Boy, let me tell you. I had very low expectations going into Cowboys and Outlaws, a two disc set of six History Channel episodes.
That mentality was quickly slapped out of me. This collection uses some incredible graphics and the sound quality is phenomenal. As the title suggests – we focus on key moments of the cowboy era.

Throughout the series, there are (what I like to call) Blood Shots. Let’s say we are talking about Billy the Kid (third episode) – freeze frame, zoom onto his boots, and BAM! Everything goes gray and grainy – except his spurs, which turn bright red. This gnarly effect happens on a number of different outlaw necessities: bandanas, hats, saddles – and even other Western images: the horns of a bull and coffee tins, among others. The graphics, once gray and red, spin into this CSI-like dissection of the object, telling its purpose, importance, and history (obviously). You get about two or three of these per episode and, yes, the effect is cool enough to warrant an entire paragraph to itself. Moving on.

‘The Real Lonesome Dove’ is the first episode and probably my favorite – it give a great sense of historical background, pretty gripping story, and the acting it’s awful. You would think all the re-enactments would get old – fast, but they aren’t that distracting, especially because it’s all visual. You tend to have an expert or narrator speaking over them, so they aren’t doing too much acting. The scenes are great; they really create a new world with their dusty sets and accurate saloons and jail cells. Other episodes include ‘The Real McCoy’, ‘The Real Billy the Kid’, ‘The Real Wyatt Earp’, ‘Range War’, and ‘Frontier Hitman’.

At some moments, I got the feeling that they were romanticizing the Western lifestyle WAY too much – but then again, that is what a television network will do. Along with experts talking about these various topics and the cool Blood Shots, you have a few experts who actually show you real guns (and shoot them), real cow towns (and show you important historical spots), and way saloons cheated cards and drinks.

In short – I was (very) pleasantly surprised. You get a ton of information you didn’t know you wanted, very cool graphics and scenes, and impeccable sound quality. You also get a sense of wanting to watch each episode all the way through. It’s weird – you have to watch one to understand it. However, I don’t recommend watching all 4 hours and 42 minutes of it straight through.