Near Perfect Rare in this day and time do you find ANY series than can hold your undivided attention for one season, much less three. The Sopranos,though great, had almost as many lowlights as highlights, but Deadwood has near perfection in every single chapter. A superb cast of mostly unknown or quality bit players, with two or three notable exceptions, make this exciting period of American frontier history burst to life in vivid, colorful (to say the least) action and language. Times were hard, tough, and your friends were good friends and your enemies were deadly. Some parts are better than others, depending on personal taste and interest, but in my personal opinion, there is not one single episode that hasn't got a touch of superior acting, great humor, or gut-wrenching action attached to it, most have an abundance of all three. For some of these actors, this series may be the crowning achievement of their professional lives. There are far worse fates !!! Though not inexpensive, I personally feel its money well spent !!!
I thought I would die before Deadwood ended. Awful Movie. I don't understand how this movie got such great reviews. The writing is just horrible. You will never convince me that this is the way people talked in this time period. Al the Swearing Man who is the central figure in this series speaks in twisted riddles laced with obscenities in each and every sentence. Furthermore, he speaks like a Shakespearean actor from a totally different era of time. I watched an interview on one of the extra DVDs on the first season and that is the same way the stupid director or producer talks today -- completely incomprehensible. This is a very dark gloomy movie throughout the entire series with little to no redeeming value. Now the general historical story line has merit and the stage set is amazingly accurate and well done. But the writing is just so bad it ruins the whole series. I suffered all the way to the end to find out there was no end. The movie just suddenly stops. Completely anticlimactic. What a waste of money and time I will never get back.
"A Hell of a Place To Make Your Fortune." I have yet to watch the second and third seasons of Deadwood, but thank God I was able to watch the first. This is an extremely well-written show about the real Wild West. There's a chock full of heavy profanity, sex, obscenities, and very little gunplay. This isn't John Wayne's universe, and this CERTAINLY ISN'T Will Smith's universe, either. David Milch has done a fantastic job with this series.
What I like most about "Deadwood" are the countless characters that make the show. It's very hard to pick a favorite, really. Ian Mcshane and Timothy Olyphany give superb performances as Al Searengen and Seth Bullock (Swearengen being the cold-blooded owner of a saloon, and Bullock being the owner of a hardware store). William Sanderson is brilliant as E.B. Farnum, a hotel owner with a social problem. Brad Dourif's performance is oscar-worthy as Doc Cochran, a man who has seen it all in the Civil War. Cy Tolliver (played by Powers Boothe) is one character that you'll love to hate. Alma Garrett (Molly Parker) is a bit annoying in the first few episodes, but she develops and you'll grow to admire her because of her complexities. A more complex female character is Calamity Jane (Robin Weigert), whose alcoholism and vulgarity makes a stark contrast for her caring for little children and for those who are sick. Other characters are attention-grabbing: Trixie, Sol Star, Charlie Utter, Eddie Sawyer, Ellesworth, Jewel, Mr. Wu, Reverend Smith, Richardson, Tom Nuttall, A.W. Merrick, Dan Doherty, Joanie Stubbs, Con Stapleton, Jimmy Irons, Leon, Jack McCall, etc. And special props go to Keith Carradine for his portrayal of "Wild Bill" Hickok, the legendary lawman who has come not only for prospecting for gold, but for playing Poker (which leads to bad luck in his own case).
So now, all I need is enough money to purchase the next two seasons of "Deadwood". And it's a shame that this show got cancelled, but the reason behind it was understandable: not enough money from the ratings.
A++
Good press Will take a while to find time to watch this, but have personal promises this will be great.
Impressed I bought this not having any idea what the series was about. All I knew going into was that I enjoyed westerns and this series happened to be WESTERN! I just love this series. I could not stop watching them once I received them. I would give it 5 stars but in the third season I think some of the acting was lacking.
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