User Reviews

Greetings from Lithuania. "American Primeval" is a mini series created by Peter Berg. It is a brutal, realistic and bloody series set in US. It reminded me both of "Revenant" and "Hostiles", and while "American Primeval" does not reach greatness of those two movies, i enjoyed it very much. Only the ending was very conventional and predictable. Taylor Kirch lead this series in an excellent performance. Cinematography, set design, costumes, music were all top notch. Overall, "American Primeval" is good western series. Very realistic in depiction of violence and nature but with a predictable ending, still recommended if you enjoyed movies like "Revenant" or "Hostiles".

Peter Berg delivers another thrilling story rooted in real life American history that is stranger than fiction. In perhaps the most lawless time and place in American history, assorted characters attempt to simply survive while pursuing personal objectives. The pace, grittiness and historical accuracy are reminiscent of The Revenant. I can't wait to see what Mr. Berg does next!

La protagonista no puede ser más estúpida. Cualquier mujer de la época que fuera no cometería tantas idioteces, ¡ya estaría muerta! y más en esa época

Good show. Pretty gritty. Actors worked well together. Story pretty good. Decent western. Ending not the best, but... We'd rate it: "If you can take the grit then watch in your spare time."

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

The historical advent of the Latter Day Saints has largely been ignored in the annals of the historical west biopics and dramas. This does expose the violent undercurrent of the times but goes into little depth how the religious clashes intersected with the social and cultural ones between the competing factions. Overall, a descent primer on the topic of why the Wild West was so wild.

yeah, I dunno ..this was recommended to me ..and altho I will give it kudos for exploring a time and perspective I had not seen (Mormons in the Old West) halfway thru I just found it to be SO SENSELESSLY VIOLENT that I just don't even wanna finish it (stopped at ep#4) ..furthermore, decisions made by main characters are so BRAINDEAD that I almost root for them to get killed ..just for being an idiot ..laso not that I'm for full on graphic nudity but you got one of the curviest actresses in Hollywood as your lead who hasn't shied away from disrobing in the past. Sprinkle it a bit o' skin (like Game of Thrones used to do) and I might buy into this "over the top" graphic-ness ..I find it a very confusing message when you can show people throats being slit and scalps being removed but 1 naked breast and everyone clutches their pearls? We got a real effed up moral compassin this country.

An endlessly frustrating piece. Over and over again, this show sells you on the idea of a narrative worth attempting only to then hit you over the head and change to an unsatisfying course. It splits the story into two right off the bat, the interesting one and the boring one. One will see a case of devolving relations between an extremist theocratic state and American manifest destiny and the other will amount to an extended hike in the woods with some shoot outs. Over and over again we see the cast of the latter sitting around a campfire asking the same questions, making the same complaints, until it ends. The former ends unceremoniously by killing off any character which might be slightly interesting, always in a manner that seems entire self assure of itself. It's final episode is by far the worst in the series as it amounts to the same level of depth as, "It was all just a dream"

Amazing show. Absolutely loved it 10/10 wish there was more to watch or second season.

I love this show. Very violent but it comes better and better and I love the actors. Good work!

Authentic and realistic. Much better than Costner's “Horizon”, which lacks authenticity.

The best series starter since the walking dead.binged watched and then again today lol. It was that GOOD!!!finally might have something good to look forward to.

I enjoyed this. Yes, it’s grim and violent, but that doesn’t mean its shallow. Ignore the critics, their arbitrary ire is revealed here. They have no eye for entertainment.

I liked it for the most. They did a great job with production values - it had a Revanant vibe. Casting was also on point, again, for the most part with one exception in both casting and plot - Sarah Lightfoot Leon. I've seen her in The Agrncy, and I have the same criticism; she's boring. She has very little emotion and just looks kinda like a deer in the headlights. The bs plot with her stank of woke. I'm no fan of Mormons per se, I have no beef with them, but she was just soggy with feminist toxicity. Figures the dumb, white b&tch betrays her husband, her faith, and her people for some Indian who slaughtered all the women who survived but her. If ahed have been a Palestinan hostage, she'd be crying to stay. It dragged the film down. What was up with thw French morons? They looked like zombies.

