From my favorite movies..

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Most entertainment material is separated into two categories...fiction and non-fiction. Either the story is basically true, or comes straight from the imagination of the mind conceiving it. However, author James Michener (whose epic novel this TV series was based on) introduced the public (or at least perfected the genre) to a new kind of entertainment: Historical fiction. In this type of story-telling, the characters themselves may not be real, but (after careful and much-absorbing research) the places, events, and stories they become involved in could very well have happened. Essentially, it is a telling of history through stories based on detailed research of a certain historical era.Centennial focuses on the development of the American West. From fur trappers and traders Pasquinel and McQueg, to the Indian Wars fought by ruthless men like Col. Skimmerhorn, to the settling of the West (thanks to settlers like Levi Zendt, farmers like Hans "Potatoes" Broombaugh and cattlemen like R.J. Poteet and Jim Lloyd), and finally to the present-day, this TV miniseries follows the development of the American West in a way that very likely transpired. The names are all fictional, of course, but you will easily find yourself wrapped up in the stories of the types of men and women who braved the New Frontier.To review all 20+ hours of this epic series would be a monumental task, but suffice it to say that each new "episode" brings with it a new and interesting perspective as the West chronologically moves forward. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the whole series, though, is how each part hearkens back to the one before it in order to create a chain of events. It's not just one story followed by another...each tale both naturally springs forth from the one preceding it, as well as leads into the next tale. For example, even in the final part of the show set in modern-day "Centennial", the influence of such names as Pasquinel, Lloyd, and Wendell (among others) is just as strong as ever despite those characters having been dead and buried for many years.About the only negative aspect of the series is that it loses a bit of its incredible momentum toward the later episodes. Whether that is due to the Pasquinel/McQueg story arc being probably Michener's most inspired work (so nothing can live up to that original story), or the fact that the show underwent severe production changes after the first few episodes is unknown, but even then it is still very watchable.Thus, I highly recommend this series to any student of history (or those who want to become one!) for its ability to show with reasonable certainty what the American West once looked like. You are almost sure to become endeared to many of the show's classic characters, as they are all very well-acted and bring something a bit different to the table, each and every one. It might take you a while to get through this collection, but I assure you that it is well worth the time spent...in fact, you may even be wishing for more!

I'm enjoying this series, largely because I'm a big fan of such stories; my library includes several works covering the same territory and era by such accomplished writers as Will Henry, A.B. Guthrie, Vardis Fisher and others. It may be correct to describe "Centennial" as the best mini-series ever, but that's close to damning praise considering the general shoddiness of such productions for TV. It has nowhere near the class of the best movies made for the big screen, but my enjoyment of the storyline enables me to overlook its shortcomings...average but typical TV acting, competent but nothing-special photography, and a cheap musical score. It has a certain educational value, but I wonder how effective is the message about the treatment of native Americans and whether it's submerged by the general theme of the settlement of the West. A pity if it is.

