- Joined
- Feb 8, 1999
- Messages
- 18,428
- Real Name
- Robert Harris
I've thus far found time to view the first three episodes of Paramount's 1883, a backstory of Yellowstone, and will return to it.
My head occasionally goes to odd (creative) places, and one took me to a potential interview regarding ancestry between the wonderful Henry Louis Gates III and one John Dutton.
A bit of dialogue went something like this:
Dutton: I can't thank you enough for enlightening me to my family history.
Gates: You many take that back after you turn the next page. Would you turn that page please...
(Dutton turns the page in the book)
Dutton: Appears to be an inventory.
Gates: Precisely. Can you read the transcribed heading?
Dutton: It's dated 1860, and looks to be an inventory of household... Wait...
Gates: Go on.
Dutton: Did my family own slaves?!
Gates: That's what the document tells us. Do you see the fourth column?
Dutton: Yes, of course. A number of the letter "Ns," along with two noted as "M." What am I seeing?
*****
While I've been a huge fan of Paramount's Yellowstone, heading into its fifth season in November, I'm finding 1883 even more interesting, especially as a sort of re-imagining of the white man "conquering" the west.
It follows a wagon train led by Sam Elliott and LaMonica Garrett, as Tim McGraw, Faith Hill and Isabel May join them. Interestingly, its May, a talented young actress, who offers an occasional voice over to the goings on, that works in the same way that Linda Manz' did in Days of Heaven. It's always a dangerous place to go. But thankfully this works.
McGraw plays James Dutton, a Civil War veteran, who had fought for the South, and spent several years in a camp for doing so. Born c. 1840, I'm presuming he would have been John's (the character played by Kevin Costner) great-grandfather.
While I'm accepting of the new history, my mind keeps trying to tie in to reality.
Here's the reality that I'm led to believe.
The point is made in the first episode that the folks that have hired the train leaders to guide them west, can't afford train passage, and even if they could, they had too much personal gear with them brought from their homes in Europe.
So I buy the concept of the wagon train.
By 1883 there were more than a hundred thousand miles of railroad tracks in the west, making travel from Texas to Wyoming relatively easy.
Wagon trains no longer existed, except for a few hundred miles here and there.
Even more interesting, the West had been divided into privately owned 160 acre homesteads. Only seven years later, in 1890, the U.S. government would declare that the frontier had ended.
In Wyoming in 1883, huge ranches (established just before and just after the Civil War) existed. The establishment of those ranches is the background of Lonesome Dove and The Tall Men, the Clark Gable/Raoul Walsh 1955 Cinemascope film. In the late 1880s and early 1890s, the famous range wars occurred because of the anger the big ranchers felt for incoming homesteaders - the background of Shane, Heaven’s Gate and Open Range. By 1883 it seems that the wagon train would have been fiercely resisted by big ranchers.
All of that noted, it seems that a wagon train would have also needed permission to cross barbed wire properly every 160 acres - for a thousand miles...
With what I see as reality out of the way, 1883 is a wonderfully entertaining series that seems to have a bit of a free flow as far as running times are concerned. The times fit the storyline held within, and I like that. Streaming is a good thing.
The series also caught my attention from the first frame, with it's big close up of Isabel May laying on dusty ground, which then kicks into action in a similar way to the opening of Lost.
It's a beautiful produced, directed and acted series, with gorgeous cinematography, shot with an Alexa. More on that here:
filmmakermagazine.com
Available in Blu-ray, the projected image is extremely highly resolved, proving once again that 4k isn't always a necessity. Color and densities are beautifully rendered, along with deep rich blacks. Beautiful imagery.
An aspect ratio of 2:1 has been used, presumably referencing Universal westerns of the early wide-screen era.
Well worth your time, and a bargain at only 25 greenbacks.
Image - 5
Audio – 5 (Dolby TrueHD 5.1)
Pass / Fail – Pass
Plays nicely with projectors - Yes
Highly Recommended
RAH
My head occasionally goes to odd (creative) places, and one took me to a potential interview regarding ancestry between the wonderful Henry Louis Gates III and one John Dutton.
