Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Usamah Harvey The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Mehdi Hoffman There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

DKosty123 While Gunsmoke predates this one on TV, this series was a watershed of TV's 1960's Westerns. It is the top 90 minute effort of the era. One reason is the cast, as Barbara Stanwyck, and a host of other talented folks make this show a must see just for the acting. The stories are usually very well written western drama. While long term Westerns sometimes get a bit soapy, this one seems to avoid that trap.Epic Western Music- the theme song here and other music enhance the stories and mood of the viewers.This series was and still is a big success. It was not the first, but it does stand out as the biggest effort of network TV to tell stories in the western genre.The actors including Miss Barbara (Victoria Barkley) are all excellent people to cast in a drama. Kudos to the casting director.

Rodney Brimer One of the great western series of all time. With her husbands passing mrs.Barkley (Barbara Stanwyck) is the glue that holds the family together with love,compassion Richard Long plays lawyer and oldest son Jarrod. Peter Breck plays quick to fight Nick Barkley, Lee Maijors plays Heath Barkley tough and rugged.Linda Evans plays Audra Barkley beautiful and pure. Youngest son Eugene isn't in but first 8 episodes and is off to college. What separates Big Valley is the strong cast also Heath Barkley was recently passed Tom Barkleys son . Twist is he didn't know he existed. Heath enters the Barkleys lives and becomes part of what he has wanted his whole life a real family. Some very good episodes very entertaining truly classic television. They show a toughness and family bond that cannot be broken.

Zriter59 Not trying to review any particular episode, but the series:).I saw most of "The Big Valley" during syndication in the early 1970s, and have lately been watching it again on Me TV. I still believe that it is one of the best Westerns produced by American television.The initial plot is intriguing, because Heath (Lee Majors' character) is the illegitimate son of the late Tom Barkley. The wealthy yet hard- working Barkleys eventually concede the evidence and acknowledge Heath as one of their own. Thereafter, we see Jarrod, Nick and Audra Barkley gradually accepting Heath as their brother, as he begins to accept them as his close siblings. Also interesting was Heath's evolving relationship with Victoria. She was not his biological mother, although her late husband was Heath's father. Even so, she promptly begins thinking of him as her son, even as he starts calling her "Mother." During the first season, there's an episode in which Heath and Victoria take a long trip that turns disastrous when he's virtually buried under the wagon. Victoria fights like hell to save him, enlisting an escaped convict (Bruce Dern) to help her. Throughout, she calls Heath "my son."The last scene shows Heath -- exhausted but not seriously injured -- ensconced in Victoria's arms. The late Richard Long portrayed Jarrod, the Barkleys' eldest and a licensed attorney, as strong and steady. Middle son Nick was big, strong and fearless, although emotional and impulsive as well; Peter Breck conveyed those qualities superbly. Linda Evans was at the peak of her young and overwhelming beauty as Audra Barkley. Evans played Audra as an impetuous young woman -- perhaps gullible with potential lovers (like Robert Goulet's Brother Love), yet quite as fearless as the other Barkleys.Then there's "Miss" Barbara Stanwyck as Victoria Barkley. I am such a Stanwyck fan that I should probably recuse myself here. Suffice it to say that this role required strength and force, balanced by charm, humor and at least some vulnerability (some characters -- usually played by Bruce Dern -- slapped or even punched Victoria; yet she kept fighting for the freedom that she eventually won:))BS was also damn sexy, even in her late 50s and early 60s (she was born in 1907). Those splendid cheekbones and that laser-like gaze can still buckle a strong man's knees:).

junkmail-258 I love the show! And, watching it on re-runs (Encore Westerns) as well as the 1st Season DVD has been a real treat. For all the times I watched the show I can't believe that I just noticed that in the opening credits all the family members are named in full ("Richard Long as Jarrod Barkley" "Peter Breck as Nick Barkley"). However, when it comes to Lee Majors it is "Lee Majors as Heath". He is never credited as being "Heath Barkley". The same is true in the instances when the stars are credited in the closing credits as well. At first I thought that this was only for the first season when Heath's character first entered the family. But, in watching the shows in the last season I saw that it remained the same. Somehow, these credits seems like a total repudiation of what the theme of the show was supposed to be about - accepting Heath in full.