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| How the West Was Won (Ultimate Collector's Edition) | 
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| Directors: Henry Hathaway, John Ford, George Marshall
Actors: Carroll Baker, Lee J. Cobb, Henry Fonda, Carolyn Jones, Karl Malden
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $59.98
Buy New: $41.99
You Save: $17.99 (30%)
Avg. Customer Rating:  42 reviews
Sales Rank: 2738
Format: Ac-3, Collector's Edition, Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, 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)
Number Of Items: 3
Running Time: 162
Aspect Ratio: 2.55:1
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: February 20, 1963
Release Date: September 9, 2008 (In 13 Days)
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Not yet released
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| Editorial Reviews:
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
Product Description
With courage sinew and conflict: that s how the West was won. With three directors five interlocked stories some of movie history s most legendary action scenes and a constellation of acting talent: that s how How the West Was Won was filmed. Henry Fonda Gregory Peck Debbie Reynolds James Stewart and John Wayne are among the big names in this big saga following a family s move West through generations marked by the spectacles of a heart-pounding raging river ride a thunderous buffalo stampede and a bracing runaway train shootout. Via technological advances this panoramic winner of three Academy Awards can now be seen with a resplendent restored clarity eliminating its original three- panel join lines and in roof-raising Dolby 5.1 audio. Westward ho!Explore a new home entertainment frontier with a classic movie adventure in a stunning new version never before possible!Includes 2-Disc Special Edition DVD: The Winner of 3 Academy Awards Digitally Remastered from Restored Picture Elements in New Dolby 5.1 Audio With 3-Panel Cinerama Join Lines of Previous Theatrical/Video Versions Removed Via Pioneering TechnologyPlus 4+ Hours of Special Features Including New Star/Historian Commentary The Making of How the West Was Won Featurette and the Acclaimed Bonus Movie Cinerama Adventure Nostalgically Chronicling the History of How the West Was Won s Unique Filmmaking ProcessSystem Requirements:Running Time: 162 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: WESTERN/CLASSICS Rating: G UPC: 883929026487 Manufacturer No: 1000039866
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| Customer Reviews: Read 37 more reviews...
 How the west was WOW! August 26, 2008
Done on grand scale in both production and star power and harnessed by no
less than three legendary directors the 1962 How the west was won gets in
on the remastered bandwagon and not a moment too soon for adventure fans.
I was blessed in getting this Ultimate Collector's edition in August from my
trusty neighborhood outlet in midtown Manhattan and for anyone is a fan or
has the pleasure of seeing it for the first time are in for a treat. The new
edition was well the wait. This nicely put together 3-disc set is vastly an
improvement over previous releases I'm not a "tech head" but I do know when an effort has been put into restoring film and enhancing sound as in this
release. The film is split by two disc and the third disc is that of a bonus
film "Cinerama Adventure" which showcases an informative history of the good
old short lived process that added to the adventure of movie going.
Extras also include a reprint of The Cinerama pressbook 10 photo stills and 10 behind the scene shots and 20 page general release booklet.
all in all a grand package to a grand film that deserves no less.
 Amazon does this with all films August 22, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
For those pointing out the reviews of older DVD versions of HWWW being here and much inappropriate, this is ,in my long Amazon experience, normal. Every time I look up a film and read the reviews (if more than one version has been put out) it is pretty much always easy to see the reviews are for all the versions - not just the one specifically listed. Good reviewers might want to be sure to note releasing company and release date in their review to help avoid this problem.
Would, though help if Amazon would simply attach only the reviews of a specific release page to that page and not move them to any other release page - but maybe it's more than their computers/program operators can handle.
 Incorrect info August 21, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
As an admirer of the original film since seeing it in the original three-screen Cinerama process when I was a kid, I hate to inform you all that, although released in Europe first, it was NOT the first feature film in the three-screen Cinerama process (although it was the last). George Pal's "The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm" was the first -- released in 1962 in the three-screen process. I still have the original road-show souvenir book and it states it clearly. "Bros. Grimm" was the first, "How the West was Won" was the second -- then, because of so much revenue being generated from its "ordinary theatrical release" the company was forced to make a compromise: A single-lens, single-curved screen process for future Cinerama productions. This was initiated with Stanley Kramer's "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" and followed by such films as Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" and John Sturges' "The Hallelujah Trail". I just needed to get the facts straight here.
Incidentaly, this three-lens, three-screen process of "Bros. Grimm" and "How the West Was Won" is why the DVD release has unavoidably two lines running down the middle, and the strange effect of, say, a wagon rolling horizontally seeming to be constantly riding in a warped circle. This is because of the three screens being flattened back onto a straight surface.
One more thing: Alfred Newman's great score for "How the West Was Won" is truly one of the greatest western film scores in history (even quoted in other films as a quintessential western score) and to hear it in true 5.1 sound is worth the price alone!
 One good thing in this film! August 19, 2008
0 out of 4 found this review helpful
How The West Was Won came out in Cinerama in 1962 and when released to the average theatres, the lines from the Cinerama process were frozen in a 35mm print. The hope was that the film might make one overlook this distraction. No such luck.
There is one scene to see: the Buffalo stampede
Perhaps too, the Jimmy Stewart /Carroll Baker love scene, where you can see Stewart cracking up at the lines he has to deliver.
This is sheer nonsense, and unintentionally funny in mny spots: Debbie Reynolds as an old woman in her wig, Karl Malden in any scene, and Agnes Moorehead.
Skip this one, and see The Wild Bunch , Once Upon A Time In the West, and Ride The High Country, and Cat Ballou.
Epics: The Big Country, Cheyenne Autumn,
Also see The Last of the Mohicans (1992), and They Came to Cordura, plus any Stewart films directed by Anthony Mann, or Gary Cooper, in High Noon, The Hanging Tree, and Man of The West.
Randolf Scott in his many great films..These films give a true sense of the west and how it was expolitd by whites.
Read the reviews of How the West was Won..in 1963, they were not good.
Great Epic, but way too expensive August 17, 2008
0 out of 4 found this review helpful
This is a great epic film. I have watched it many many times & went to the picture show to see it way back when it first came out in the early sixties. The price of $ 41.99 is absolutely ridiculous in my opinion. The price should be around the low $20.00 range. Technology has changed so much the last few years. When these films are ran on TCM, the quality is absolutely excellent mint condition. I don't need a cover. No Big Deal! I will just record it on my DVD Recorder & it will cost me about only 20 cents to do it. Whoever buys this film & pays $41.99 for it, more power to you, but you are a FOOL! I need my cash to pay bills! By the way, I purchased the DVD of this film from Wal-Mart a couple of year ago for only $7.50. That's a heck alot cheaper than $41.99-- The running time is 155 Minutes. The running time of this collectors set is 162 Minutes. This is only 7 little Minutes longer. If you get down to the bottom line-The Nitty Gritty--The Great Epic El-Cid on DVD-The Collectors Edition just came out recently-(Released) & you can purchase it at tons of places & pay anywhere from around $17.99 to the low $20's. In my opinion, This film "How The West Was Won" should be around the same price as El-Cid!
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