Spoilers!I was not as thrilled with this mini-series as the other reviewers. I love historical epics and had high hopes for this one. I missed Centennial when it came out so I was delighted to see all of the popular TV actors of my era again.Unfortunately, I was very disappointed in this production. It went downhill from the intro when Michener walked out on stage to talk to the audience (ala Walt Disney).The story was dry and plodded along so slowly, it was almost painful.The only bright spots were the brilliant acting of Barbara Carrera and Michael Ansara. Richard Chamberlain was quite good as well.Robert Conrad (French Canadian trader) was so blatantly overacting, it was embarrassing to watch; forced garish laughter and singing; simple dialogue over enunciated; forced phony bravado. If his acting hadn't been so awful, it would have been laughable.Every major character's life was filled with tragedy from beginning to end; worse than any soap opera. Only the crooked, deceitful, or murderous characters ended up with long successful lives and natural deaths.Every decent, honest character suffered endless tragic lives and died a senseless, depressing and wholly unnecessary death. The more honest and innocent the character… the more terrible fates which befell them.The entire film was filled with depressing tragedy from beginning to end. Every storyline was filled with backstabbing, nasty crooks; none of which were held accountable for any crime they perpetrated. All of the crooks ended up as prominent citizens with long lives and natural deaths.So basically, if you were a bad guy, you got a long, successful life with very little strife and a natural death. If you were a decent, honest person, then you had nothing but tragedy and a horrible, unnecessary death.My opinion of the quality of production has nothing to do with Michener's message. I heartily agree regarding the intolerable brutalization and killing of our native Americans and the stealing of their lands; the destruction and extinction of so many species of wildlife; the hordes of murderous, thieving thugs and every kind of rotten lowlife imaginable descending upon the wilderness and prairies… looting, cheating and killing. Our ancestors should have been ashamed at how the native Americans and minorities were savagely brutalized, killed and robbed of their land and heritage by crooked politicians, crooked Laws and crooked soldiers. Unfortunately, we still have crooked politicians and rampant corruption today. No one should try to make light of the ugly truths in our history. Nor should it be whitewashed or squelched or suppressed by those with agenda's. We cannot learn from our mistakes if we don't first teach what mistakes were made.Episodes skipped huge gaps in time and were poorly segued; causing enough confusion to make you wonder if you missed an episode. A terrible job of screen writing and directing.Andy Griffith was awful. He was cocky and overacting even in his gait and overly animated head movements while talking.Disk 4, began frequent repetitive flashbacks throughout the last 6 episodes. This was in addition to the narratives at the beginning of every episode catching us up on what had happened on previous episodes.We also had to endure long credits of more than 50 actor's names at the beginning and end of every episode.Even worse was the terrible music score. It was just irritating noise but we had to listen to it on the opening and closing credits of every episode. The DVD's were poorly indexed making it impossible to skip past the credits.The makeup used in the aging process on the actors was flat and dingy like tempera or wall paint. Without sheen, the skin looked dead and fake. The aging appliances would have appeared quite believable if they had added a sheen and faded the skin coloring instead of darkening it.The final episode suddenly jumped from 1930's dust bowl to a 1970's version of "Barnaby Jones" with Andy Griffith… court trials, newspaper reporters, a sinister intrigue with the "baddest" bad guy in town who's hiring thugs, killing and hiding skeletons, etc. This final episode jumped 40 years in the future and did not fit the movie. It really looked as it they had stuck an episode of "Barnaby Jones" on the end and added Sharon Gless as a reporter just like her role in "The Revenge of the Stepford Wives." This last episode did not even look like it belonged as part of the series.The director also endeavored to make the huge cattle ranch look like the movie "Giant" where there is this enormous, grandiose mansion on a totally flat barren wasteland. People still think Texas looks like that stereotype.They did do a good job depicting the dust bowl. While I had heard about the details, this was the best visual depiction I have ever seen.Unfortunately, this movie was just poorly written, directed and poorly acted (which I believe is also due to the directing). It was nonstop crooks, thieves and killers preying on any decent person who set foot on the trails, wilderness and settlements. The story was presented so terribly lopsided, it was like a "how to do it" guide for crooks.The mini-series "John Adams" dealt with similar negativity and strife concerning the events and individuals involved with the founding of our country. Yet it was a brilliantly written, produced, directed mini-series with top-notch acting.Centennial does have some educational merit for depicting the settling of the west in a more realistic manner.

"Centennial" is a great mini-series to discover America… It goes over a span of 200 years…It's about Pasquinel, a solitary trader with the Indians, who made his way through territory no white man has ever traveled, defending his trade and his life… It's about a man from Scotland who had come seeking solitude, but he found friendship and love… His name was Alexander McKeag… It's about the legendary Arapaho leader, Lame Beaver, who knew that the coming of the white man was the beginning of change… "Centennial" is also about strong men, men of destiny and vision… It's also about stubborn men who only saw little in the windy, water-shy stretch of plains to stop for on their trek to a new place called Oregon… "Centennial" is also about men of integrity like the young Mennonite named Levi Zendt who could not know it at the time that he was destined to leave the home he loved and share the dream of Alexander McKeag… It's about traders like Zendt, and soldiers like Maxwell Mercy… It's about men of honor, like Major Mercy who worked tirelessly to bring about a lasting peace… Men of vision like the stubborn German from the Volga named Hans Brumbaugh, who had walked from St. Louis to find gold… It's about the Englishman Oliver Seccombe, who would found an empire from the dream of a lifetime… A ranch that would spread from the Rocky Mountains on the west to the Nebraska border with Longhorns driven north from Texas by John Skimmerhorn and R. J. Poteet…"Centennial is about many more characters like Clay Basket, the fiery Indian woman who shared the life Pasquinel loved best; Lise Bockweiss, the golden-haired lady of St. Louis; Pasquinel brothers whose names would strike terror into the hearts of all white men who thought of crossing the plains; Frank Skimmerhorn, the obsessed militia colonel who led a disgraceful massacre against Cheyenne chief, Broken Thumb; the frontier lawman Alex Dumire who would fall prey to a kind of crime the presence of his badge and gun could not prevent; the traveling actors, Mervin and Maude Wendell who founded its fortune power and prestige on stolen money and a murder