Best movie of this year hands down!

Fresh and Exciting

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Why not make it available? Why would you waste the efforts of the crew? Is it because you care more about profits and less about art? Come on imdb/amazon, at least let me ask a faq... tease.

Although somewhat reminiscent of "Hell on Wheels", this Western is a little different. The man called Edge is the kind of anti-hero-on-a-mission-of-revenge who can callously kill someone and then make a good (sometimes) joke about it. He never seems to be scared of anything, as if he figures he should have died long ago and is living on borrowed time, but living to the fullest. The Sheriff tells him, "You are evil but you got principles. I like that." The Sheriff (played by great character actor William Sadler) is evil himself, so he should know.As bloody as the first half is, the second half of this hour-plus pilot is several times bloodier. "Gratuitously" comes to mind. The only innocent character, Benny, for example, did not deserve to die, but he does. Also, the "Epilogue" goes way over the top, set at a private men's club in St. Louis, Missouri where two prostitutes--at least one if not both male--are openly fellating two club members (not even in a back room).Up until the final, nihilistic carnage and garishly decadent epilogue, I liked the gritty appearance of rundown farms, rundown towns and rundown people. I also liked that the women's hairstyles approximate 19th century styles more or less. (In so many Westerns, the women have unmistakably 20th century hair.)The banter between Edge and others is funny although sometimes corny. Edge says to the Sheriff something like, "If your yapping ever comes close to making a point, wake me up." Or better--and this is approximate, too--he says to the saloon girl, "I just started my job, and I get paid $2.50 a day". She says, "I charge $5, so I'll see you tomorrow". Or even punnier, he says, "The Bible says a man turned to salt". She replies, "He should have turned to liquor, that's the cure". At the end she asks him if he has seen the "gilt box" (the story has a maguffin as well as revenge). He replies, "I've seen plenty of guilt" (pun intended) "but I haven't seen your box"--crude double entendre intended.Amazon makes these pilot episodes and you can never tell at this point which one will become a regular series. For example, their much better series "The Man in the High Castle" was shown as a pilot over a year ago, and finally, this month, there is more than one episode with more to come in less than a week. So the jury may be out on "Edge" for a long time or a short time. It depends, allegedly, on how many viewers give Amazon positive feedback.

I am rather partial to a Western, and this one actually has a bit of promise to it. It's action packed, has some good dialogue and some convincing performances.Ryan Kwanten is particularly good.But, by golly it's probably the most gratuitously violent programme I've ever seen on TV, and I've seen plenty of violent stuff. Also, very few of the characters are remotely sympathetic - when you feel most sorry for a dog and a horse, then there's something wrong. So, Shane Black and Co may need to modify this one for a full series. I'm unlikely to watch it unless it tones down the series and makes its main character more sympathetic.

It amazes me how genuinely bad this show is. The characters are a random assembly of tired clichés; the bad guy who is actually good, the good guy who is actually bad, the fortunate son, the token "magic negro" black character. The plot is entirely predictable and trite. A retelling of a well-worn revenge tale, with the one "obscure item" every character is looking for story tacked on for good measure. The action is over the top cartoonish, but attempts to be gritty by showing occasional random body parts falling bloody to the floor.. The acting is pretty bad, with Max Martini technique seemingly based around having a gravelly voice and squinting. However with such one dimensional characters it is hard to blame the actors too much. The only good thing I can say is the pacing is quick. It throws the story at you fast enough that if you don't bother thinking at all you will miss the plot holes, poorly thought out characters, and just dumb story.Maybe some of this is a deliberate choice, a knowing attempt to create a tongue and cheek look at the genre, told in an implausible manner, but trying for a fun tale not to be taken too seriously. However it comes off as a genuine attempt, with little self awareness.