The idea behind this feature (Genre Guesstimation) is for me to watch a bunch of new movies (or ones that I haven’t seen many times) from the chosen monthly GG genre in order to expand my knowledge of movies within that particular genre.
This month’s Genre has been chosen by Satu of Fairy Tale Pictures and it is Bestselling/Popular Novel Adaptations.
Please get me your submissions by the 25th of July by sending them to novelideasatu@movierob.net
Try to think out of the box!
Let’s see if I felt that this movie would be worthy of being in the company of my others favorite movies in the genre of Bestselling/Popular Novel Adaptations.…
“Now he’s come to a place where he has nothing. Well, maybe that’s the place in every man’s life when he finally learns the value in all things.” – Alexander McKeag
Number of Times Seen – Almost Twice (Video in 1987 and 1-5 July 2018)
Brief Synopsis – Epic tale of a small town in Colorado that spans over two centuries.
My Take on it – This is a mini-series that I have been interested in seeing in its entirety for over 31 years.
My 7th grade history teacher decided that he wanted to let us see how America evolved over the 200+ years from its inception until then (1987) and he therefore devoted much class time for us to watch episode after episode of this 20-+ hour miniseries.
Unfortunately, towards the end of the school year, he got into a motorcycle accident and we never had the opportunity to finish watching this film.
Ever since the, I’ve been interested in watching this film in its entirety, yet never managed to get past the daunting idea of devoting so much time to one film.
I finally decided to make the commitment and watched this film all the way through… and I loved it!
The fact that this film spans such a long period of time makes it quite unique since there is no central character throughout the story yet each episode [passes the baton to another character who continues along for a while before yet again the baton is passed on.
The one constant character throughout the film tho is the land that would eventually make up the fictional town in Colorado called Centennial.
The cast is spectacular and they help keep the the story flowing from storyline to storyline as they give new and fresh life to the plot as things move along.
The story itself despite being so long stays engaging and intriguing throughout which helps so much in keeping the level of entertainment quite high.
The book that this miniseries is based on is nearly 1000 pages and although I’ve never read it (or probably never will), they manage to create such vivid characters and storylines that show the changes in the American West over 200 years.
This is one of the best miniseries ever made IMHO!
Bottom Line – Amazing epic take that is quite rare in the way it was done since the main characters constantly change from episode to episode yet the land is what stays constant throughout. Spectacular cast of actors keeps this story flowing from episode to episode and despite being over 20 hours long stays interesting and engaging throughout. The book this is based on is nearly a thousand pages long and I’ve never read it (and probably never will), but they managed to create a great story about what makes a town and the people who lived there help create a proper face for such a place. One of the best Miniseries ever made even after 40 years. Highly Recommended!
MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – The current town of Centennial, Colorado is not in the location ascribed to it by James Michener. His Centennial was located at the confluence of the South Platte and Cache La Poudre Rivers in rural Weld County, approximately 50 miles northeast of Denver (city center), and is undeveloped land. The current Centennial was incorporated in 2001, and is located about fifteen miles south of Denver in Arapahoe County, and is a highly developed suburb of Denver. (From IMDB)
Genre Grandeur Worthy? – Most Definitely,. This film is amazing in it’s scope and accurately displays the events of the twon over such a long period of time and still remains interesting throughout.
Rating – Oscar Worthy (9/10)
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MovieRob 
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