Hatfield's & McCoy's

[Mark Giardina]

Now this is what television today sorely needs; more programs like this one and fewer like the Kardashians and the Wives of ________ (insert name of city here).

It would have been nice if the three-part series was filmed in the USA instead of Romania.

 

[FRR]

I 100% agree. And, the series was very historically accurate for a change. The actors were great. Didn't know they filmed it in Europe, but would be interested in knowing why. Unions and money I suspect.

 

[The Voice of Reason]

Hatfield and McCoys:Excellent series!
As for the production being filmed overseas, the answer is simple. It cost less money.
"Rookie Blue" for example is filmed in Toronto Canada. Fact is a number of TV shows are filmed in Canada because production costs are cheaper than in the U.S.A.
Let's see if Diane Sawyer will do an expose' on the number of ABC programs filmed in America versus other countries as part of her "Made in America" series.

 

[landtuna]

The reason given by the producers for filming in Romania was that Transylvania, the region where the outdoor shots were filmed, is almost identical to West Virginia but doesn't have scalped mountains where strip mining has destroyed the forests.

 

[landtuna]

I just finished watch all three parts of this mini-series and have a few comments about the story itself and the film production.

First, I am sure glad I wasn't born during this period of American history. If this story wasn't as well documented historically I wouldn't believe "modern" Americans were capable of such butchery. The series captures the brutality of this clash between two mountain families but is perhaps well over the top when it comes to graphic violence (even though some of it was fact). It reminded me a lot of "The Untouchables" TV series of the late 50's where gang violence was shown in its gory detail repeatedly.

Second, as is the case with a lot of mini-series, it moves at a snail's pace with much of the story not essential to the telling of the tale. For instance, Rosanna's pregnancy, delivery and the baby's eventual death were slow moving and mostly fiction. Although she did get pregnant at Johnse's "hands" she contracted measles during the pregnancy and the baby was stillborn. All that fictional drama added virtually nothing to the actual story and took a long time telling it.

Third, until the very end of the last episode, nobody ages. This feud began in earnest in 1878 and lasted through 1891 - 13 years - yet every single character stayed the same throughout.

The series left me somewhat disgusted that people as portrayed in the series actually existed. The actions of these families were something out of Atilla the Hun, not any sort of American society. More than anything perhaps it shows how far we have come as a nation and culture and how much further we have to go to become truly "civilized".

The technical production was excellent - both photography and audio (with the exception that some of the third episode was out of sync video to audio but that may have been in the download I used). I'd give the production, acting, musical score and photography an 'A' but the subject matter a 'D'. Although a good history lesson in itself the violence and language rule out using it for educational purposes. Too bad.

 

[Darth_vader]

"The reason given by the producers for filming in Romania was that Transylvania, the region where the outdoor shots were filmed, is almost identical to West Virginia but doesn't have scalped mountains where strip mining has destroyed the forests."

And they have vampires there, which I hear are "all the rage" these days.

 

[1069_KIFR]

Next thing you know, they'll make a movie about Abraham Lincoln being a Vampire Hunter!

 

[landtuna]

"The reason given by the producers for filming in Romania was that Transylvania, the region where the outdoor shots were filmed, is almost identical to West Virginia but doesn't have scalped mountains where strip mining has destroyed the forests."

And they have vampires there, which I hear are "all the rage" these days.

Having two adopted Romanian daughters I have, by necessity, become something of an expert (such as it is) on the region.

The main and persistent tourist draw for Transylvania is Vlad Dracul (we call him Dracula, an actual person and something of a Romanian nationalist in the then unstable Balkans). His region was at the time under attack from the Turks and to dissuade them he captured about 6,000 of their soldiers and impaled each one on a large stick along the road to one of his castles thereby earning the nickname of Vlad the Impaler.

But that same Transylvania is also popular for fishing, camping and hunting as well. My girls spent several summer seasons in youth camps up there and loved it.