I loved it! Jane was fucking awesome and had me cheering like crazy towards the end when she had Bullock's back. I found myself rooting for the mob (led by Garret Dillahunt I believe?!) during the Hearst beating quite excessively. That scene evoked similar feelings to the Dan/Captain season 3 fight. In other words, I was audibly wishing death upon the cocksucker while jumping up and down Didn't get what I wanted there (no death), but that's alright. The good guy deaths made me a baby. Alma outbidding Hearst for Charlie's land was nice payback. In the end, it sorta feels like too much of a happy ending, but in a really good way that I find satisfying. I thought it was great.
Yeah, Alma jumping into the bidding at the last second and forcing the win was sooo sweet. Her face read "I haven't forgotten about how you killed my husband and drove me from my land, cocksucker!" And he knew it.
The EB peepholes were a fucking riot. EB is the character you love to hate! Hell, I even respect the cocksucker after show of... honor? And yes, I think that was Garrett!
That was both fun and interesting. Without having previously viewed Deadwood the TV series, there were admittedly instances where I was a little confused as to who certain characters were and what their various relationships to other characters were, but I was still able to enjoy the narrative, which reminded me very much of the movie Tombstone, which is my personal "touchstone" when it comes to the Western genre. Knowing that I now get the opportunity to watch the TV series itself and learn what I don't currently know actually has me quite excited. I do have to praise a lot of the cast for getting me invested in their characters even though I didn't know them, especially Ian McShane, Paula Malcolmson, and the actress who played Calamity Jane (with whom I was not previously familiar).
Don Swayze! It's not much as a stand alone movie, mind you, but with Olyphant & McShane having been producers, I imagine that was never really the point, & as far as giving us some closure for what was one of the worst cases of a show left hanging, in maybe all of tv history... it did a pretty good job. It certainly still felt like the show I'd watched Although, correct me if I'm wrong, but did anyone else hear even one "Cocksucker" or am I just so immune to it, I missed them completely? lol Wait, the Hearst arrival had Al say it once, right?
Come to think of it, Al's cocksucker to Hearst might have been the only one. I don't think the show was the worst case of leaving things hanging. Yeah, the conflict with Hearst resolved unsatisfactory for the heroes, but most of the storylines were largely resolved by the end of the third season. Character arcs still had lots of mileage to go on but that's not the same as leaving things hanging. And it's certainly nothing like what Farscape did after its fourth and suddenly final season.
Not the first time he's worked for Milch; he played half of a pair of bad guys looking to rip off an armored car in two NYPD Blue episodes back in '94. As far as the movie goes, I was more than satisfied. It was just amazing how everyone picked up on their characters after 13 years without seemingly missing a beat, and the production team did a great job of recreating the town (especially the Gem and Bullock's house). Glad to see Milch has still got it. If this ends up being his swan song, it's a great way to cap a storied career.
I never watched Farscape, but the way they left things for Deadwood was literally a build up to war, with Hearst bringing in a buttload of Pinkertons & Al & Wu planning a major import of Chinese & cutthroats. I don't know that we'd have actually seen a full scale battle sequence, (& maybe that's what scared off HBO on top of the existing costs) but things were definitely "Mid-thrust" as Al once said. lol. Alma was being pushed out after Elsworth's murder, & Hearst was in the midst of a pretty aggressive takeover. Apparently given this movie's events, not much happened, after the attempt on his life & Hearst just kind of evaporated for the better part of the decade, onto other territories, until the statehood came up
The was a few scenes that made me miss Ralph Richeson and Powers Boothe. But I really enjoyed it. I think they have toned down the nudity and swearing but the film did not suffer for it. I did wonder if Caroline had something to do with Gem and had come to average her death. But by deadwood standard's it was a happy ending.
Yeah, I was thrown off by Caroline, too. Either to avenge Jen or a plant for Hearst. Instead, she was merely there for thematic reasons, which isn't entirely good on its own, but I did like what Trixie said to her.
Saw it tonight and it was just really great seeing everyone again. It was almost as if they hadn't missed a beat, yet still showed a passage of time. It was a fitting end to the series. There was a bit of swearing, but not quite as much as one would expect given the series. But I take that as a sign that things have become a bit more civilized and that it's not the unlawful town that it used to be, having just become part of South Dakota. I think the most cursing actually came out of Trixie. They made good use of splicing scenes from the series to fill in the gaps. First time it happened, I was taken aback a bit, but they were used to good effect.
Did a rewatch the other day and have an official "cocksucker" count: 6 1. Al to Doc during Doc's visit in the beginning. 2. Al to Hearst during Hearst's speech. 3. Trixie while smoking a cig watching the parade through the window. 4. EB at the hotel before going on his peephole excursion. 5. Dan telling Hearst to order his man to put his gun down (after Charlie's killer is shot in the head). 6. Right before the Hearst beatdown someone in the crowd gets a cocksucker off. I believe Trixie wins the foul language award for most cursing. She went above and beyond the call of duty. Something else that occurred to me during the rewatch is that the story is sorta a passing of the torch from Al to various Deadwood peeps. The most obvious is Trixie inheriting the Gem (and his cash to Dan and Johnny). Then you have Al truly turning over Trixie's well being and care to Sol with the marriage. Al also encourages Sol to run for mayor, which would truly replace Al as defacto town leader. After the auction for Charlie's land, Al says "Mrs Ellsworth" to himself, which seems to be in admiration. I see this as Al knowing that Deadwood will have someone with the power of $$$ backing it. The fact that Alma outbid Hearst shows she's been building her financial empire in the years between and it shows her love and devotion to the town. Al approves. Finally, you have Bullock truly accepting his role as protector of the town. Whenever Seth talks with Al during the movie, Al is taking more of an advisory and consultant role. He's not telling Bullock how to go about dealing with Hearst, he's now backing Bullock's play, whatever that is. When Al asks Bullock "where have you been?" and Seth answers "down the street" with a grin on his face, that confirms for Al that Seth is now the go-to man for the town and he is accepting his role after all this time. To Al, his Deadwood is now in good hands and he can move on in peace knowing that. In the end during the final scenes, it's probably the happiest we ever see Al.
Loved the part where Bullock fires his gun to save Hearst from the mob,as we knew (and he knew) he ultimately would.
Come to think of it, it was fitting seeing Jane first in the movie, as she was the first to be seen in the first episode of the series from what I remember.
W. Earl Brown says 30 minutes of footage was cut from the film, including his "big scene." Give it to me now!
Please, HBO, let there be a director's cut! I think she's the first person we see when the scene shifts to Deadwood, but the first episode opens with Bullock executing that guy just before he and Sol leave Montana.
Huh, I don't even remember that scene and I watched the entire series a few months ago. I only remember Jane.
Jane is the first person we see at the beginning of Season 2 -- she's sitting atop her horse, drunk and passed out as the stagecoach bearing Martha & William Bullock and Maddie and the other prostitutes who'll work at the Chez Amis rattles by. Maybe that's what you were thinking of?
Yeah, maybe that's it. Weird how memory has a habit of playing tricks especially as one is getting older