How the West Was Won (Ultimate Collector's Edition) | 
| 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: $59.98
Buy New: $17.64
You Save: $42.34 (71%)
New (30) Used (10) from $11.39
Rating:  130 reviews
Sales Rank: 33769
Format: Ac-3, Collector's Edition, Color, Dolby, Dvd, Original Recording Remastered, Restored, Special Edition, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), Japanese (Subtitled), Thai (Subtitled), French (Dubbed)
Rating: G (General Audience)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.55:1
Number Of Discs: 3
Running Time: 162 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5.6 x 2.1
MPN: 1000039866
UPC: 883929026487
EAN: 0883929026487
ASIN: B0018O50W0
Theatrical Release Date: 1962
Release Date: September 9, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Movie DVD
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 125 more reviews...
 It doesn't get much better than this! July 2, 2009
Mike Bifulco
This brief review applies to the BluRay release. Excellent. Many others have already given detailed reviews of the movie itself, it's historical significance, plot synopsis, and critical remarks regarding the performances. But if you remember and have a fondness for the picture, this BluRay presentation hits the mark. The transfer and blending of the three film strips is almost flawless and you rarely notice the vertical separations. To fully realize the quality of this edition, you need to project the image onto an eight-foot wide screen or better and sit about six feet away. Add full multi-channel sound and you have an experience to enjoy. However, at the price it has dropped to recently, it's well worth it for the approximately 90 minute documentary on the development of CINERAMA. Warner Home Video and Amazon delivered on this one! Highly recommended.
Favorite Blu-Ray of 08, Favorite Western of 63 June 25, 2009
A Customer (L.A.)
Full Widescreen CINERAMA version and Smilebox (Simulated Cinerama version made by a Pro) version gives you three 35mm prints to make a 105mm image for your BluRay image and a multiTrack recording for your 5.1. Outside of Blade Runner, Batman Returns this is thE BD Disc!
Brings back great memories June 24, 2009
G. Landy
I am old enough to remember seeing this movie in cinerama in downtown Chicago. It was wonderful, but you could see the seams. The sound was great.
I have seen it on vhs and dvd. Very disappointing.
But now, in blue ray and on a 2.35 54 x 129 inch screen, wow wow. Colors and sharpness are spectacular. Also, they have managed to almost eliminate the seams where the screens met.
I cannot decide which version they provide you with to watch. The standard version even on a 2.35 screeen gives you black bars. Using the curved version you just get a strange scalloped part at the top and bottom.
The story works, not overly complicated. They have thrown most of MGM's stars into the movie. Great to hear Spencer Tracy do the narration.
I rented it first and then bought it.
 Unsmiling box June 23, 2009
Scott A. Moore (San Jose)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Great movie, I bought the Blu-Ray version. The only flaw was the
"smilebox" nonsense, a lame attempt to simulate the original Cinerama
effect. This was truly obnoxious. Please, next time think about creating
a version WITH and another WITHOUT this excessively cute and stunningly
useless stupid pet trick. I will happily dump my copy in the trash when
I find the correct undamaged Blu-ray version.
BluRay Release -- an epic in proportion June 10, 2009
Theodore A. Tan (Manila, Philippines)
HTWWW Blu-Ray release is definitely a MUST-HAVE for all collectors who enjoy motion picture epics. I remember watching this movie in its original 3 projection panels and mesmerized by the larger-than-life moving images and surround-sound. Watching it again in Blu-Ray format, especially the SHOWBOX version, really does more than justice to the original intent of the movie producers. I also followed its various stages of releases from a dismal VHS tape to laserdisc and DVD formats. And being a HTWWW avid fan, nothing gives me the plesasure of reliving the magnificence and grandeur of this original celluloid masterpiece right in my living room...thru the magic of Blu-Ray.
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