I was a history major in college, but I'll admit I'm not a fan of historical fiction.
I was bored over the 4th of July weekend, so I watched as much of this monstrosity as I could handle.
Let me say that the subject matter is compelling. I believe this is the reason for so many positive reviews here. The idea of two young people with nothing to live for in the oppressive climate of early 18th century, setting out for the American West with nothing to their names is indeed romantic.
The issues with this massive mini-series are acting, production value, and screen writing. The actors all seem be from a stable TV actors of late-1970s, which is to say that the acting in Centennial is poor to mediocre. Robert Conrad is painful to watch as the little French trapper. I can't think of a single actor from this rather extensive cast who was ever successful in film.
The production value is that of a TV movie, in other words, its tends to be like a series of old TV westerns strung together. We are treated to cliché after cliché, bar room brawls, old West style shootouts, cowboy/Indian battles, etc.
In keeping with the B-rate acting and cheesy production, the writing is amateurish at best. The final episode with David Janssen preaching about the noble Indian is absolutely laughable. This episode should have been omitted and knocks the entire mini-series down a few notches.
The one redeeming part of Centennial was that it gave voice to the Native American experience during the days of Manifest Destiny. But, like other elements of the mini-series, this is clumsily written and at times borders on the comedic.
Lastly, for god's sake, get Native American actors to play Native American characters!
I was bored over the 4th of July weekend, so I watched as much of this monstrosity as I could handle.
Let me say that the subject matter is compelling. I believe this is the reason for so many positive reviews here. The idea of two young people with nothing to live for in the oppressive climate of early 18th century, setting out for the American West with nothing to their names is indeed romantic.
The issues with this massive mini-series are acting, production value, and screen writing. The actors all seem be from a stable TV actors of late-1970s, which is to say that the acting in Centennial is poor to mediocre. Robert Conrad is painful to watch as the little French trapper. I can't think of a single actor from this rather extensive cast who was ever successful in film.
The production value is that of a TV movie, in other words, its tends to be like a series of old TV westerns strung together. We are treated to cliché after cliché, bar room brawls, old West style shootouts, cowboy/Indian battles, etc.
In keeping with the B-rate acting and cheesy production, the writing is amateurish at best. The final episode with David Janssen preaching about the noble Indian is absolutely laughable. This episode should have been omitted and knocks the entire mini-series down a few notches.
The one redeeming part of Centennial was that it gave voice to the Native American experience during the days of Manifest Destiny. But, like other elements of the mini-series, this is clumsily written and at times borders on the comedic.
Lastly, for god's sake, get Native American actors to play Native American characters!