I was surprised on two counts...
i. ...that it was a very good throwback western, and captivating; ii....that it gained such a high - in my opinion, unmerited - rating as 8.6.
Here are my main observations of flaws:
1. Slow 2. Continuity (men count) wrong 3. Unnecessarily (directorial) political undertones
First issue - very slow in places... Why does everything have to be in the form of a box-set series these days??? A good director (maybe John Ford or Fred Zinneman) could have condensed this entire series in to a single 2- hour or so film. As it stands, although overall quite captivating, there were numerous unnecessarily long and v e-e-e-r-r-r-y slooooooowwww patches. This was the first of three major flaws I found with the series.
The second was that Frank Griffin started with a regular intimation of 30-32 men in his gang. Now, there were a few occasions in the film (BEFORE both his slaughter at "Blackdom" and his final ride to La Belle) in which he lost a handful of men (killed off). Now, that should arithmetically leave him with say - maybe, and let's be generous - about 24 men. At the gunfight in "Blackdom", I estimate he lost a further 8-10 men (let's again be generous and say 8). So that leaves about 16 men. When we're shown his gang in single file on the horizon riding to "La Belle", I counted 35...!!! At the final gunfight in "La Belle", I estimate the loss of a further 15-20 men (so much for my generous count of 16 there should have been riding into "La Belle", and yet after the count of - let's say - 15 deaths there was an obvious dozen or so left for the Sheriff and Roy Goode to finish off. It would have made more sense to have given the initial tally of Griffin's gang at about 70 men.
Next (and I have to first state that I have no problem with interracial relationships whatsoever... but why, at a time (1880s) when it would have been HIGHLY UNLIKELY that the scenario given between Deputy Whitey Winn and Louise Hobbs, the "Blackdom" township girl, would have taken place, are we presented with an interracial relationship? Again, it doesn't bother me except that I like to see REALITY rather than political correctness (ie 'positive discrimination') being forced down my throat...!
Scoot McNairy, I felt was well-cast as the Sheriff who has a realistic transformation from (not quite) 'cowardice' at the beginning into a brave man towards the end. I felt Jack O'Connell to be miscast as Roy Goode... his portrayal of a hard-nosed (although 'changed') gang member was - frankly - a bit insipid. He just didn't 'look' the part. Jeff Daniels was great - in fact perfect - as Frank Griffin. He stole the show.
It was very unsatisfying not to have found out what was happening re the mining company's purchase of the town and mine, and of what was subsequently to take place with the mining company's men. It was a bit unbelievable that supposedly 'professional' men would have separated themselves from their - probably conglomerate - company to become horse thieves. It would have made good sense to, at the end, after the gun-battle, have had the company coming into town with all their equipment etc... a new lease of life for a once dead town.
I found it also unsatisfying that the Deputy Whitey Winn was killed off by a surprise knife in the chest before we could enjoy his gunfighting skills in a gun-battle (or one- to-one gunfight)... after all, the latter was exactly what was being built up in the character from the beginning.
There were some obvious references (tributes?) to old classics such as "High Noon" (1952) and "The Searchers" (1956)... the latter reference being an iconic scene reflected in "Godless" with Alice Fletcher entering and exiting the cabin à la John Wayne (the interior of the cabin completely dark, with only the external daylight showing in the open doorway).
Overall, I'd say that - although enjoyable - the series somehow wasn't particularly fulfilling, even the end with shades of "Shane" (1953) as Goode leaves the family. The difference was that Shane was a loner, had always been a loner. Goode wasn't. He was always around people. Shane *had to* go off on his own... that was his personality, his character. Goode actively chose to go off and find, and stay with, his brother. He didn't have to leave forever. He could have said, "wait for me, I'll come back and marry you"... it's obvious that's what Fletcher wanted.
Again, I did enjoy the series, and was pretty much glued to the it. I really don't believe it merited as high an IMDb score as 8.6 when you consider the absolutely excellent box-set "Halt and Catch Fire" received an 8.4. The disparity just doesn't compute!
