Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Warner Brothers
EAN: 0883929020065
Format: Box set
Item Dimensions: Array
Label: HBO
Languages: Array
Manufacturer: HBO
MPN: 1000038820
Number Of Items: 3
Publisher: HBO
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2008-06-10
Running Time: 501
Studio: HBO
Theatrical Release Date: 2008-03-16

John Adams is a sprawling HBO miniseries event that depicts the extraordinary life and times of one of Americas least understood and most underestimated founding fathers: the second President of the United States John Adams. Starring Paul Giamatti (Sideways Cinderella Man HBOs American Spendor) in the title role and Laura Linney (You Can Count on Me Kinsey) as Adams devoted wife Abigail John Adams chronicles the extraordinary life journey of one of the primary shapers of our independence and government whose legacy has often been eclipsed by more flamboyant contemporaries like George Washington Thomas Jefferson Alexander Hamilton and Benjamin Franklin. Set against the backdrop of a nations stormy birth this sweeping miniseries is a moving love story a gripping narrative and a fascinating study of human nature. Above all at a time when the nation is increasingly polarized politically this story celebrates the shared values of liberty and freedom upon which this country was built.Running Time: 501 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS UPC: 883929020065 Manufacturer No: 1000038820
Based on David McCullough's bestselling biography, the HBO miniseries John Adams is the furthest thing from a starry-eyed look at America's founding fathers and the brutal path to independence. Adams (Paul Giamatti), second president of the United States, is portrayed as a skilled orator and principled attorney whose preference for justice over anti-English passions earns enemies. But he also gains the esteem of the first national government of the United States, i.e., the Continental Congress, which seeks non-firebrands capable of making a reasoned if powerful case for America's break from England's monarchy. The first thing one notices about John Adams' dramatizations of congress' proceedings, and the fervent pro-independence violence in the streets of Boston and elsewhere, is that America's roots don't look pretty or idealized here. Some horrendous things happen in the name of protest, driving Adams to push the cause of independence in a legitimate effort to get on with a revolutionary war under the command of George Washington. But the process isn't easy: not every one of the 13 colonies-turned-states is ready to incur the wrath of England, and behind-the-scenes negotiations prove as much a part of 18th century congressional sessions as they do today.

Besides this peek into a less-romanticized version of the past, John Adams is also a story of the man himself. Adams' frustration at being forgotten or overlooked at critical junctures of America's early development--sent abroad for years instead of helping to draft the U.S. constitution--is detailed. So is his dismay that the truth of what actually transpired leading to the signing of the Declaration of Independence has been slowly forgotten and replaced by a rosier myth. But above all, John Adams is the story of two key ties: Adams' 54-year marriage to Abigail Adams (Laura Linney), every bit her husband's intellectual equal and anchor, and his difficult, almost symbiotic relationship with Thomas Jefferson (Stephen Dillane) over decades. Giamatti, of course, has to carry much of the drama, and if he doesn't always seem quite believable in the series' first half, he becomes increasingly excellent at the point where an aging Adams becomes bitter over his place in history. Linney is marvelous, as is Dillane, Sarah Polley as daughter Nabby, Danny Huston as cousin Samuel Adams, and above all Tom Wilkinson as a complex but indispensable Ben Franklin. --Tom Keogh

Customer Rating:
Summary: Outstanding presentation a truly incredible story
Comment: My wife and I have loved David McCullough's books "John Adams" and "1776" for years. The script, acting, photography, costumes and sets in this presentation do a truly wonderful job of bringing this wonderful epic in American history to life. By the end of the 3-DVDs you really feel like you know and empathize with all of the individuals portrayed. We also enjoyed the add-on segment on David McCullough's life as a historian and writer very much. We will treasure this movie for years to come.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: John Adams
Comment: Excellent historical drama. Should be required viewing for all students in elementary, middle and high school. Wonderful performances by all involved.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Extraordinary reenactment of history
Comment: I was overwhelmed by this film. I expected to like it but it exceeded my expectations. The book was outstanding and I think the film outdid the book. The casting was perfect, the characterizations were great, the scenes were believable. Ben Franklin in Paris was unforgetable.

History came alive for me as it never has before.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: WARNING: Blockbuster Renting Parts I & 2 Only
Comment: WARNING: Blockbuster is renting something that looks exactly like the full series but is only Parts 1 (Join or Die) and 2 (Independence).

This is a fine movie on the antecedents to John Adams converting from a loyal English subject to one of five delegates to the Constitutional Congress. The acting is fine, the script is fine, but it ends as he rides off to the Constitutional Congress, so even Part 2 is misleading, as least in this cut, because the offering ends as he rides off and has nothing to do with the period during which he supports US achieving independence.

Thanks to the alert reader with a brain who pointed out that my earlier review could not possibly be covering the entire series.

On this basis, it now makes sense to buy rather than rent the cut up offerings, but now I will be very alert to see if they are selling the full series on one DVD, or the pieces one at a time. Buyer beware.

The USA has hit rock bottom these past 16 years. See also, in books:
What Kind of Nation: Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall, and the Epic Struggle to Create a United States
The Thirteen American Arguments: Enduring Debates That Define and Inspire Our Country
1776

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A Television Masterpiece! Simply Irresistible!
Comment: The mini-series, John Adams, has restored my faith that there is high quality American entertainment intertwined with history out there. The tasking of taking David McCullogh's prize winning book of the same name into a spectacular mini-series can be overwelming. Of course, there will be things left out but I can't recommend it enough because it's so addictive. To begin with, Paul Giamati (Sideways star) transforms himself into John Adams, America's second President and first Vice PResident and America's first ambassador to Great Britain after the American REvolution. He is madly in love with his wife, Abigail, played remarkably by Oscar Nominee Laura Linney. Adams is not without his faults especially towards his three children, JOhn Quincy Adams who is his favorite, his only daughter Nellie (played by Sarah Polley) who married Colonel William Smith who thinks he can use the Adams name, Charles Adams as the disappointment who makes a fool of himself and the family name but suffers the most and marries his brother-in-law's sister, Sally Smith (played by Mamie Gummer who is Meryl Streep's daughter). and the other son whose name escapes me at the moment.
In other parts of the film, David Morse (St. Elsewhere) becomes George Washington and so identical to the man on our dollar bills that it's uncanny and strange all at once. Tom Wilkinson OBE plays Ben Franklin who is both genius and decadent in Paris. I don't remember the actor who plays Thomas Jefferson but he is memorable.
The mini-series is high quality and first rate that it would have swept the Academy Awards as a film but it was nominated for 23 Emmys, Giamati won Best Actor, Linney won Bet Actress, Wilkinson won Best Supporting Actor as Franklin but I would have wished there was a tie between him and Morse. It also won for Best Writing but lost for directing to a two hour film which was just wrong because this mini-series is perhaps the best things to watch in a long time.
I think this DVD should be in ever history classroom in America. It makes you understand the American Revolution, the rise of American politics, and the humanization of the country's founding fathers.

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