SAVE $20 - How the West Was Won (Blu-ray Book) [Blu-ray] $14.99
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Price: $34.99 $14.99 You save: $20
With courage, sinew and conflict: that’s how the West was won. With three directors, five interlocked stories, some of movie history’s most legendary action scenes and a constellation of acting talent: that’s how How the West Was Won was filmed. Henry Fonda, Gregory Peck, Debbie Reynolds, James Stewart and John Wayne are among the big names in this big saga following a family’s move West through generations â€" marked by the spectacles of a heart-pounding raging river ride, a thunderous buffalo stampede and a bracing runaway train shootout. Via technological advances, this panoramic winner of three Academy Awards can now be seen with a resplendent, restored clarity eliminating its original "three- panel join lines" and in roof-raising Dolby 5.1 audio. Westward ho!
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Last updated: August 11, 2009, 6:30 am
How the West Was Won (Blu-ray Book) [Blu-ray] Cusomter reviews:
Average Rating: 4.0 Total Reviews: 134
(One-Line Film Reviews, 2009-10-26) The Bottom Line: How the West Was Won was a high-concept, star-studded, old-time epic composed of five different segments designed to showcase the three-strip Cinerama process and viewed today it's little more than a curio: the lack of continuity between the segments and the fact that the best two come first unfortunately make this distinct but overlong picture more fitting to be the answer to trivia questions than as Friday night's entertainment. 2.5/4
(Wade H. Rice, Jr., 2009-09-03) When high-quality, low-speed Kodachrome slide film became available many years ago, that product was a justification for photographers to invest in the best 35-mm. cameras available, such as Leica. Kodachrome film shot with a Leica camera became a reference. The TV western classic of the late 1950's and 1960's, "Bonanza", with its wonderful color photography, provided many an American family with justification to invest in the emerging technology of color television. "Bonanza" was the reference TV show that displayed what color televisions of the time could do. "How the West was Won", a contemporary along with "Bonanza", went to great lengths to show how beautiful the American West was, using the three-camera process of Cinerama to demonstrate to the public this cutting-edge method of cinematography. Today, Cinerama still remains the best process ever invented to film a Hollywood epic, surpassing even that of IMAX. It is too bad that it was a cumbersome and expensive process to work with, and did not meet with the full approval of the three directors involved with the filming of HTWWW. But what visual magnificence is evident in this film! Thank goodness that Time-Warner went back to the original Eastman negative and developed technology to eliminate or minimize the disconcerting film joins of the three Cinerama projectors in transferring this classic to DVD and Blu-Ray. The results of their efforts are evident, and based on the other Blu-Ray movies I have and have seen, HTWWW can justifiably be considered as a Blu-Ray reference! Other reviewers critical of the "Smilebox" process transferring HTWWW onto a second disc that mimics the Cinerama curved screen should give it a second view. The reason I say this is because I've noticed that object movement on the right and left panels of the 3-camera film joins is less distorted in the Smilebox transfer than on the normal screen transfer. Give the same scenes another look in both versions (such as the river raft sequence) and compare. Regardless of your age and film content preferences, if you are just starting into Blu-Ray, make this film one of your "must-purchase" items! You will not be disappointed, and will definitely see how the Blu-Ray HTWWW shows off the capabilities of your high-definition TV or computer monitor.
(Gerald B. Becker, 2009-08-30) Still enjoy those grand scale western adventure movies. They just don't make-em like this anymore. Suggest buying this one, if you like westerns.
(Handyman, 2009-08-29) Wow! I'm old enough (don't ask!) to remember when this movie was first released in Cinerama and it was a huge hit! Over the years I've seen it on TV and occasionally in theaters in Cinemascope but it was never the same. But now when large screen TV's are affordable this new release appears which simulates the Cinerama experience pretty effectively! The very handsome package includes a souvenier booklet and two blu-ray disks which contain the movie in the usual letterbox format but also in the new "Smilebox" format which simulates the curved screen of Cinerama. And it really works! It was great fun to see this great classic again the way it was intended to be seen and at Amazon's price it's a bargain too. BTW, there's a feature length documentary about Cinerama included which also demonstrates the "Smilebox" process.
(Byron Kolln, 2009-08-14) MGM's mammoth, Cinerama epic HOW THE WEST WAS WON has never looked or sounded better than in this new state-of-the-art High Definition digital restoration, eliminating the "join lines" to create an impressive vista screen; which is even more scrumptious on Blu Ray. HOW THE WEST WAS WON was one of two Cinerama movies released by MGM in 1962 (the other being "The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm"). Covering the years 1838 through 1889, the story revolves around the fates and fortunes of the Prescott family as they attempt to tame the wilds of the western frontier. The first half of the movie focuses on daughter Lilith (Debbie Reynolds), whose journey takes her across the Erie Canal, then along the great wagon-train migration and finally into the arms of handsome gambler Cleve van Valen (Gregory Peck). In the second act, we meet Lilith's nephew Zeb (George Peppard), who leaves the small Prescott farm to fight in the Civil War; going on to become a marshall in peace-time. The historical sweep of HOW THE WEST WAS WON is the main reason why it's still so incredibly entertaining all these years later; and miraculously--despite being directed by no less than four great filmmakers (John Ford, Henry Hathaway, George Marshall and Richard Thorpe)--it does feel like one unified piece. Despite it's reputation as a star-studded extravaganza, in truth the film quite rightly belongs to Debbie Reynolds and George Peppard who play the key roles in both acts of the story; but the supporting gallery of players--very impressive even by today's standards--boasts Carroll Baker, John Wayne, Karl Malden, Robert Preston, Eli Wallach and Richard Widmark. The Blu Ray release includes a bonus 'Smilebox' print of the film, which replicates the curved Cinerama screen experience--quite a treat! The Cinerama process involved using three 35mm cameras to capture a scene and then projecting them side-by-side onto a louvered 3-panel screen; making it larger than most other 'scope' processes. The system was later eclipsed by CinemaScope, Technirama and other, less expensive widescreen formats. HOW THE WEST WAS WON sparkles wonderfully on BD, and comes equipped with a fantastic audio commentary in addition to the feature-length documentary "Cinerama Adventure" which delves into the history of the camera process (but sadly doesn't dwell much on the making of HTWWW). So go ahead and pop the disc in the player... I guarantee you'll get chills up and down your spine during the first few notes of the Main Title! A mandatory title for classic movie fans, especially on BD.