Stylish but barely mediocre overall

Absolutely the worst movie.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

There are two points here I would like to make:(1) Let me say right off that I was quite anxious to find this film, but after reading all the reviews offered here, I don't think I want to. Man, I sure am glad I read the reviews from others first who have seen it before I wasted my money! Maybe it's easy for a reviewer from the United Kingdom or Ireland to accept Rich Hall's obvious disdain for America (as pointed out in these reviews), but being from America, I know I wouldn't be able to stomach it. I think it's laughable for someone from another part of the globe to grouse about what's wrong with America! Methinks you need to be an American to really know that. (2). The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is my favorite Western, but from reading the other reviews here, it appears Mr. Hall despised that classic Western above all. That alone is enough to make me avoid this so-called "documentary" at all costs. I have a feeling I would end up jerking the DVD out of its player, taking it outside and running over it several times with my automobile! Rich Hall and BBC America, there's your "documentary"; and as Tuco in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly said, "I can give you a good idea where you can put it!"

Shown rather amusingly on BBC Four at the end of the very same week in which I had been given a comprehensive education in the history of the western, How the West Was Lost seemed the perfect thing to cement what I'd learned about the genre, the wryly laconic Rich Hall surely icing on such a cake.Sitting outside an old west saloon, a dark figure is affronted when a movie-reviewing kid simultaneously online and on a call dismisses the western film genre. Taking him out to the desert and dumping him there, the cowboy begins to explain to us the real splendour of this often forgotten American genre.The opening scene, a silly little introduction utilising certain genre conventions, had me thinking for a moment that the entire documentary might be communicated through a sort of faux-narrative. Luckily this is not the case, the scene more of an opportunity for Hall to introduce his fondness for the classic genre. A key thing we notice early is that this film is very much a subjective one, the prejudices and opinions—both political and cinematic—of the narrator/presenter not at all reserved. Hall looks the part for the presentation, his dark cowboy hat and coarse goatee recalling the many western heroes he makes mention of. The film is quite well shot, the iconic landscapes which pervade the genre fully exploited herein. It is immediately evident that the subject matter is quite close to Hall's heart, his praise of it as the great American genre and a staple of the country's cinema spoken with a great degree of pride and affection. He explores the genre in a generally chronological fashion, taking us from the early days of fledgling Hollywood through to the golden era of Ford, Hawks, and their contemporaries, onto the revisionism of New Hollywood and finally to the gradual dying off of the genre as a mainstream one in and around the release of Heaven's Gate. Interviewees include film historians and gunsmiths who attempt to explain the fixation of the American public with the genre from its earliest days. Hall presents us with a wide range of clips from westerns throughout the ages: Stagecoach; My Darling Clementine; The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance; The Searchers; The Magnificent Seven; Blazing Saddles; Little Big Man; Cheyenne Autumn; and McCabe and Mrs Miller to name but a few. The insight Hall gives into the evolution of the genre through these is interesting, exploring themes of East versus West as well as individual versus community and many more beside. A less appealing factor, and one which raises more than a few eyebrows, is his apparent distaste for the Spaghetti Westerns, particularly those of Leone. More than any other film mentioned, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly is labeled as a shame to its genre, the extent of Hall's hatred of it rather alarming and—for such a classic film—quite unusual. Aside from this minor detour into express agendas (several scathing political criticisms also crop up, but they're both funny and agreed with), the film is a comprehensive, entertaining, and highly informative look at a genre it makes you sad to see on the decline.Pretty much exactly as informative as appropriate for its televisual documentary medium, How the West Was Lost is an interesting approach to western history that will prove worthwhile for those with a particular interest in film. Hall's brand of presentation, as well as his distinctive voice, are welcome additions to a well written and shot tribute to a great American genre.

Decent enough documentary for the greenhorns and freshcuts of the genre, with a political commentary that might alienate George W. supporters, but the tiny segment on the great maestro Sergio Leone is downright uninformed, moronic, an embarrassment to all involved and makes the entire project a throwaway thing. As if insulting possibly the greatest director of westerns and certainly the most influential since his time in all manner of modern films was not enough, pipsqueak Rich Hall completely ignores the avalanche of terrific spaghetti westerns that followed in A Fistful of Dollars' wake. I'm talking about the works of Corbucci, Sollima, Carnimeo, Castellari and other one hit wonders.

Rich Halls hatred for the United States and the Western movies are clear. His "feeling" of inferiority are quite obvious in this stupid film. The totally unnecessary rant about President George Bush shows his lac of understanding of History be that of the American West or anything regarding history. Buddy Americans are not the problem! It's short sighted people like you who are the problem! The history of man is not 232 years Americans are not the blame for the worlds troubles we haven't been here long enough. Yes I saw your smug ass here in Tombstone outside //The Crystal Palace and I'm sure if those people you talked to knew what you were up to, they would not have been part of this.Yes that's part of your deception i understand.