This would have been a 10 if not for too much repetition which started in episode 6. Before that, it keeps you glued to your seat. Conrad's makeup,performance and accent is outstanding. I didn't even recognize him immediately. Dr. Kildare (Chamberlain) previews himself for his later title, King of the Miniseries. Alex Karas surprises portraying a character through many decades. Yes, some of the costumes (the nylon stockings) and other touches are a little off. But where do we get such detail today except in cable-only outlets such as The Tudors. There is a strong ecological underpinning to the whole miniseries which sometimes slaps you right in the face as if you haven't read 'The Silent Spring'. Beware one scene will get you quoting I will not lay quiet in Montparnasse.

I watched "Centennial" for the first time last week having borrowed it from a friend and was overall pleased with it. I am a fan of series or franchise type movies as they enable you to see a more complete development of the characters and stories involved. Taking several hours to view the life of a person on screen makes them become more believable and personable to the audience I believe. I only give it a 7 out of ten because of certain aspects of the film that are sometimes unavoidable due to when it was made.It was a made for television production and feels like it, rather than the more fluid pace of a film for the theater. The make up and costumes had a distinct unrealistic bright and clean TV show look rather than the true west of that period. Having studied the west as a historical subject, I think some of the production and story came across as unrealistic, but I enjoyed the film none the less. I found the early part of the series to be much more enjoyable and closer to authentic history rather than the latter parts, and found some of the commentary in the last reel by the main characters to be preachy, inaccurate and politically correct with a bias that not always squares with actual fact. Having spent some time in Colorado in that actual area, I saw none of much of what was lamented about. The movie was good for the most part, but unfortunately, a product of its time in the late seventies with all that was happening politically and socially. I will definitely watch it again, but probably skip the last episode. Had James Mitchner left the story in the 1930s, it would have been a better story. Instead I came away with a aggravated sense of having to listen to Mr. Mitchners personal ax grinding about how much America is to blame for everything. Most maddening was the ridiculous statement in the film that the Rocky Mountains couldn't be seen from ten miles away because of all the pollution in the air. I have been there, I have family who has lived there for twenty five years, this comment was absurd and pushing an agenda.

The lead commentator here is absolutely on the mark. Again, belatedly, I opted for the DVD version, and, having accessed the first three disks, am here to join mikehess in proclaiming this James A. Michener opus a masterwork for all time. Indeed, less than halfway through a revisiting, this series has forecast the likes of Dubya, AND the sad FACT THAT THIS NATION HAS YET TO RISE TO THE FAINTEST GLIMMER OF AN UNDERSTANDING OF ITS OWN HUBRIS, ITS BOAST, ITS VAUNTED "SUPERIORITY." What FRANK Skimmerhorn did in the name of vengeance is no better and no worse than what we, today, are doing unto the entire globe, unto humanity itself, AND, more to the point OURSELVES. It isn't merely the land, or even the "people," it's our joined humanity. That is, if we recognize such an "ideology.",

AT LAST!! It comes out on DVD today. This is one of the best miniseries ever. At 6 discs it is a long one but worth the viewing. Aside from the softness of the ending it is a well written, well acted, well directed and generally smoothly moving series with few dead spots. Robert Conrad is excellent as Pasquinel and Alex Karras does his best acting as "Potatos" Brumbaugh. Basically this work covers over 200 years in the history of an area in Colorado, the central town of which became known as Centennial, from the trappers and Indian wars to the early settlers to the modern ranchers. Mudh of it was filmed at Alamo Village in Texas but there are enough scenic spots used in Wyoming and Colorado to make it somewhat majestic. Do yourselves a favor and rent or buy this one. It is the best miniseries from a Michener novel.