Personally, I'd - generously - award a 7.2 to "Godless".
i. ...that it was a very good throwback western, and captivating; ii....that it gained such a high - in my opinion, unmerited - rating as 8.6.
Here are my main observations of flaws:
1. Slow 2. Continuity (men count) wrong 3. Unnecessarily (directorial) political undertones
First issue - very slow in places... Why does everything have to be in the form of a box-set series these days??? A good director (maybe John Ford or Fred Zinneman) could have condensed this entire series in to a single 2- hour or so film. As it stands, although overall quite captivating, there were numerous unnecessarily long and v e-e-e-r-r-r-y slooooooowwww patches. This was the first of three major flaws I found with the series.
The second was that Frank Griffin started with a regular intimation of 30-32 men in his gang. Now, there were a few occasions in the film (BEFORE both his slaughter at "Blackdom" and his final ride to La Belle) in which he lost a handful of men (killed off). Now, that should arithmetically leave him with say - maybe, and let's be generous - about 24 men. At the gunfight in "Blackdom", I estimate he lost a further 8-10 men (let's again be generous and say 8). So that leaves about 16 men. When we're shown his gang in single file on the horizon riding to "La Belle", I counted 35...!!! At the final gunfight in "La Belle", I estimate the loss of a further 15-20 men (so much for my generous count of 16 there should have been riding into "La Belle", and yet after the count of - let's say - 15 deaths there was an obvious dozen or so left for the Sheriff and Roy Goode to finish off. It would have made more sense to have given the initial tally of Griffin's gang at about 70 men.
Next (and I have to first state that I have no problem with interracial relationships whatsoever... but why, at a time (1880s) when it would have been HIGHLY UNLIKELY that the scenario given between Deputy Whitey Winn and Louise Hobbs, the "Blackdom" township girl, would have taken place, are we presented with an interracial relationship? Again, it doesn't bother me except that I like to see REALITY rather than political correctness (ie 'positive discrimination') being forced down my throat...!
Scoot McNairy, I felt was well-cast as the Sheriff who has a realistic transformation from (not quite) 'cowardice' at the beginning into a brave man towards the end. I felt Jack O'Connell to be miscast as Roy Goode... his portrayal of a hard-nosed (although 'changed') gang member was - frankly - a bit insipid. He just didn't 'look' the part. Jeff Daniels was great - in fact perfect - as Frank Griffin. He stole the show.
It was very unsatisfying not to have found out what was happening re the mining company's purchase of the town and mine, and of what was subsequently to take place with the mining company's men. It was a bit unbelievable that supposedly 'professional' men would have separated themselves from their - probably conglomerate - company to become horse thieves. It would have made good sense to, at the end, after the gun-battle, have had the company coming into town with all their equipment etc... a new lease of life for a once dead town.
I found it also unsatisfying that the Deputy Whitey Winn was killed off by a surprise knife in the chest before we could enjoy his gunfighting skills in a gun-battle (or one- to-one gunfight)... after all, the latter was exactly what was being built up in the character from the beginning.
There were some obvious references (tributes?) to old classics such as "High Noon" (1952) and "The Searchers" (1956)... the latter reference being an iconic scene reflected in "Godless" with Alice Fletcher entering and exiting the cabin à la John Wayne (the interior of the cabin completely dark, with only the external daylight showing in the open doorway).
Overall, I'd say that - although enjoyable - the series somehow wasn't particularly fulfilling, even the end with shades of "Shane" (1953) as Goode leaves the family. The difference was that Shane was a loner, had always been a loner. Goode wasn't. He was always around people. Shane *had to* go off on his own... that was his personality, his character. Goode actively chose to go off and find, and stay with, his brother. He didn't have to leave forever. He could have said, "wait for me, I'll come back and marry you"... it's obvious that's what Fletcher wanted.
Again, I did enjoy the series, and was pretty much glued to the it. I really don't believe it merited as high an IMDb score as 8.6 when you consider the absolutely excellent box-set "Halt and Catch Fire" received an 8.4. The disparity just doesn't compute!
Personally, I'd - generously - award a 7.2 to "Godless".