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| How the West Was Won (Three-Disc Special Edition) | 
 enlarge | Directors: George Marshall, Henry Hathaway, John Ford, Richard Thorpe
Actors: James Stewart, John Wayne, Gregory Peck, Henry Fonda, Carroll Baker
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $20.98
Buy New: $12.90
You Save: $8.08 (39%)
New (42) Used (7) from $12.90
Avg. Customer Rating:  102 reviews
Sales Rank: 3808
Format: Ac-3, Box Set, Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, Original Recording Remastered, Restored, Special Edition, Widescreen, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: G (General Audience)
Number Of Items: 3
Running Time: 162
Aspect Ratio: 2.55:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.5
MPN: WARD019114D
UPC: 012569799714
EAN: 0012569799714
ASIN: B0018O4RT2
Theatrical Release Date: 1962
Release Date: September 9, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Five Star Seller!!! New, factory sealed US Region 1 DVD. Item is 100% guaranteed not to be a bootleg or import. Item is shipped directly from our warehouse. Easy exchange if item defective or damaged in shipped.
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Product Description
Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 09/09/2008
Amazon.com
The first feature film to be photographed and projected in the panoramic three-camera Cinerama process, this epic Western is almost as expansive as the West itself, chronicling a pioneering family's triumphs and tragedies in numerous episodes spanning three generations and a half century of westward movement. Divided into five segments directed by veteran Hollywood filmmakers Henry Hathaway, George Marshall, and the legendary John Ford (and including uncredited sequences directed by Richard Thorpe), the film was one of the most ambitious ever made by the venerable MGM studio. Its stellar cast reads like a virtual who's who of Hollywood's biggest stars. Debbie Reynolds plays a sturdy survivor of many pioneering dangers, and the eventual widow of a gambler (Gregory Peck), who is later reunited with her nephew (George Peppard), a Civil War veteran and cavalryman who heads for San Francisco as the transcontinental railroad is being built. Many more characters and stories are woven throughout this epic film, which is dramatically uneven but totally engrossing with its stunning vistas and countless outdoor locations in Illinois, Kentucky, South Dakota, Monument Valley in Arizona, California, Colorado, and elsewhere. --Jeff Shannon
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| Customer Reviews: Read 97 more reviews...
 Review on DVD set for August 2008 June 4, 2008
76 out of 80 found this review helpful
I keep running into negative reviews for a DVD film or set that hasn't been released yet. I am not sure why Amazon feels in necessay to move reviews over to a DVD that has yet to be released but it's a bit like shooting yourself in the foot. Everyone waiting for a decent release of this film - without the lines on film - should be aware they need to wait for reviews of the set AFTER it has been released and ignore the negative reviews of previous versions.
Everyone knows this film, it is the reviews of the DVD and not the film that is important to most of us. Wake up, Jeff. This is very frustrating. Quit posting reviews of DVDs that have yet to be released.
Richard
 Deceptive Cover: Not Enhanced for Widescreen TVs May 25, 2007
45 out of 67 found this review helpful
I took a chance on buying this DVD because it said it was enhanced for widescreen TVs, in other words, it was supposed to be anamorphic. It definitely is not. It is non-anamorphic, letterboxed on all 4 sides if you have an HDTV. It is also a very poor print. I took it back to Best Buy, arguing that the advertising on the box is a lie, and they gave me my money back with no questions asked - as if they had heard this story before. A shame, a real classic like this and it receives, once again, shoddy treatment.
Please note: This is a review of the 2007 standard edition version of this film, NOT the 2008 Blu-Ray version.
Poor Edition June 1, 2007
44 out of 74 found this review helpful
This review is about the 2007 'John Wayne Collection' DVD edition of the film. New packaging, same sorry edition contained on other DVD (even Laserdisc) editions and further more the packaging claims "Enhanced for widescreen TVs" not true! The picture quality is terrible. Considering the DVD technology that exists today there is no reason the print couldn't have been cleaned up. Also, the two lines that appear in the middle of the screen (from being filmed in the Cinerama process) could have been eliminated. This is a great classic film that deserves a deluxe DVD edition. I expect more from WB with their long line of quality product not this horrible DVD transfer repackaged for an unsuspecting public! Avoid this until a better DVD edition comes along.
Deceptive Advertising May 25, 2007
40 out of 56 found this review helpful
If you have been anxiously awaiting the release of HTWWW in anamorphic wide screen - as I have been - the wait continues. The box for this latest (5/07) release claims the film is "Enhanced for widescreen TV's". Not true!! False advertising. In fact it's merely "letterboxed", and better yet, it's the same transfer used for the Laserdisc version years ago - including the old "Turner Home Video" tag when Turner controlled the MGM library. I'm returning my copy to Amazon for a refund!
Classic Western receives deluxe release--be aware there is a Special Collector's Edition, regular 3 disc DVD and Blu-Ray release September 14, 2008
27 out of 27 found this review helpful
A massive, sprawling epic shot in the three camera Cinerama Process popular during the early 60's, "How the West Was Won" spans from 1830 to 1880 covering the history of the westward expansion. Directed by three directors (John Ford, Henry Hathaway and George Marshall with a forth Richard Thorpe providing uncredited linking pieces)"How the West Was Won" was produced during the twilight of the western as the most popular type genre.
Warner has done a painstaking job of restoring this classic film and although it isn't perfect, it's an exceptional job that deserves kudos. The film has never looked this good with colors that pop and accurate fleshtones. More important the seams that one could see for the separate cameras aren't quite as glaring as before. The image quality is exceptionally crisp with terrific detail. Audio sounds extremely good with a nice 5.1 mix.
The film is spread over two discs with the original Overture and Alfred Newman's marvelous score included as part of the package. We get a terrific feature length commentary track from "West" stuntman Loren James who provides plenty of background details about the physical shooting of the film, filmmaker David Strohmaier, film scholar Rudy Behlmer, Cierama's John Sittig and music historian Jon Burlingame. My only complaint is that Burlingame will make a comment about listening to Newman's marvelous score and then whomever edited his comments continues to play them right over the music cue we should be listening to without interruption.
The only other complaint that I have is that while the dirt and grit has been removed making the film look marvelous, there's one sequence that has always bugged me--there is a bit of dirt right in the middle of the frame of the opening fly over sequence that I wish they could have figured out how to remove. Other than that, it's pretty smooth looking throughout the presentation despite an occasiona bit of image unsteadiness as characters move across the screen and span of the three cameras lenses.
We also get a terrific hour and a half documentary on the Cinerama process on the third disc.
There are three different versions of the film in re-release: the first is a three disc DVD edition with just the film; the second is the three disc set postcards, a reproduction of the original press book, souvenir book and photos as part of the package;there is no equivalent for this SCE in the Blu-ray edition although it does have a booklet as part of that package.
The image and sound quality in this restored edition improves on the original single disc edition of the film with a terrific commentary track and documentary to round out the set. With a stunning casts (James Stewart, Gregory Peck, Carolyn Jones, Debbie Reynolds, Carol Baker, Lee J. Cobb, George Peppard, John Wayne, Lee Van Cleef, Karl Malden, Agnes Moorehead and others)this was truly one of the last epic, lyrical westerns to be produced in Hollywood. Highly recommended.
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