Customer Reviews

American Experience - The Way West: How the West Was Lost & Won, 1845-1893

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

As movies and TV (except HBO) become so stupid and banal as to be unwatchable, I find myself watching more and more documentaries, and this is the best I've ever seen.

Unlike Ric Burns "The West" (which covers everything from the Conquistidors in Mexico to the Indians of the Northwest), this focuses almost entirely on the unending battle for the great plains between native americans and the whites. The photography, the narration, the actors readings, and especially the music are first rate, all lending to a sense of inevitable tragedy.

To me this seemed very balanced in presenting both sides of the story. It documents the breaking of treaties and the atrocities committed by Indians every bit as much as those committed by whites. There are several very graphic photos of white men mutilated by Indians. (This is NOT for children.)

I'm at a loss to understand the previous reviews saying this portrays "all white Christian men" as evil and all Indians as victims. Over an hour is dedicated to just the Battle of the Little Big Horn. How does that portray Indians as helpless victims?
The fact that these reviewers feel this is an attack on all white Christian men tells us much more about those reviewers than it does about this incredibly moving documentary.

I've seen both this film and Ken Burns' "The West", twice for each. Although this piece is not as long, detailed and comprehensive as Ken Burns' marathon version on the West, it is still a good piece. At least, it serves as an introduction, or is suitable for people who don't like heavy loads.

As the subtitle says, it only covers the years from 1845 to 1893. This arrangement is good enough for most people since most events happened during this period, including Custer's Last Stand, Chief Joseph, Red Cloud's War, Fort Laramie Treaty, Sitting Bull, Buffalo Bill...and so on. In addition, views from both red and white men are presented, which I think it quite balanced.

The story about native people is just one part of the history in the West, which is the main focus of this DVD. For those who want to know more, for example the Mormons, transcontinental railroads, Texas, Gold Rush...etc, I recommend Ken Burns's version.

Overall, I regard this piece as a warm-up for the American West history.

I don't know what ax the previous two reviewers had to grind. The documentary gives balanced views from both sides of a very complex story. There are amazing images. This is one of the best documentary series ever produced. I am a college professor and I regularly show episodes to my Introduction to America Studies class. The students say it teaches them things they never learned in American history classes before.

I wanted an unbiased and detailed review of the impact the US Government and white settlers had on native tribes. This video provides an excellent historical composite of the dishonest and brutal plan of the American Government to basically remove and/or annhilate the tribes from their lands so the West could be exploited and ruled by whites. A sad commentary on American history that forever changed our country and native tribes who were lied to, cheated and psychologically and physically brutalized and murdered for greed and western expansion. A wonderful profile of a noble, resourcesful, environmentaly sensitive people who lost their place on their land and to be doomed to imprisonment on reservations and subsistance dependence on the US Government. This video series should be required for all high school American history classes. This is also a valuable resource to have in a personal US history collection...another PBS winner.

In style and format, this has all the markings of a Ken Burns documentary, despite being by Ric Burns (the archival photos, actors reading letters and official documents, even the same overall narrator's voice). But the style and format work very well. I teach Native American Lit at a large community college, and I find my students have only a sketchy idea that the indigenous peoples of this continent were "mistreated," but they don't actually know any of the history, what drove both sides to behave as they did. And they need to understand that history, in order to understand even contemporary works by Native authors (why all the Custer jokes, for instance; many of my students don't know who Custer was). I find Episode 4, on the Ghost Dance, particularly useful in giving a sense of the conflict of world views and ideas between the Euro-Americans and the Native peoples. And it is powerfully moving; some students have wept. The Ken Burns documentary is more comprehensive for a history of the West in general, but--as previous reviewers have noted--if you want to get more in-depth information about the Euro-Native conflicts, this one can't be beat.

Ken Burns is an amazing documentarian. He brings the West alive in this video. I learned things that I did not know previously. Take the time to watch. It is well worth the time.

A riveting overview of the western experience. Especially toppy on the Indian wars on the Great Plains.

MY WIFE IS A DESCENDANT OF THE NATIVE AMERICANS. BUT, THAT BEING SAID. I WANT THE TRUTH. I WANT A BALANCED, HONEST, ACCURATE DOCUMENTARY TO WATCH. I DON'T WANT SOME OF THE FACTS WHILE IGNORING MOST OF THE IMPORTANT FACTS. THERE IS SOME REALY GOOD INFORMATION PRESENTED HERE. I MEAN SOME REALLY INTERESTING AND THOUGHT PROVOKING MOMENTS. BUT, WHEN THEY ATTEMPT TO BLAME ALL CHRISTIANS FOR THE GENOCIDE OF THE NATIVE AMERICANS THEY LOSE A LOT OF CREDIBILITY. BE FORWARNED, THIS PRODUCTION IS A GREAT INSULT TO ALL CHRISTIANS. CAN YOU IMAGINE WHAT THE RESPONSE WOULD BE IF THEY ATTEMPTED TO INSULT ALL MUSLIMS BECAUSE OF THOSE WHO PERPETRATED THE 911 TERRORISM AT THE WORLD TRADE CENTER. WELL, I HAVE TRAVELED TO TURKEY. THERE ARE A LOT OF VERY KIND HEARTED AND GENEROUS MUSLIMS IN THE WORLD WHO WANT NOTHING BUT TO BE LEFT ALONE SO THEY CAN ENJOY THEIR FAMILIES, FRIENDS AND LIFE IN GENERAL. WATCH 500 NATIONS AND KEN BURN'S PRESENTS THE WEST WITH THIS PRODUCTION. THEN YOU WILL GET A GOOD OVERVIEW.

One sided "politically correct" view that all white men (particularly Christian white men) are evil, greedy, murderous slugs. Whereas, all native Americans are noble, nurturing victims.

The Way West is not so much a "documentary" as it is a diatribe against Western Culture. Watch it for yourself and decide. But while you do may I say suggest you think about the fact that all men are created equal which not only relates to the rule of law but also in our nature as well. In short, all of us are capable of good and bad.

On a completely different note, the documentary makes much ado about property rights. Specifically, that the "White Man" because of his "Judeo Christian "creation legend"" believes in "conguering the land" and private property rights. While the "native American" (itself a misnomer ) believed that the earth is our "mother" and it belongs to all. I find this ironic because this documentaries primary argument is that the White Man stole the Indian's land but how could that be if the Indian did not own the land. Taking this point one step further it could be argued that the Native American's viewpoint is that that they "own" all the land that they ever passed through.