Title:
Into The West: Part 5 “Casualties Of War” & Part 6 “Ghost Dance”
Stars:
Lew Alexander, Irene Bedard, Gil Birmingham, Keith Carradine, Tyler Christopher,
Rachel Leigh Cook, Joanna Going, Warren Kole, Nakota LaRance, Joseph M. Marshall
III, Russell Means, Tatanka Means, David Midthunder, Judge Reinhold, Jonathan
Scarfe, Craig Sheffer, Eric Schweig, Eddie Spears, Richard Speight Jr., Chaske
Spencer, John Terry, and Sheila Tousey
Writers:
William Mastrosimone and Kirk Ellis
Based On
A Story By: William Mastrosimone
Directors:
Timothy Van Patton and Jeremy Poeswa
Executive
Producer: Steven Spielberg
Running
Time: 120 minutes per episode with commercials
Media:
TNT and DreamWorks Television Original Miniseries (NTSC DVD Screeners)
World
Premieres: Part 5 - Friday, July, 15, 2005, at 8pm (ET/PT)/Part 6 – Friday,
July 22, 2005, at 8pm (ET/PT)
Network:
Turner Network Television (Check your local cable/satellite listings for
channel)
TV
Rating: Not Available At Time Of Review
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
I have to give credit to Steven Spielberg and everyone involved with bringing “Into The West” to the small screen. As Mr. Spielberg has proven with his previous miniseries events like “Band Of Brothers” for HBO and “Taken” for SCI FI, he and those he works with can create a miniseries for television that are as close to the classics of the 1970s and early 1980s as one is likely to find. I mean Hallmark has also done a great job with resurrecting the miniseries for television, but the majority of their programs last about three days max and few are as epic as Spielberg’s. “Band Of Brothers,” which had approximately ten one hour installments and “Taken, which had ten roughly 90 minute installments, “Into The West,” which only has six 90 minute (without commercial interruption) actually seems kind of short in comparison. However I have found the journey worth taking although the second half is extremely bleak because from what I have seen, it cannot be denied that the American Indians suffered a forced divided nationalism where they gave up their freedoms, belongings, religion, language, and lives all in a country that is supposed to be built on a constitution that is support the civil rights and liberties of all American citizens and the American Indians more than anyone else in this country are the true original American citizens. The massacre at Wounded Knee sequence is so gut wrenching and apocalyptic that I felt like I was watching a scene from a Holocaust film with women and children mercilessly being gunned down and thrown into mass graves as if they were less than animals and then the bodies of the dead were looted for things like pelts of Indian hair because they could be sold for money. That is like the Nazis taking the gold-filled teeth of their Jewish, Slavic, and Gypsy victims. Perhaps my analogy is uncalled for, but as far as I can see from the newspapers to the movies crimes against humanity occur indiscriminately throughout human history, which is ironic since it is often based on a form prejudice.
My only problem with “Into The West” as a whole is that the final resolution seems too polished and almost watered down. Perhaps it is because I screened the segments in almost the same timeframe as they aired on TNT, but I just feel that the first half of “Into The West” held together more cohesively than the second half and perhaps the best way to view the miniseries is to watch the two halves in succession instead of individually to know for certain if I’m right or wrong. While it is necessary for the character of “Loved By The Buffalo” to see the terrible vision from episode one come to fruition, the attempt the bring everything full circle seems forced with Jacob Wheeler Senior popping up when I was almost certain that he would have died of old age by then. The idea of the Wheeler family and separately the surviving Lakota tribe (smiling no less!) telling the story of their respective extended families history is admirable, but I think it should be a bit more solemn because these characters suffered, died, etc. Not everyone in this tale ends up better than when it began and I guess that is as it should be since unfortunately that’s the way life is and drama without conflict is boring. I just feel the ending fell short of the emotional impact I thought the miniseries was building up to. There are also too many walk on cameos in this miniseries that detract from the story of the families rather than enhance it.
The way these episodes were shown is that each weekend a new installment aired at 8pm (ET/PT) on a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday with encores that followed. There was a short break then during the fourth of July weekend and then the concluding three installments aired from Friday, July 8, 2005 to Friday, July 22, 2005. Below is the play pattern in which the episodes were scheduled.
All Times (ET/PT)
Episode 1
Three-Play Weekend:
Friday, June 10, 2005, at 8pm
Saturday, June 11, 2005, at 8pm
Sunday, June 12, 2005, at 8pm
Encores:
Friday, June 10, at 10pm
Sunday, June 12, at 10pm
Monday, June 12, at 12am
Sunday, June 19, at 6pm
Monday, July 4, at 2pm
Episode 2
Three-Play Weekend:
Friday, June 17, 2005, at 8pm
Saturday, June 18, 2005, at 8pm
Sunday, June 19, 2005, at 8pm
Encores:
Friday, June 17, at 10pm
Sunday, June 19, at 10pm
Sunday, June 26, at 6pm
Monday, July 4, at 4pm
Episode 3
Three-Play Weekend:
Friday June 24, 2005, at 8pm
Saturday, June 25, 2005, at 8pm
Sunday, June 26, 2005, at 8pm
Encores:
Friday, June 24, at 10pm
Sunday, June 26, at 10pm
Monday, July 4, at 6pm
Sunday, July 10, at 6pm
Episode 4
Three-Play Weekend
Friday, July 8, 2005, at 8pm
Saturday, July 9, 2005, at 8pm
Sunday, July 10, 2005, at 6pm
Encores:
Friday, July 8, at 10pm
Sunday, July 10, at 10pm
Sunday, July 17, at 6pm
Episode 5
Three-Play Weekend:
Friday, July 15, 2005 at 8pm
Saturday, July 16, 2005, at 8pm
Sunday, July 17, 2005, at 8pm
Encores:
Friday, July 15, at 10pm
Sunday, July 17, at 10pm
Sunday, July 24, at 6pm
Episode 6
Three-Play Weekend:
Friday, July 22, 2005, at 8pm
Saturday, July 23, 2005, at 8pm
Sunday, July 24, 2005, at 8pm
Encores:
Friday, July 22, at 10pm
Sunday, July 24, at 10pm
© Copyright 2005 By
Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.