SummaryThe Yellowstone prequel set in the 1880s follows James and Margaret Dutton (Tim McGraw and Faith Hill) as they move their family to start a new life on Montana.
SummaryThe Yellowstone prequel set in the 1880s follows James and Margaret Dutton (Tim McGraw and Faith Hill) as they move their family to start a new life on Montana.
Make some popcorn and plan to watch the two-episode origin story in one sitting. It might be the most satisfying addition to the Western genre since Godless.
1883 is an absolutely wonderful series from start to finish. Brilliantly cast. And beautifully written and acted. Each character is believable and adds so much to the overall story. I was thoroughly immersed and engaged and didn't want it to finish. I really liked the respect shown to the various Indian tribes people encountered along the journey West.
And loved the observations of the key characters - particularly the father and young daughter who is so capable, brave and daring and unafraid to take life head on as the German immigrants and collection of local guides and protectors progress West through untamed wilderness and lawlessness.
I loved the daughter's observations on how living and surviving in the wilderness changed her as a person. It provided her with experiences that none of us shackled by urban and suburban lifestyles in the 21st century modernity will ever experience.
And Sam Elliot gives a wonderful performance as the old cowboy who has seen it all through the civil war and loss of people close to him as he he assumes the role of leader of the clan of German immigrants who head west to seek a new life. Can't recommend this series highly enough.
Great cinematography and production values throughout. Excellent acting, too, with a perfect cast--especially the incomparable Sam Elliot. In the tradition of Lonesome Dove but decades later, and much grimmer. Clearly influenced by the Coens' excellent Ballad of Buster Scroggs in its relentless grimness, but much straighter, less imaginative and absurdist in its very straight vision, more suited for a TV audience than the Coens' art houses. Can't rise to the emotional power of Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones in Lonesome Dove, but well done. Seems to me very much an End of the American Empire retrospective, elegiac look at just how grim American experience has been, the opposite of the old Ronald Reagan bull about the wondrousness of the West and Westerners. Sure, it looks gorgeous, as America out there does. But what a hell hole it has been for so many, and no wonder arguably the best history of these Westerners, summarizing their relentless self-centeredness in struggling to survive is called It's Your Problem and None of My Own. Well worth watching.
"Yellowstone" has always been the kind of show that it seems like Sam Elliott should be in — in the series, Forrie J. Smith plays a senior ranch hand who looks like he could be Elliott's stunt double — so it's fitting that Sheridan has found a way to weave him into "Yellowstone's" DNA. "1883" is expansive enough to stand on its own, but its ties to the original series give it grounding. We know where it's eventually headed, but that doesn't take away from the journey of getting there.
Strap down your Stetson, ’cause it’s a grim, bumpy ride—one so dark at times it threatens to overshadow even the most golden sweeping sunsets on those untamed Great Plains.
'1883' never feels like a perfunctory franchise expansion. ... But the writing isn’t without its snags. ... Still, '1883' has the characters, the scope, and the vision to become an exciting new chapter of the 'Yellowstone' franchise.
Westerns were plentiful in TV's early days and are now fairly rare, so it's always somewhat refreshing to see an ambitious show within that genre. But to paraphrase the advice Dutton receives, when you have the opportunity to mount a series of this scale in the rough-and-tumble frontier of streaming, you better know how to do it a little better than this.
The first couple of episodes are a bad attempt to do Deadwood-style revisionism and the third is a bland attempt to do a straightforward Western, stripping some of the — forgive me — dead wood from the ensemble and adding just a little romance and very limited comedy to the bleak nihilism. Sheridan’s target audience will probably already be invested long before then and those with initially casual interest will have previously checked out.
Bonne série western à l'ancienne, avec des acteurs, des costumes et des décors convaincaints. Les trois premiers épisodes sont plaisants et nous mettent dans l'ambiance avec de beaux panoramas. C'est ma bonne surprise de l'année 2021, avec en plus Sam Elliot dans un rôle taillé sur mesure ! Si vous avez apprecié Hells on Wheel, vous apprecierez 1883.
I do love me a good western, haven't' seen many good one's on TV lately, a little bored of Yellowstone after it got REAL soapy after the first season, but figured I'd give this a try and the first two episodes were good. Faith Hill is a good actor, Tim McGraw is not bless his heart he's trying so hard, the superstar cameos are fun, and the supporting cast are fine, you will always get me to tune in for Sam the man Elliot. This is now in my rotation.
Some of the worst writing for television ever. Excellent production and fine acting. Locations are phenomenal and the cinematography is stellar. Really the horrible writing is what is keeping this show down.