A significant achievement in TV history, the entertaining miniseries Centennial runs almost 21 hours and originally cost $25 million to make—a very high budget for a small screen project in 1978. The huge production also involved four directors, five cinematographers, and a large cast (with roughly 100 speaking parts). Based on James Michener's bestselling novel about the settling of the American West—as seen through the experiences of a fictional Colorado town named Centennial—the story begins in the 18th century and ends in the 20th century with a conflict over land use, highlighting a variety of characters that include frontiersmen, trappers, Indians, ranchers, cowboys, and farmers. Richard Chamberlain stars as pioneer Alexander McKeag, while Robert Conrad is excellent as the French-Canadian Pasquinel. Other members of the impressive cast include Alex Karras, Chad Everett, Sally Kellerman, Raymond Burr, Richard Crenna, David Janssen, and Dennis Weaver. A carefully-paced drama full of adventure, tragedy, violence, and dubious Western progress, Centennial paints a villainous portrait of opportunists exploiting and destroying Native American culture in the name of Manifest Destiny. Recommended. (T. Keogh)
Centennial
Universal, 6 discs, 1,252 min., not rated, DVD: $59.98 October 13, 2008
Centennial
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
Order From Your Favorite Distributor Today: