Any project involving Steven Spielberg should be easy to watch online, especially if it stars bona fide greats like Josh Brolin, Keri Russell, Will Patton, Alan Tudyk, Sean Astin, Gary Busey, Skeet Ulrich, and Michael Spears. However, “Into the West” — a Western drama the “Jurassic Park” director produced for Dreamworks Television and TNT in the mid-2000s — proves that even star-studded Spielberg ensemble pieces can get lost in the ether.
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“Into the West” is an ambitious project, with all six episodes clocking in at almost two hours each and covering a lot of American history. What’s more, the series tapped some notable directors to helm the saga, including horse opera veteran Simon Wincer, who directed one of the all-time great Westerns in “Lonesome Dove.”
The story takes place in the 1800s and spans several decades, with the cusp of it chronicling the Westward Expansion from the perspective of a white man, Jacob Wheeler (Matthew Settle), and a Native American, Loved By the Buffalo (Joseph M. Marshall III). Jacob is chasing the American Dream and wants to make his fortune, while Buffalo seeks to preserve his tribe’s way of life. That said, their stories become intertwined when Jacob marries Buffalo’s sister Thunder Heart Woman (Tonantzin Carmelo), and we get to learn more about their respective families.
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What ensues is a true epic with a sprawling narrative that’s cinematic in scope. With Taylor Sheridan’s “Yellowstone” franchise revitalizing Westerns on the small screen in recent years, now is the perfect time for “Into the West” to be rediscovered. Unfortunately, tracking down the series is fa from easy — but it isn’t impossible, either.
The only way to watch Into the West
At the time of this writing, “Into the West” isn’t available on any streaming service. What’s more, there is no information to suggest that the miniseries will arrive on one any time soon, so Steven Spielberg fans should temper their anticipation for the time being. One episode has been uploaded to YouTube, but it’s the sixth installment of the series, which isn’t ideal for viewers who want to enjoy the story from the beginning until the end.
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Fear not, though, Spielberg aficionados, as “Into the West” is available to watch through archaic methods (but not so old that it should be too much of an inconvenience for physical media purists). The miniseries was released on DVD and can be purchased on platforms like Amazon, but at just under $40, it isn’t exactly cheap.
With this being a Spielberg project, it’s bound to get a streaming release eventually, right? Still, we might have to wait a while, so if don’t want to wait until then, the ambitious epic is worth tracking down on physical media formats.
