Into the West is really excellent up to the point of the introduction of the railroad, and then there is a significant decline in quality. Nothing represents this better than the locales chosen for filming. The first episodes look stunning and appropriate for the story, but once the trains start, it looks as if budget and artistic integrity ran out. All scenery and sets make no attempt to be realistic, and certainly not grand, as is the case in the first episodes. Wounded Knee, Little Big Horn, and all prairie scenes look like California's gritty Mojave Desert. What the hell happened?! Also, the acting degenerates. It's as if casting directors went to B-college drama departments and recruited line readers. And let's not forget that the focus of the story that is so clear early on--namely, of presenting an uplifting American saga--degenerates quickly and badly into a ham-fisted,hate-all-white-people screed that leaves one feeling soiled and cheated. The first parts of Into the West are quite good, a 10 really, but the last parts are dreadful, worthy of a 4. And the concept of changing actors for aging characters has to be one of the worst decisions ever made by Stephen Spielberg. Episodes 4, 5, and 6 should be discarded and redone.
Review of Into the West
