helloramon-25226 I really enjoy western history and so I was interested in watching the series. The "Hollywood" aspect made for moderate entertainment but the historical element leaves much to be desired. I think Redford should have paid more attention to what he put his name on before it was aired. I will watch the final episode of the series but I am not anticipating that it will change my opinion over all, maybe I will be wrong. There are "qualified historians" who serve as narrators and as such makes me want to trust the actual documentation of the characters depicted. When I check the actual history of the events, why the discrepancy? Also some of the "special narrators" like John McCain and other celebrities leave me asking myself what do they know about the old west?? But then they were obviously invited by Mr. Redford, whom I doubt knows much more than film festivals at Sundance can offer.

YeagerVision If you're going to make a documentary series about the same old people as every other documentary series, at least be accurate. Find something new. Offer perspective. Reveal details and nuance which make the information fresh. This series does none of it. It's dull, boring, trite and poorly produced at all levels. After an interesting series like "Hell on Wheels", AMC embarrassed itself by running this waste of time. The director, producers and writers should be ashamed of themselves for the shoddy, lazy product they put together.

drjgardner For me and for most Americans there is nothing more interesting than the story of the West. From the Civil War until World War 1, the West was full of adventure, opportunity, drama and tragedy. AMCs series "Hell on Wheels" was an excellent attempt to portray one aspect of this period, the building of the railroads. But their far more ambitious "The American West" is a big disappointment on a number of levels.For a documentary, the use of "expert" opinion from movie stars is hardly a good idea. Have we stooped so low that we get our history from movie stars?Perhaps the reliance on movie stars for the primary documentation is one of the reasons this 8 part series has so many errors (e.g., Jesse James and Billy the Kid met, Wyatt Earp went to Tombstone to be their Sheriff).Another weakness of the series is that there is no real underlying theme. There are brief episodes about Jesse James (Missouri), Billy the Kid (New Mexico), Wyatt Earp (Kansa and Arizona), and Custer and Sitting Bull (the Dakotas). But there is no real glue that holds the episodes together (e.g., the demands of capitalism to obtain natural resources, the political post war climate, the economic problems and the challenges of currency, etc.)Telling the story of the West is an important project, but this series fails to do it in a meaningful way. FWIW - I really like the TV series "Centennial" (1978-79) and "Hell on Wheels" (2011-16). They both gave a comprehensive history of the West and did so in a more entertaining manner. For sheer pleasure, "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid" (1973) is my favorite telling of this story.

clydeboyd THe American West series is a entertaining look at various stories/myths of the American West. As you can imagine Hollywood takes some literary license with the facts but does present a compelling series of one hour shows. THe series does feature well known western historians such as Dr Paul Hutton as well as other familiar faces for commentary.This is a good place to start exploring the fascinating history of the old west. Just don't take the contents of the shows for being gospel. After all, this is Hollywoods version of history.The only real detraction in the series I found was the producers repeated insistence on having commentary by actors such as Robert Redford, Burt Reynolds and other actors who make their living memorizing lines written by others. Considering that most of these people barely have a high school education, let alone any expertise in American history, it is hard to believe that the producers seriously thought that these people, as well as politicians like John McCain, would add any significant insights or information to the series. Apparently the producers take the audience for being too stupid to recognize a washed up old actor as some type of subject matter expert because he starred in a movie about the West. Putting aside that only criticism The American West is an engaging look at one of the most exciting and historically important periods in American History. I recommend it.