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John Adams (HBO Miniseries)
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Product Details
| Actors: | Paul Giamatti, Laura Linney |
| Format: | Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC |
| Release Date: | 2008-06-10 |
| Aspect Ratio: | 1.77:1 |
| Audience Rating: | NR (Not Rated) |
| Category: | DVD |
| Label/Manufacturer: | HBO |
| UPC: | 883929020065 |
Product Description
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
Product Features
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 | John Adams$20.00 $8.69By Simon & Schuster |
Customer Reviews
Rated
on 2010-07-22A great show and the DVD has several interesting and educational features the airing on HBO didn't, including a brief appearance by David McCollough, the author of the book.
Rated
on 2010-07-20As a teacher, I show parts of the first and second episodes in my classroom. I only wish I had time to show the entire thing.
There are departures from the McCulloch book, but any screenplay would have to be quite heavily adapted from all the material he put forth.
An amazing miniseries. Every American should watch it.
Rated
on 2010-07-19We enjoyed the miniseries John Adams very much and did not want it to end. Movie-makers kept to the book and history well. Computer work is excellent and adds to the grandeur. The acting is top notch. The added features are very good. Turn on the feature "Facts are stubborn things" for added background info.
Rated
on 2010-07-06This is an outstanding mini-series on the birth of our nation and our founding fathers.I highly recommend this to all parents to make this part of their video library for their children.
Rated
on 2010-06-17I first rented this from our local public library not knowing what to expect, and I liked it so much I went on Amazon.com to purchase it! I think everyone ought to see this remarkably well-made series on the life and times of our third President of the United States of America, John Adams. I was impressed by the quality of acting, and attention to detail of early colonial America that was portrayed in this film. Every history teacher in the U.S. ought to own a copy to show to students in their history classrooms, it is simply that great!
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