How the West Was Won (BD) [Blu-ray]

Four years ago when I was learning English in New York City, my American teacher once said something along the lines of “Koreans and the Japanese. They know who they are. We(Americans) all come from different places and we just don’t know who we are.” (If my memory serves me correctly, he said this after a Korean girl had done a presentation about her country.)I wish I had said something about that. Because I didn’t think it was true. To me, it seemed obvious that the American people had a distinctive national identity that they were very proud of and united over where they all believed in freedom and individualism no matter where their ancestors had come from.Back then, neither did I have the courage to speak up in front of the whole class nor the ability to articulate what I thought in the way I wanted to.In the last four years, I’ve been following the US politics and sociocultural topics closely and seriously studying the history of the U.S.Now I know exactly what my former teacher meant by what he said especially given the fact that he was a socialist democrat New Yorker who was inappropriately outspoken about his virulent hatred towards the 45th.And I still disagree with him.I have seen more than a couple of thousands of American movies and TV show episodes over the last 8 years, and I don’t think I’ve seen a movie that presents “who Americans are” more powerfully and more convincingly than How The West Was Won does.This movie is who you are, Mr. Lopez. (Despite how his family name sounds, he looks like somewhere between Bruce Willis and Dwight D. Eisenhower.)The monologue in the ending with which the narrator wraps up the movie is actually one of my favorite parts of this film.“The West that was won by its pioneers, settlers, adventurers is long gone now.Yet it is theirs forever.For they left tracks in history that will never be eroded by wind or rain, never plowed under by tractors, never buried in the compost of events.Out of the hard simplicity of their lives, out of their vitality, their hopes and sorrows, grew legends of courage and pride to inspire their children and their children’s children.From soil enriched by their blood, out of their fever to explore and build, came lakes where once were burning deserts, came the goods of the earth, mines and wheat fields, orchards and great lumber mills, all the sinews of a growing country. Out of their rude settlements, their trading posts, came cities to rank among the greatest ones of the world.All the heritage of a people free to dream, free to act, free to mold their own destiny.”The last line. I believe this pretty much sums up the collective identity of Americans regardless of their ancestry or national origin, and I think the narrator delivered it quite beautifully.And it’s not just the narrative that’s great in this film. It has one of the best soundtracks and a legendary cast. The true movie stars who are no longer with us today, Jimmy Stewart, Henry Fonda, Debbie Reynolds, John Wayne, Gregory Peck…Now, the most cynical bunch of Americans would not appreciate this movie today. I’m talking about the ones who would happily engage in the self indulgent desecrations of the heritage and history of their own country.And this movie might do little to console the most pessimistic bunch who long for the past glories and grieve the wounds their once prosperous Republic has sustained over the years or decades.With all the identity politics, ideological division, political polarization, unfettered illegal immigration, and civil unrest, the future of the great country might appear grim and dismal.But I think if there’s anything this movie tells the current generations of Americans, it’s that their ancestors never gave up, never faltered or capitulated, even in the face of adversity or in the time of loss.They worked hard, probably harder than anyone else in the rest of the world and at times even risked their lives so their children could live better lives than their own.The question is, will you just sit in your cushy couch and let "them" take that away from you?There’s another quote I feel obliged to share here. From a history book. The authors of this book, taught me the history of the country which I’m a mere foreigner in yet I have the utmost respect for, is one of glory and honor.“If Americans know who they are, and where they really come from, they will exert themselves even more to surpass previous generations. That is why the study of our history remains of critical importance. Our history is not just the story of who we once were, but of our destiny, not of what we have accomplished, but of our future success. Greatness is not handed to us because we are Americans. Rather, Americans - because of who they were and who they still are - have reached out and seized it. And so it still can be: if we behave like Americans and call on those values and inspirations that infused our fathers and their fathers before them, then no one on earth can deny greatness to the United States of America.”Amazon.comhttps://www.amazon.com › Patriots-...A Patriot's History of the United States: From Columbus's Great Discovery to ...I think this quote is very much in alignment with the type of triumphant spirit How The West Was Won emanates and the story it tells in the hope of inspiring the current and future generations of Americans.

The transfer to blu-ray was excellent, as was the movie. The only complaint I have is with the main menu--it's overly difficult to skip or rush through the Overture and the Intermission. Overall, am very happy to add this to my collection.

If you like a lot of movie stars in one movie than you will like HOW THE WEST WAS WON, because this movie has a bunch.

movie is great, special features disc crashes

There is nothing to dislike with this movie. I saw it in San Francisco in Cinerama.

Has few adult things in it, but overall a good movie

A classic movie with a classic cast. These types of movies will probably never be made again. It's also very long --- 2 hours and 44 minutes.

This movie was such a blockbuster in its time and still holds up. It truly tells you what it took to win the West. Inspirational. I remember going to see this in its 3 part screen showing. You'll never capture that magic again, but if you are too young to know of this movie--treat yourself.

The buffalo stampede alone is worth the price.

Ich liebe diesen Film einfach und die Qualität der Aufnahmen ist genial. Ich würde den Kauf jederzeit wieder tätigen.

中古を買いましたが、思っていたより問題もなく満足です。敏速な取引でありがとうございました。

An all time classic Western. Haven't seen it for years. Great memories.

Wow! The restoration they have done on this movie is nothing less than astounding! The movie was filmed in Cinerama that required 3 cameras to film it and 3 cameras to project it. This resulted in two very obvious seam marks between the 3 images. Even when the film was shown in smaller venues, or on television, it was always with the 2 seams. Well, I don't know how they did it, but the seams are gone! It is virtually impossible to tell they were there except for a couple of stock shots taken from other Cinerama productions. In the 2 disc version, one of the blu-rays is in Smilebox, where the picture curves, to try to give the impression of what it was like in Cinerama, The other disc is a VERY wide and VERY narrow picture in something like 2.76:1. Unless you have a big screen television, this version is hard to watch as it is so narrow. The Smilebox version plays well on my 42 inch television and if you have a bigger screen the results would be that much better. The sharpness of the picture is astounding and the colours are beautiful. This is one of the discs you put on to impress your friends with what Blu-ray is capable of in terms of definition and colour. The sound is also very good, which certainly benefits Alfred Newman's iconic score (one of the best ever written), but it doesn't get your attention as much as the picture does, although in certain sequences, such as the buffalo stampede, your speakers will get a good workout as will your subwoofer. As for the movie itself. It is fun, entertaining, and overlong. It sprawls on for way over two and one half hours and there are many different plots. However, I have always had a soft spot for this movie and where else are you going to see Henry Fonda, James Stewart, Gregory Peck, Karl Malden, Richard Widmark, George Peppard, Debbie Reynolds, Robert Preston, and many others, in one movie?