screen process involving three seperate projectors that created the "you are there" illusion by encompassing your peripheral vision) but modified for DVD viewing, it still remains hugeky impressive in its sweep by any standard.With an enormous cast of stars most of whom are Hollywood legends (John Wayne,Henry Fonda,James Stewart,Gregory Peck...etc), breathtaking photography and a majestic score,it is the "Gone With The Wind" of Westerns. It has all the major elements of westerns come and gone but still acts as a good historical primer as to how the American west was settled. Deservedly winning three Oscars and nominated for five others this is a film that for once can live up to that most overused of words: awesome!
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