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Enjoyed Laura's adventure very much and for several different reasons. Her focus is sharp and unique for a teenager. Most adults are not quite so capable. Maybe best of all, she changed quite a bit, became wiser, learned lessons, and allowed the spell to be cast. (Minor point reduction for small gaps in the details of the oceaneering).

Hostiles does a tremendous job of traveling well below the surface to explore personal grief and conflict among its various characters. It does so in a manner - much of the time - which allows the viewer to put together pieces that are falling all around, rather than define them for the viewer. Christian Bale's many silences are a great example. Even at the very end, he said good-bye to Mrs. Quaid with silence, saying nothing to her. The various friendships, loyalties, ties, and bonds portrayed create a rich landscape of emotion. This with beautiful natural scenery and just the right score. The tears were flowing.

Enjoyed the miniseries very much, especially the excellent cinematography, score, clothing design, landscape scenes, etc. The historical era is also excellent to explore. The drama does not try to gain converts, but is even-handed given the sensitive topics. I lowered my score because, even though it is a drama that is trying to appeal to a broad television audience, the actors were always far too well-dressed for 1850s. They were always mostly clean-shaven, with the women having clean, beautiful hair. Slaves wore dirty, tattered and wrinkled clothes but you never saw any dirty, worn-out clothes in this film. Lastly, the plot for the first half of the film before the outbreak of war is far too synonymous with the plot in the movie Mandingo (1975); practically an exact copy. I was shocked. Overall, Queen is very good.