First five episodes were engaging and worth watching. The finale, not so much.

American Primeval leans heavily on shock content, using sudden violence and grotesque scenes as a substitute for genuine storytelling and creativity. The series lacks meaningful character development or narrative depth, instead relying on a grim, dirty aesthetic that pretends to be "realism" but feels more like a mood piece from a director out of ideas. These constant attempts to shock the audience come across as a cheap shortcut, undermining the potential for a more sophisticated or engaging exploration of the story's themes.

I usually don't comment, but I had to. The critics review score isn't truthful to what this limited series is. They probably want some feeling good story or maybe with some modern buzzwords. This series isn't perfect, but it keeps you tight on your seat. It's raw and most likely the most realistic story of what happen during those times. The cast is great and no one is trying to overact. There isn't social or political message. This reminds me of 1883, but with a different way of shooting the scenes. Very action focused and close-ups. Reminds me of Saving Private Ryan or The Thin Red Line.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Muito melhor do que "Horizon" ao mostrar o estado hobbesiano de todos contra todos que era o sul dos EUA, lotado de etnias, religiões e grupos em guerra, para os quais a "Democracia na América" era puramente um sonho. A cena deles sendo encurralados, acredito que no episódio 2, é boa demais, com uma câmera que vai passeando sem cortes, reforçando o poder da direção. Uma pena que a série vai perdendo o ritmo, e conforme avança, é mais do mesmo tentando esticar ao máximo. E, claro, existem concessões que só o "poder do protagonismo" para explicar. Mas ainda assim causa boa tensão.

Perhaps, the biggest contribution of "American Primeval" to the western genre is getting "wild" back into "wild west". It all has became too cliche now: there is wilderness and safety of settlements or vice versa - characters run from the problems into wilderness and find peace, there are bellirgent factions, but there is a group of people heroes can rely on, or are even a part of that strong group. But in AP nowhere is safe, and rarely, but still sometimes show will go at absurd lenghths to demonstrate that. That's why some people call it dark and dirty, but I disagree: there are likeable characters you can be compassionate about. However, other than that and Mormons, there is absolutely nothing new to this series, that's why critic rated it so low. But as it was a safe bet for creators to take known plots, well-received imagery and cast actors familiar with westerns, so it a safe bet for viewers to watch and enjoy it, for one time.

I tried to give it a whirl but the color grading is just awful. I wish the desaturated edgy dark blue-gray color grading trend that started in the 2000s or so would just die already.

As long as you don't mind a little bleak in your coffee, it's certainly worth watching. It's an unflinching, unsparing, often implausible, series with a really interesting historical backdrop. The pacing does get a little overloaded, and the chronic relentlessness of it actually dulls its edges a little bit, but it's solid. The acting is really good, and the screenplay (by the same guy who wrote the revenant) is much better than average, Most of the critics just complain about lack of character development, and basically a lack of cliche formulas. It does try to do a little too much, with 3 storylines, of which one of them could certainly have been omitted. And episodes 3 and 6 specifically I thought were kind of poorly done, for varying reasons. And the ending was truly unsatisfying. But it's been one of the better series I've seen on Netflix in a while.

The show is very obviously strongly influenced by the legendary movie "Dead Man" by Jim Jarmusch - both in gritty visuals, naturalistic scenes full of gore and brutal depiction of the American society, however, the wobbly, shaky camera trying hard to provide a sense of quasi-authenticity is a constant annoyance, and highly anachronistic behavior of the characters breaks the immersion before the atmosphere has time to settle in.

Sometimes I wonder if critics have agendas or if they're able to watch movies and TV series objectively. Because this was truly excellent. Yes, it was violent - but those times were violent. The acting, the production the camera work were all top notch. The only people who may be legitimately critical of it are members of the LDS Church; but having read a lot about this period, I believe much of what was portrayed in this superb series was likely correct.