1883

This could have been fascinating history told in its raw form. Unfortunately, the show loses its identity at certain points through out the season. The show focuses on settlers emigrating the Oregon trail and challenges they face. It then, starts to mix in narrations by a teenage girl named Elsa and her teenage drama issues. At certain points in the show I'm getting confused at who the target audience is? I felt if the writing was a consistent story towards the emigration of settlers it would have been more successful. Instead we are plagued with a mixture of teenage drama issues which becomes tedious to watch at times.

This recently became available, all ten episodes, on a set of four DVDs. I found the set at my public library. There is a scene in the first episode, as a large group of people and wagons are gathering, for their trek to the North and West. They are gathering on the Trinity River outside Fort Worth, Texas, and one person is offering condolences for the husband's death. She responds, "You can't believe in Heaven then be sad when people go there." I had never heard it put that way before.

As the end credits on each episode states, the stories were "inspired" by events of the 1880s as people from Eastern areas began to move out west. Many wanted to go to specific places, like Oregon or Washington. But some just wanted to go someplace new and figured they'd know it when they see it. As was the Dutton family from the woods of Tennessee. The stories portrayed had input from historians and are largely authentic to the time and the travels to settle the West.

I didn't see "Yellowstone" season four but the DVD extras talk about flashbacks that were the inspiration for "1883", intended to be the origin story of how the Dutton clan ended up settling where they did in Montana.

The 1880s as portrayed here are rough and dangerous. Steal a wallet and you might be hanged and shot. If you are found with small pox you are banished and you might as well find a nice river bank and lie down and wait to die. Traveling was dangerous, bands of thieves or aggressive Native tribes might steal your horses, kill you and scalp you and your family. Yet they persisted. Many perished along the way, some made it.

It is overall a big investment in time to watch all ten episodes but I did it over a week and found it to be a totally captivating and worthwhile show. A few extras on the 4-disc DVD set show a number of interesting "making of" features.

I have to say that I really enjoyed 1883 even more than I thought I wound. This is the prequel to Yellowstone as it shows the Dutton family as they travel from Texas to Montana looking for a better life. It's created by Taylor Sheridan (Yellowstone, Mayor of Kingstown, etc.). Sheridan has turned in one great show after another and this one is no different. It's a very gritty and violent show that showed off the realness of the Wild West. The writing and acting is what makes this show so special. It's too bad that this is only a mini-series and there aren't more seasons coming because I would love to see more from this show.

Haven't seen Yellowstone yet. But started with this Mini-Series. I was emotionally blown away. It grabbed me and held me all night binge watching. This needs to be awarded Best Mini-Series at the Emmys for 2023. It also should give Isabel May Best Actress, Sam Elliott Best Actor, Faith Hill Best Supporting Actress, Tim McGraw or LaMonica Garrett as best Supporting Actor. The whole cast should be awarded Best Ensemble. The Writing should win as well as Direction. This Mini-Series was really nothing sort of a 10 - Total Perfection and realism. Very corse language, but that was how real life was back then. Violent? Yes. Gut Wrenching in parts? Yes, but again the trails going out west was not a joy ride, but an extreme challenge - I highly recommend this show and will continue on with 1923 and Yellowstone. To the Television Academy - Take notice for 2023. 1883 should do a sweep if you really do honor "Performances" instead of being "politically correct".

I haven't seen anything of "Yellowstone" yet, but I thought that, as that is set in present day, I'd probably be able to watch a prequel series set over a hundred years earlier without much fear of mixing the context. I do like Taylor Sheridan's work, particularly "Hell or High Water" so when this appeared near the top of my Paramount Plus service, I felt confident giving it a go. It's an excellent limited series, full of wonderful performances and does make me interesting in watching the main series.

Elsa Dutton (Isabel May) joins her family in a perilous Journey towards the free and fertile land of Oregon. Her father, James (Tim McGraw) agrees to take the journey with two lawmen, Shea Brennan (Sam Elliott) and Thomas (LaMonica Garrett) who are commissioned to act as guide, security and teacher to a group of German pioneers, who are also looking for a better life, but are dangerously unprepared for the perils they will face. Always a rebellious child, Elsa takes to the freedom of the plains with abandon, but the costs of such freedoms are high.

Performances are great in this. Tim McGraw I've not seen in much before but he's really good in this, in what looks like the deepest performance he's been asked to do. His real-life wife, Faith Hill, plays his wife in this and she too is excellent. Isabel May is the star though; the story is told though her eyes and she gets to give the poetic voice over that is another run through. Admittedly, Sam Elliott has played wise old cowboy before, but it's an iconic trope and it's welcome whenever he's on screen. There are cameos from Rita Wilson, Billy Bob Thornton and even Tom Hanks, who is probably on screen for less than two minutes.

Admittedly, this isn't particularly original. The dangers of the Oregon Trail have been recounted in various mediums for years. So, the story of Snakes, Storms, Dysentery, Native Americans and Outlaws probably doesn't have many surprises for you. What it does have is all pervasive quality. Both in terms of historical recreation and cinematography - though I suspect in some places you simply point the camera in the right direction and the mountains do the rest.

I enjoyed this and burned through it in less than a week. I may need to start "Yellowstone" sooner rather than later.