Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9466 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-06-10
• Aspect ratio: 1.77:1
• Formats: Box set, Closed-captioned, Colour, Dolby, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 3
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 501 minutes

Customer Reviews

Freedom has its Price
"Posterity! You will never know how much it cost us to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make a good use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in Heaven that I ever took half the pains to preserve it."
- John Adams 1777

HBO did a fine job with the John Adams miniseries and took great pains to get "most" of the historical details correct. It aptly showed how both John and Abigail sacrificed so much in terms of their marriage and their family to help create and foster the birth of the United States. There was also somewhat of a more balanced storyline perspective as to fault: Colonists versus the British monarchy. It also portrayed the great love that most of the colonists had for Britain and their former roots and the great reluctance that faced many of them.

There are seven segments in the saga which spans from 1770 until John Adams' death in 1826. Much of the storyline is based upon David McCullough's exceptional book on John Adams by the same name..

The seven segments are as follows:
Part I: Join or Die (1770 - 1774)
Part II: Independence (1774 - 1776)
Part III: Don't Tread on Me (1776 - 1781)
Part IV: Reunion (1781 - 1789)
Part V: Unite or Die (1789 - 1797)
Part VI: Unnecessary War (1797 - 1801)
Part VII: Peacefield (1801 - 1826)

What is nice about the miniseries is that it can be divided up into manageable blocks which can be watched and discussed or debated with family and friends. There are so many issues discussed which will sound very familiar even to us today. To think that it took thirty six ballots to elect Thomas Jefferson because there was a tie in the number of votes for each of two candidates is absolutely amazing. The USA founding fathers were willing to let elections and the nomination process take its course and they allowed a lot of discussion to take place and "compromise". I have to say that there were some historical liberties taken with the miniseries but it did not detract from the story itself or the core of the story's fabric: John and Abigail Adams' life of service to their country (America). In fact the entire Adams family paid a price in one way or another for this dedication and devotion without which the United States of America may have floundered and not survived. Adams was extremely instrumental in its creation, nurturing and its ultimate survival.

To own this series is a very wise investment especially if you are a history buff. The starkness of the surroundings and how they were portrayed in the film seemed on target to me. The background seemed to match the moods of the Adams themselves and what the characters had to go through to endure and not give up.

Laura Linney and Paul Giamatti as the Adams couple were superb. But I had to say that once again I was very impressed with Stephen Dillane and his portrayal. I appreciated his rendition of Jefferson as much as I liked Dillane in Anna Karenina (another surprise performance).

Tom Wilkinson had some fine moments as Ben Franklin and David Morse was superb as George Washington. Rufus Sewell played Alexander Hamilton and I have to say after Sewell's performance I disliked Hamilton as much as I disliked the character he played in the movie "The Holiday". His performance was also spot on as the "insensitive and manipulative" Hamilton.

What impressed me was the intimate look at the dynamics of these perilous times when a new country was born. So much could have gone wrong and did; and without great sacrifices from great men; everything could have been different. Very different.

Posterity has a lot to be grateful for. You have to wonder whether Americans are capable today of the sacrifices that so many had to make to preserve and keep their freedoms. The forefathers were made of the right stuff as were those who fought in all of the wars to protect those back home. It just seemed to me at the conclusion of this very moving dramatization that there is a recurring theme which reminded me of a famous speech given by Winston Churchill in 1940 and the resulting poster which read: "Never was so much owed by so many to so few."

Recommended: A-

Note: The DVD is available in the USA; would highly recommend this series when available in the UK.

Bentley/2008

John Adams
Saw it in the US on HBO - back to back one weekend - superb television, just the best in terms of cast, dialogue and above all sets and production values. Can't wait for the series to be available on DVD