A bit of dialogue went something like this:
Dutton: I can't thank you enough for enlightening me to my family history.
Gates: You many take that back after you turn the next page. Would you turn that page please...
(Dutton turns the page in the book)
Dutton: Appears to be an inventory.
Gates: Precisely. Can you read the transcribed heading?
Dutton: It's dated 1860, and looks to be an inventory of household... Wait...
Gates: Go on.
Dutton: Did my family own slaves?!
Gates: That's what the document tells us. Do you see the fourth column?
Dutton: Yes, of course. A number of the letter "Ns," along with two noted as "M." What am I seeing?
*****
While I've been a huge fan of Paramount's Yellowstone, heading into its fifth season in November, I'm finding 1883 even more interesting, especially as a sort of re-imagining of the white man "conquering" the west.
It follows a wagon train led by Sam Elliott and LaMonica Garrett, as Tim McGraw, Faith Hill and Isabel May join them. Interestingly, its May, a talented young actress, who offers an occasional voice over to the goings on, that works in the same way that Linda Manz' did in Days of Heaven. It's always a dangerous place to go. But thankfully this works.
McGraw plays James Dutton, a Civil War veteran, who had fought for the South, and spent several years in a camp for doing so. Born c. 1840, I'm presuming he would have been John's (the character played by Kevin Costner) great-grandfather.
While I'm accepting of the new history, my mind keeps trying to tie in to reality.
Here's the reality that I'm led to believe.
The point is made in the first episode that the folks that have hired the train leaders to guide them west, can't afford train passage, and even if they could, they had too much personal gear with them brought from their homes in Europe.
So I buy the concept of the wagon train.
By 1883 there were more than a hundred thousand miles of railroad tracks in the west, making travel from Texas to Wyoming relatively easy.
Wagon trains no longer existed, except for a few hundred miles here and there.
Even more interesting, the West had been divided into privately owned 160 acre homesteads. Only seven years later, in 1890, the U.S. government would declare that the frontier had ended.
In Wyoming in 1883, huge ranches (established just before and just after the Civil War) existed. The establishment of those ranches is the background of Lonesome Dove and The Tall Men, the Clark Gable/Raoul Walsh 1955 Cinemascope film. In the late 1880s and early 1890s, the famous range wars occurred because of the anger the big ranchers felt for incoming homesteaders - the background of Shane, Heaven’s Gate and Open Range. By 1883 it seems that the wagon train would have been fiercely resisted by big ranchers.
All of that noted, it seems that a wagon train would have also needed permission to cross barbed wire properly every 160 acres - for a thousand miles...
With what I see as reality out of the way, 1883 is a wonderfully entertaining series that seems to have a bit of a free flow as far as running times are concerned. The times fit the storyline held within, and I like that. Streaming is a good thing.
The series also caught my attention from the first frame, with it's big close up of Isabel May laying on dusty ground, which then kicks into action in a similar way to the opening of Lost.
It's a beautiful produced, directed and acted series, with gorgeous cinematography, shot with an Alexa. More on that here:
“We Did Not Have an Interior to Shoot for Eight-and-a-Half Episodes”: DP Christina Alexandra Voros on Her Emmy-Nominated <em>1883</em> Work - Filmmaker Magazine
Publication with a focus on independent film, offering articles, links, and resources.
Available in Blu-ray, the projected image is extremely highly resolved, proving once again that 4k isn't always a necessity. Color and densities are beautifully rendered, along with deep rich blacks. Beautiful imagery.
An aspect ratio of 2:1 has been used, presumably referencing Universal westerns of the early wide-screen era.
Well worth your time, and a bargain at only 25 greenbacks.
Image - 5
Audio – 5 (Dolby TrueHD 5.1)
Pass / Fail – Pass
Plays nicely with projectors - Yes
Highly Recommended
RAH
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