Review of How the West Was Won (1962) by Wes M — 05 Sep 2012

"Take a good look. You wanted a war, mister, you got one. I hope you're the first man killed in it." Burn. It was really good. If you can stand the length (2 hours 45 mins), and if you like westerns, give it a go.

For 50 years ago, and even for today, this movie has some jaw-dropping effects and shots. Plus, the cast is HUGE, tons of big names, with solid acting across the board (here's just a few: James Stewart, John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Gregory Peck, Walter Brennan).

It should also be known that the movie had 3 directors (including the legendary John Ford), each one devoted to certain scenes and settings. But alas, the movie isn't perfect. My gripes were that it seemed to focus more on the romantic storylines than on the "winning the West" plot, which was supposed to be the whole point of the movie, right? And my other complaint wasn't really a big deal, but needs to be addressed.

This was one of only 10 movies shot with 3-strip Cinerama. Basically, they shot it with 3 cameras, simultaneously, so you had to watch it on 3 screens all at once (neat idea, but costly and didn't catch on).

The home media releases varied, including the 2 vertical lines where the screens met, and also certain releases, like blu-ray, digitally removed the lines. However, they were still visible in some scenes! Or, worse yet, you had an image that molded into itself, like the 3 screens were connected and.

..umm, curvy. So yea, it bugged me haha. But, I must say, for the most part, they did a fairly good job restoring it. Sorry, didn't mean to ramble. Good movie.