Kevin Costner's the West

I had been expecting the premiere of this series, mainly because of Kevin Costner's role in producing it. Sadly to say, I couldn't keep watching the first episode because I caught myself wishing that the narration shifted to the experts' comments or some action. I'm sorry to say it, but Costner's narration was lifeless, boring, no passion or anything. That made the whole thing dull, monotonous. Another thing was that it lacked acting. Too many pictures, too much narration and too little acting. I may give it another chance because the story was interesting and perhaps the whole thing improved after the 20 minutes I saw. Otherwise, I wouldn't stand it.

There is no doubt that there are a lot of facts seen from the "immigrants" side, and the story is fascinating and important. But it's hard to get around how it's all made boring by Kevin Costner as an uninspired narrator. It really sounds like he is narrating a cookbook, and I have experienced more inspiration by watching paint dry.

As the documentary has several directors, it can only have been Kevin Costner as producer who decided this. If so... it's time to retire, Kevin. It sounds like a "Give me the money and let me get out of here" situation.

Anyway, as mentioned, there are a lot of good stories and tales. It's hard to know what the Natives were thinking, and often it becomes pure guesswork. That's really not the documentary's fault, as Native Americans, unfortunately, are not known for their extensive libraries and documentation efforts at this time. It's really too bad.

But there is a lot to learn, so watch it with a lot of coffee, Red Bull, and sugar, and you might learn something.

I tuned in because of Costner's participation and history. Unfortunately his performance is sluggish, monotone, and he doesn't seem at all interested in this production. Often staring into space, he looks like a bored sixth grader reading a book report. Sad, because the content would be a lot more entertaining without him. Always enjoyed his movies if not his acting, but this one is really bad.

As for the documentary, though a bit slow paced, it's entertaining and informative. Worth watching. Nice visuals...nice piece of history. I confess, however, that my irritation with Costner's efforts will probably preclude any further interest on my part.

I was looking forward to this series. Unfortunately, Kevin Costner's narration was boring, nasal, and sounded like he wasn't at all interested in the subject.

Despite that, I've watched about half of the first episode and learned a few bits of historical information I hadn't heard before.

It's a real disappointment that this wasn't more well done. There are so many things in this period of American history that are not very well-known by most people - this is a missed opportunity to present a more complete picture of the times and the impact of actions taken on all who were involved, as well as all their descendants.

If I really want to watch something I may finish it just for the informative parts. Otherwise, I know how to solve the problem of not being able to sleep.

It may be monotone or boring to some, but to people who know nothing about their history, it was amazing! It was wonderful to watch these people actually start to realize and start to understand some parts of the American history and culture. If Kevin Costner lending his voice to the history of the American experience and young people sit up to listen just a tiny bit, then I consider that a success! I'm terribly pleased that all of these superstars are lending their names and their voices to our history and knowledge via some of these educational channels! Anything to get our history out there to the masses is a win in my book.