Previous review asks why not more gold digging? First of all the author is Charlotte Gray and they followed her book she wrote which they kept to in script. Reminded me of "Deadwood". Scandinavians wanting to be North American's. Terrible revue, fantastic entertainment. Who really wants to see 6 hours of digging in the permafrost and mud? The acting was a little stiff when it came to the main character's Jewish pal. I believe that in Charlotte Gray's book a lot more emphasis on Jack London could and would have been beneficial. Alaska is drop-dead beautiful and crazy to look at. I tried living there and almost went nuts, I mean everything is shipped in including the toilet paper and feminine napkins and petrol. The geological idea of where gold lies is spot on. L J

Not my usual genre, given the period setting and the dreadfulness of a promised Deadwood atmosphere, my expectation was low. And I remain lukewarm-to-cool about it afterward.Brief summary of my experience in abstract:Good: Great scenic shots of Canadian wilderness. Set design and effects are superb. Good performance from most casts. Scary enough villains. Key actors with enough screen presence and weight to carry the story on, in spite of the following...Not So Good: Not enough realism. Inconsistent casting with mixed/ wrong accents - some authentic some modern US some modern UK. Madden's character motivation wobbly, or is plain petty/myopic and not exactly high-minded heroism. Abbie tries hard but remains a self-conscious poser. One moment she's seen-it-all gun-slinging red-neck cowgirl next moment modern rom-com-style heavy-heaving damsel in distress. And if you decide to watch this...be warned about a stinky dirt shot. Hint: human refuse outlet; a 90's film director's favorite shot. that could set many nauseous for days. Either the director's idea of juvenile comic relief, or some big statement about his idea of money's worth. Either way, it is supremely poor taste delivered in sneaky, aggressive, obnoxious manner. Not cool.Dirt is really not the new sexy, nor a cheap way to amp up much-needed but insufficient realism.It wouldn't matter to me if I missed this honestly. Still, I would've given a charitable 7 for the actors performance and the cinematography effort if not for the overall distracting inconsistencies and gratuitous dirt-porn. Hence 5.

To the reviewer Scott1-921-252003, you offered the best review out of anyone. Thank you for supplying the historically accurate parts of the story and offering your other comments.I personally found the mini series entertaining even if it was historically inaccurate. I'm not really sure why so many people expected it to be overly accurate anyway. Sometimes you just need to enjoy something for what it is. Plus, the movie was pretty clear about calling itself a "docudrama". I also don't understand the reviewers who clearly didn't like it, felt that their time was wasted on it, yet sat through the entire mini-series anyway. If you don't enjoy something, stop watching it lol. I thought the man who played Bill Haskel was a good actor and honestly, very hot. I enjoyed Belinda's character but it would have been nice to know a little more about her, such as why she was there to begin with. I guess because she had more freedom there? I don't know. I didn't think the actress who played Belinda was as good an actress as the man who played Bill, even though I found her entertaining, but perhaps it was because of the way they wrote her character. Female characters on film do not seem to receive the same emotional depth exploration as male characters in film do. It's not often we truly get to see strong female characters on TV and she gave a hint of that. I don't think our society is yet ready to see likable female characters explore a wide range of emotional depth and gabble with morality (unless it's regarding sex) yet, unfortunately. I wish they had developed it more to counter the usual female narratives we see.I really enjoyed the scene where Belinda confronted Sabine who got pushed outside by Tim Roth's character. It's not often you see scenes like that between women on TV either. I thought the dynamic of it was very interesting. Although, I will admit I am getting tired of seeing casts of older distinguished men with one or two young women thrown in. I did enjoy the juxtaposition between Sabine and The Superintendient with the way they both "whored" themselves out. Again, it's not often on TV where the way men "whore" themselves out is so clearly defined. Yet, it's often a common story line when it comes to women. So I enjoyed the way they tied their two life experiences together in that and the morality of the Superintendent. Although again, Sabine was considerably younger than the Superintendient. Once again proving that we are only interested in women's stories when they are young and men's stories no matter their age. I thought the bit where Father Judge got measured for his coffin was oddly endearing and was a nice light reprieve. I enjoy Sam Shepard as an actor. Clearly it was not historically accurate, based on almost everyone else's comments, but I enjoyed the mini-series and as someone who doesn't really read books about the history of the Klondike, it did spark my interest to research it on the internet. I think I might go buy some books on the topic even because of how it sparked my interest. And perhaps that's a better gift then simply having something be historically accurate.

I watched this mini series for entertainment. If that is your purpose - enjoy!! The scenery is spectacular,the photography is beautiful, the acting is solid and the story is ENTERTAINING (somewhat melodramatic)!!! I thought the cast was excellent. Much of the criticism that comes from the other reviewers seems to stem from the lack of realism. I have always felt that the hallmark of a good television show or movie is the ability to suspend disbelief. There are dramatic elements to this series that stretch the imagination BUT it is a story not a documentary. If you want it to be absolutely realistic don't watch it. I LOVED IT!!!!!