Best movie of this year hands down!

Strong and Moving!

People are voting emotionally.

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

You have heard of the expression "cooler heads prevail(ed)" ... not in this case. Talk about things spiraling out of control. And it's all based on a real family feud. So during the end credits you get some of the "history" of the characters you just watched. One thing is for sure: Kevin Costner shows his love for Western once again. And him and Bill Paxton do a phenomenal job carrying this movie.Of course there are a lot of other people. Even one regular Deadwood actor (Powers Boothe) is in it. Which while generally a good thing it might remind some of how great Deadwood was. Not knocking this down in any way, it's really good, but compared to Deadwood it does slack in a couple of things. But this really is about human drama, about not being able to let go of things and having trouble to find peace. Now there might be some moments where you find yourself also raging at what characters do. So it's not that it is completely easy to just forgive and forget. Especially at a time where revenge was more common, even though it was considered illegal ...

I started watching this on Netflix. I stopped watching this about 20 minutes in. Historical blunders everywhere! Just one example: In one scene men are using a two-man saw to cut a tree. They are sawing on the downhill side of the tree, which is NOT the way to do it at all. One would use an axe to cut a wedge out of the down side of the tree, then go uphill of the tree and saw on that side. The tree would lean downhill, and fall in the natural direction. The way the men are depicted trying to do it would only result in a saw stuck in the tree. Some will say, what does it matter? Sawing trees is not critical to the plot. But if the little details of life are wrong, the greater parts of this mini-series are also suspect. I couldn't stand to watch it. Bleh.

Apparently, this set a viewing record for cable TV and was nominated for no less than 15 Emmies. On one hand, it is good to know there is a modern audience for westerns, a genre that has largely drowned in the Lucas-noise of the last 30 years. And I fully support the mini-series format, it may just be the right canvas for cinematic narrative these days—indeed, it seems that quality American narrative tradition has largely moved to TV.On the other hand, we get close to 5 hours of the following:1) repetitive bushwacking to the point of complete numbness, and the same dour, one-note mugging throughout by rival family patriarchs Costner and Paxton. (this Deadwood writer ought to have studied Lonesome Dove: you CAN show broken lives in the afterglow of dreams)2) trite soap opera on an emotional level, with a Romeo and Juliet subplot that entirely drags this down like the James subplot does Twin Peaks.3) the same bleached , dishwater look throughout, supposedly in the name of authenticity.4) The story here is of celebrities and all the American violence that fuels and prints the legend. This is so old and familiar by now, it neither exposes nor deconstructs anything. It feels as tacked-on now, as it was once fresh in Liberty Valance.I'd like to think Costner is to fault, who like other megastars Redford and Cruise always has to appear in a streamlined environment that doesn't challenge. But no, I think what really happened was TV executives who conceived this on the lowest common level possible. It worked.

I'll admit right away that I'm predisposed to like this sort of material. Ever since I had the pleasure of watching THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH, I've been caught up in watching historical (or historically tinged) TV drama and I've invariably liked all of them, from the greatness of ROME to even the not-so-greatness of CAMELOT.HATFIELDS & MCCOYS was especially interesting to me because it tells a story that I'm entirely unfamiliar with, about feuding families in a post-Civil War America. I'd never heard of either family beforehand, but by watching this I became caught up in the storyline, wanting to know more about them.The production values are strong and director Kevin Reynolds brings the same credibility to the proceedings as he did with TRISTAN & ISOLDE, sweeping you into the authenticity and keeping you in that world. The tit-for-tat nature of the violence is enthralling and the series rushes through the plotting at speed, with plenty of story to pack into roughly four and a half hours.Kevin Costner is the big name headlining the cast, and it's intriguing to see him playing an antihero for once. His grim and grimy patriarch is a far cry from the kind of clean-cut heroes he played of old, and he brings a certain stubborn maturity to the part. Bill Paxton's character has less depth, but I've never seen this guy give a bad performance yet. And check out that supporting cast: a welcome return to the screen for Powers Boothe, an appearance from a personal favourite (THE TUDORS' Nick Dunning) and Tom Berenger giving a larger-than-life, scene-stealer of a performance.The ending is a slight disappointment - if you're expecting everything to be neatly tied up you'll won't get it - but the journey to get there is thoroughly entertaining and the History Channel have done themselves proud. More like this, please!