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Seth Bullock, a former Montana lawman, and his partner, Sol
Star, put down their guns and travel to Deadwood with the
dreams of opening a hardware store in the prospering town.
Bullock is an upstanding man of distinct moral clarity; he
strives to stay out of everyone’s business, but his moral
barometer prevents him from keeping to himself.
Deadwood is populated with a wide-variety of characters,
from the legendary gunman Wild Bill Hickok (David Carradine,
who seems to embody the Hickok persona), to the scientifically
minded Doc Cochran (Brad Dourif), who slips in and out of
each others lives in intricately woven stories and plotlines.
Every man and woman in Deadwood is obsessed with gold and
claiming their riches, except ruthless saloon owner Al Swearengen
(Ian McShane), the unofficial overseer of Deadwood. Swearengen
is a cold-blooded killer and a hardnosed businessman who is
intent on exploiting the town’s prosperity and making
his riches before the town fizzles out, as all boomtowns inevitably
did.
The main storyline for season one involves a wealthy New
Yorker and his wife who buy a swatch of land previously suspected
to be devoid of gold, but when gold is discovered, and it
is plentiful, everyone, including Swearengen, vies to reclaim
the land and the gold for themselves.
“Deadwood” is rich series with textured characters
and gritty pathos. Equal parts Unforgiven and Straw
Dogs it is a violent, unflinching series filled with morally
ambiguous characters and enough swear words to make even the
hardest man cringe.
A gritty series, it has usurped The Sopranos in this
reviewer’s opinion, as HBO’s flagship title. The
acting is topnotch, and the engaging storylines, too numerous
to synopsize here, are meticulously paced and are in no hurry
to build to their crescendos.
“Deadwood” is a show that takes some time to appreciate.
It is slow paced and, in the beginning, concerns itself more
with its characters than its plotlines. Halfway through the
season, however, you’ll find yourself so engaged in the
characters and stories that you’ll compulsively watch
the rest of the series.
This is a great set, on par, or even surpassing previous
DVD outings released by HBO. If you’re a fan of gritty
westerns or HBO series in general, this is a must have.
DVD Extras
Spread across multiple discs, all thirteen episodes are presented
in anamorphic widescreen (1.78:1). The transfers are crisp
and beautiful and the sound, Dolby 5.1, is focused mainly
in the front speaker—it doesn’t exploit surround
sound; only occasionally bouncing from speaker to speaker.
But the mixes are sharp and retain the original, subtle sound
design.
As for special features, you can find three documentaries,
one featurette, four commentaries by David Milch, and actors
Molly Parker and Keith Carradine; Brad Dourif and Robin Weigert;
Timothy Olyphant and Ian McShane.
Conclusion: Movie 85% Extras: 75%
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