A superb, entertaining series that is well written and includes believable, detailed reenactments with insightful commentary by several historians. Actor Brian Dennehey is well used as the series narrator (his actor son even appears in one of the segments). Especially well done are the Wyatt Earp and Wild Bill Hickock segments. The versatile New Mexico locale where the series was shot is used creatively by the director for the various reenactments that took place all across the west--the New Mexico desert substitutes for Tombstone, Arizona; a New Mexico aspen forest is the setting for a Wyoming train robbery by the Wild Bunch, etc. This is probably the best researched documentary series about the 19th century American frontier in the past 20 years. Thankfully, this is a return to meat-and-potatoes television documentaries and it mercifully lacks the depressing white guilt and introspective gloom of the vastly overrated PBS- TV documentary "The West" directed by filmmaker Rick Burns. Instead, this series celebrates the American West and its people; it's unafraid to find the frontier spirit in America's splendid past of reckless, lawless freedom. As an aside, the program's bad-boy country-rock theme music is perfect at setting the series' tone.
2 Reviews
Excellent documentary series for Western history and movie fans
classicsoncall16 November 2014
Warning: Spoilers
A few months ago when I pulled up this title, I saw only one review and no mention of the various episodes that make up the ten part documentary series. So utilizing the handy 'Add episode' feature, I managed to figure out how to do just that. I just finished entering my tenth and final review of the individual episodes, so I thought I'd provide a general overview of the series at this point. Hopefully, someone coming to this page might be intrigued enough to explore the individual histories of some of the Old West's most colorful characters. You can do it by linking to Season 1 from the main page.
The "Gunfighters of the West" series hails from 1998 and was put together by Non Fiction Films Inc. There are ten episodes in total, in order they present Wild Bill Hickok, The James Gang, John Wesley Hardin, Bat Masterson, Billy the Kid, The Earp Brothers, Elfego Baca, Tom Horn, The Dalton Gang and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
The individual stories are presented with voice over narration by actor Brian Dennehy. Scenes and vignettes from the lives of the historical figures are reenacted by different actors in each chapter. In somewhat unique fashion, you never hear any of the actors speak any lines, it's all done by the narrator describing an event or fleshing out history of the subject under review. In support of the reenactments, you have various authors, researchers and historians offering their views on the subject in question, inserting their personal feelings from time to time.
All of the episodes follow a similar format. As each chapter gets under way, a defining event in the life of the central character is recreated and expanded on to open the story. For example, the one on The Earps begins with the Gunfight at the OK Corral. From there, the narration backtracks to the origins of the individual or gang in question, and offers historical perspective on what was going at the time to frame events for the viewer. I got the feeling that sometimes the chronology got away from the writers and dates of some events got muddled here and there, but overall that didn't seem too critical.
The ten chapters are almost evenly divided among lawmen and outlaws, with the bad guys featured in six stories. There's one on someone I never heard of before, Elfego Baca, a lawman in New Mexico whose fame basically relies on a single event in his life. However it's an outstanding event that in some ways defies credibility and I think any viewer would find it fascinating. I tried to think of someone who might have been included that wasn't and couldn't really think of any. One choice would have been Doc Holliday but he was included in the Earp Brothers segment.
Overall, this is a well researched history for Western and Western movie fans. You can pick up a lot of interesting trivia about famous gunslingers of the past which will help you pick apart some of the nonsense that goes into modern day movie making. Or not so modern if you go back to films of the Thirties and Forties. On the flip side, you'll also see how amazingly accurate some film makers got it, offering "Tombstone" as an example in the case of the Earps and the Gunfight at the OK Corral. If there's a downside, I guess it might be in the sometimes static feel of the presentations and the monotone of Dennehy's narration. Not a big deal if you want to learn more about some of the country's most colorful characters of the past.
The "Gunfighters of the West" series hails from 1998 and was put together by Non Fiction Films Inc. There are ten episodes in total, in order they present Wild Bill Hickok, The James Gang, John Wesley Hardin, Bat Masterson, Billy the Kid, The Earp Brothers, Elfego Baca, Tom Horn, The Dalton Gang and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
The individual stories are presented with voice over narration by actor Brian Dennehy. Scenes and vignettes from the lives of the historical figures are reenacted by different actors in each chapter. In somewhat unique fashion, you never hear any of the actors speak any lines, it's all done by the narrator describing an event or fleshing out history of the subject under review. In support of the reenactments, you have various authors, researchers and historians offering their views on the subject in question, inserting their personal feelings from time to time.
All of the episodes follow a similar format. As each chapter gets under way, a defining event in the life of the central character is recreated and expanded on to open the story. For example, the one on The Earps begins with the Gunfight at the OK Corral. From there, the narration backtracks to the origins of the individual or gang in question, and offers historical perspective on what was going at the time to frame events for the viewer. I got the feeling that sometimes the chronology got away from the writers and dates of some events got muddled here and there, but overall that didn't seem too critical.
The ten chapters are almost evenly divided among lawmen and outlaws, with the bad guys featured in six stories. There's one on someone I never heard of before, Elfego Baca, a lawman in New Mexico whose fame basically relies on a single event in his life. However it's an outstanding event that in some ways defies credibility and I think any viewer would find it fascinating. I tried to think of someone who might have been included that wasn't and couldn't really think of any. One choice would have been Doc Holliday but he was included in the Earp Brothers segment.
Overall, this is a well researched history for Western and Western movie fans. You can pick up a lot of interesting trivia about famous gunslingers of the past which will help you pick apart some of the nonsense that goes into modern day movie making. Or not so modern if you go back to films of the Thirties and Forties. On the flip side, you'll also see how amazingly accurate some film makers got it, offering "Tombstone" as an example in the case of the Earps and the Gunfight at the OK Corral. If there's a downside, I guess it might be in the sometimes static feel of the presentations and the monotone of Dennehy's narration. Not a big deal if you want to learn more about some of the country's most colorful characters of the past.
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