This film was surprisingly heartwarming and I learned a lot as well. I had no idea the history of the Pony Express. The narrative intertwines personal stories with the broader historical context, creating an immersive and emotionally resonant experience. It was so wonderful to hear all the people still so deeply connected to this important American endeavor. This documentary not only pays homage to a pivotal era in American history but also inspires with its message of resilience and the enduring human spirit. The reenactment scenes were also incredibly cinematic. A truly delightful watch that leaves a lasting impression.
2 Reviews
Only if you like "a tourist visiting a small town's museum" level of history
lopeze-1547412 December 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Emphasis on the "Spirit" part. It's billed as "Exploring the history of the Pony Express with a historical reenactment tracing the original California-Missouri trail," but it's really "Exploring the historical reenactment tracing the original California-Missouri trail, with a bit exploring the history of the Pony Express."
It follows the reenactment of modern day riders redoing the Pony Express path from Sacramento to St. Josephs's MO with some interviews with historians along the way. I use the term historians pretty loosely, this is largely a series of museum guides and living history reenactors throughout America giving their hot takes on people, places and things with little in the way of actual history. Example: one of three founders of the Pony Express who was touted as the "main driver" of creating the Pony Express was described as "handsome," "rugged," and basically a John Wayne type character who was was able to get things done, but nobody really told us what it was that he got done. Well, we know the company was able to establish the entire route with rider stations in 3 months(!) which they described as (and sounds like!) an amazing feat, but that's all the information you'll get on it. I actually thought: "wow, that would make a good documentary!"
There's no real mention of why the Pony Express only lasted 18 months or why it went out of business, (I had to look on Wikipedia)
Two reenactors said they dedicated their lives to telling the stories of the brave people who attempted to live and traverse the western frontier during these hard scrappin' times, but they didn't dedicate any time during this documentary to tell us any of these stories. As part of this segment, someone uses a divining rod to "find a grave" which had a nice graphic superimposed over the ground. The whole point of this segment was "there's people buried around here.... somewhere, presumably."
The Pony Express reenactment part really only serves as a vehicle (Trojan Horse?) to talk with every local town historian about the rebuilding of just about everything between the MO and the west coast from their museum (with no shortage of information about the actual person responsible for the rebuild... like probably 10 minutes about his church habits and gregarious outlook on life etc), cemeteries, and old school houses with plenty of interviews of people who went to school in them and possibly drank sewer water out of a creek. At some point you will wonder if you left this documentary and wandered into a middle school history class... mainly because most of the interviews are done while a middle school history class meanders around in the background. It's like someone went to the American Legion with a camera and just had everyone tell their stories. It's 90% talking about how tough people were, but 10% helping us understand what they went through. It's all fun facts (for locals) that need serious editing (for anyone else). I don't know how much of a Pony Express documentary needs to discuss a local pastor who had nothing to do with the Pony Express perform an exorcism on a town drunk, but I'd argue that this documentary spends more time than needed. Nor do I know how much time we need spent on a kid who knocked over graves of people who purportedly worked on the Pony Express, but then was shown the error of his ways by a kind reenactment lady who received a hug as a reward for this awaking, but again, I argue that this documentary spends too much time on this.
Speaking of kids, a running theme was that "kids today" are always in a rush and don't take the time to enjoy this great land and history, which I found ironic as the Pony Express was established as means to get information as rapidly as possible to as many people as possible, despite the great land and history that was in their way.
It follows the reenactment of modern day riders redoing the Pony Express path from Sacramento to St. Josephs's MO with some interviews with historians along the way. I use the term historians pretty loosely, this is largely a series of museum guides and living history reenactors throughout America giving their hot takes on people, places and things with little in the way of actual history. Example: one of three founders of the Pony Express who was touted as the "main driver" of creating the Pony Express was described as "handsome," "rugged," and basically a John Wayne type character who was was able to get things done, but nobody really told us what it was that he got done. Well, we know the company was able to establish the entire route with rider stations in 3 months(!) which they described as (and sounds like!) an amazing feat, but that's all the information you'll get on it. I actually thought: "wow, that would make a good documentary!"
There's no real mention of why the Pony Express only lasted 18 months or why it went out of business, (I had to look on Wikipedia)
Two reenactors said they dedicated their lives to telling the stories of the brave people who attempted to live and traverse the western frontier during these hard scrappin' times, but they didn't dedicate any time during this documentary to tell us any of these stories. As part of this segment, someone uses a divining rod to "find a grave" which had a nice graphic superimposed over the ground. The whole point of this segment was "there's people buried around here.... somewhere, presumably."
The Pony Express reenactment part really only serves as a vehicle (Trojan Horse?) to talk with every local town historian about the rebuilding of just about everything between the MO and the west coast from their museum (with no shortage of information about the actual person responsible for the rebuild... like probably 10 minutes about his church habits and gregarious outlook on life etc), cemeteries, and old school houses with plenty of interviews of people who went to school in them and possibly drank sewer water out of a creek. At some point you will wonder if you left this documentary and wandered into a middle school history class... mainly because most of the interviews are done while a middle school history class meanders around in the background. It's like someone went to the American Legion with a camera and just had everyone tell their stories. It's 90% talking about how tough people were, but 10% helping us understand what they went through. It's all fun facts (for locals) that need serious editing (for anyone else). I don't know how much of a Pony Express documentary needs to discuss a local pastor who had nothing to do with the Pony Express perform an exorcism on a town drunk, but I'd argue that this documentary spends more time than needed. Nor do I know how much time we need spent on a kid who knocked over graves of people who purportedly worked on the Pony Express, but then was shown the error of his ways by a kind reenactment lady who received a hug as a reward for this awaking, but again, I argue that this documentary spends too much time on this.
Speaking of kids, a running theme was that "kids today" are always in a rush and don't take the time to enjoy this great land and history, which I found ironic as the Pony Express was established as means to get information as rapidly as possible to as many people as possible, despite the great land and history that was in their way.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
