What makes it different from others?

hyped garbage

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

I thought it was appropriate to reflect on the following issue, "Is historical accuracy relevant to the quality of a film?" If it is manufactured to provide a true representation of history, maybe so. But if it as manufactured as an entertainment vehicle, maybe not.As a piece of fiction, I believe this film to be one of the finest works of western lore ever recorded. It appeals to both men and women. It promotes ethical values. And it fills the viewer with the full range of emotions that it is expected to.I won't waste your time with the details of the plot, you can find that by the ton here. All I can tell you is that I believe that anyone who is willing to invest the time will absolutely love this.

'The Far Horizons' is a film in which an expeditionary force, commanded by Captain Meriwether Lewis (Fred MacMurray) and Lt William Clark (Charlton Heston), sets out to explore newly acquired US territory. The film begins with an atmospheric party at which the news of the American expansion is broken, and arrangements are made to investigate. Subsequent scenes are ominous and foretelling, and handle this effect quite well. Sadly, it tends to go downhill from there. Although MacMurray, Heston and Donna Reed (who plays a helpful young Native woman and romantic interest of Lt Clark) play their parts well, the uncertainty of the surveyors' mission renders the film's direction ambiguous at times. The cinematography is in parts very good, and the tedious, repetitive shots that I usually associate with maritime films are satisfyingly rare in 'The Far Horizons'. However, some of the choreography isn't very good, and one or two fight scenes appear pretty poorly designed. Also, many of the Natives are depicted as being quite flat in character and lacking in opinion, and so not many of the supporting cast and extras perform dynamically. The final scenes of the film attempt to be reflective, with a letter being read in a narrative form, but the mediocre and vague drama in the prior scenes lead to this delivery feeling unsubstantiated.

Fred MacMurray and Charlton Heston portray Lewis and Clark, famed historians who explored the Louisianna Territory as per the instructions of President Thomas Jefferson. This plays very much like a cowboys and indians type of actioneer, but without actual cowboys. We also get a fabricated (so I've read) side love story between Clark (Heston) and lovely squaw Sacajawea (Donna Reed!!), the woman who helped lead the way during the discovery. In this story, MacMurray is the more laid back and serious leader while his partner Heston is - no surprise - rather cynical and the Wild Card of the two. Seems like Chuck played these parts constantly in the first half of this decade. It's always been odd for me to go backwards in time and see Fred MacMurray in straight films, as I grew up with him primarily as the dad from TV's sitcom MY THREE SONS. Here he shares screen time with William Demarest , who was also in the TV show as well. Demarest seemed miscast to me here though, cast as an 1800's sergeant. **1/2 out of ****

If I would have seen the trailer (preview) of this film in the fifties I would probably not have missed it. It had everything to please , the colorful scenes on the river, the great scenery and potentially a great story about Lewis and Clark that wanted to get to the Pacific and faced all kinds of dangers. It had a lot in common with 'The Big Sky' with the advantage of being in color. But 'The Big Sky' was quite a film and 'The Far Horizons' failed. By casting Donna Reed as an Indian woman and making her character so important they went wrong. Reed is a good actress, but this part was not for her. Just comparing her with the Indian girl in 'The Big Sky' we realize why. It is not really her fault, but her character was too much of a cliché. SPOILER AHEAD. I thought the great moment of the film would be when they start seeing the Pacific Ocean. I kept thinking of 'Lawrence of Arabia', that spectacular moment when Peter O'Toole is walking in what seems like an endless desert and suddenly sees the Suez Canal. But in this film, who knows why, probably because they went over budget, this is not shown. The film cuts abruptly to when they are already in the Pacific, celebrating their achievement. Quite a letdown.