John Adams (DVD, 2008)

To be honest, I have gotten really sick of "historical" soap operas and pseudo-accurate programs. I was skeptical going in and was pleasantly surprised by this miniseries. The costumes are wonderful, the acting is superb and it follows very closely with McCullough's book (which I read before viewing). I simply love this series, and cannot recommend it highly enough!

The acting, costumes and scenery alone make this movie worth watching. It surpasses any movie that you might see at a local theater and should be required viewing for any US student, even though they might reject the notion. Lots of action and realistic portrayal of events that occurred such as small pox epidemic, etc. After the first several episodes, you become totally absorbed in the story and climb into the lives of the Adam's family. Amazingly, Adams and Jefferson died on the same day and had solved their differences.

John Adams, the HBO mini series is one of the finest historical dramas about the American Revolution I have seen. The acting was well thought out and the characterizations well portrayed - considering all we have are the letters to go on. Laura Linney was a treasure as Abigail. I did not care for Paul Giamatti's personna as John Adams at first, but after the first episode he seemed to settle into the character flawlessly. The supporting cast was outstanding.
The series was beautifully filmed with every detail perfect. The director's use of light and shadow drew the viewer into the scenes. The musical score was equally grand - there always supporting the scenes but not overwhelming. A worthwhile purchase to have in any family collection.

One of the best historical movies I've ever seen. Great plot and supurb acting. The sets and makeup are very realistic. I sure hope they made money on this movie, so they have the incentative to make more.
I missed it when it was on HBO, but caught it on NETFLIX then bought a copy for my mother for her birthday.

An absolute MUST SEE for anyone who wonders how our country began. When you view this it just might motivate you to get off your a_ _ and consider what YOU could do as an individual to prevent the powers that be from further shreading our constitution.

This movie made history a memorable story for our students, and not just a story to memorize! They were discussing it weeks, even months afer watching it! We first rented this series for my husband and I to preview. We were astounded at the quality of the film, the accuracy in the story, and the acting was excellent! I knew after viewing the first tiltle that we had to purchase this series for our homeschool library! The price was a little high and I was willing to save up but then found it on eBay for $25.00, a bargain to say the least! There are some scenes containing brief nudity, war violence, and language, but if you find them offensive it's worth the trouble to edit them out! I think it is an appropriate movie for middle school and high school grades and a precious edition to our library!

If anyone missed this fabulous miniseries on HBO, I encourage you to buy it. This is certainly an example of what television could be if it had a brain and could think in ideas of more than 2 syllables.

There are many films and shows about the beginnings of our separation from Britain. Some are excellent, some only so-so, some downright awful and full of errors, some so badly worked over they are hardly recognizable. That is not the case with this piece of work.

Based on the book by David McCullough (who has a command of language and sense of history that is unmatched) this is not simply a story of our second President; but a real narrative of birth of the United States of America. The pain, mistrust, the divisions among the colonies, the doubts of those who set the fire and lit our way to Freedom.

Farmer John Adams, his beloved wife, friend and companion Abigail are brilliantly brought to life by Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney. They are depicted as human beings, subject to all the problems, arguments, differences of opinion and longing that we all feel. This love relationship suffered much. Adams' separation from wife and children led to disfunctional children and a relationship sometimes filled with doubt and sadness. Following Adams through his lifetime, his flaws appear regularly - and sometimes he is a most unlikeable fellow. But, his quest for freedom from Britain burns like a warm fire on a cold night..... The scene of his formal encounter with King George of England rates right up there with some of the best 15 minutes of film anywhere, anytime.

Benjamin Franklin is knocked off his pedestal. This man was truly a genius and the whole fight for Independence would have taken a different track were it not for him. He was, however, a raconteur who's love for and fascination with the ladies was astonishing.

Thomas Jefferson, Hamilton, General Washington (amazingly performed by David Morse) and all the characters involved in our Independence are in this wonderful film. Not all of them are likeable all the time.

Cinematography is unsurpassed. Sets, wardrobe, lighting - all take you there, on the spot, and makes you believe.

I absolutely loved the John Adams mini-series and have watched it twice since purchasing it 1 1/2 mo. ago. With the exception of John Adams, I loved the casting, Abigail especially. No part has ever, ever been played better than this one by Laura Linney. John Adams: while the acting was good, I'm not convinced he was acting like John Adams and felt they could have selected better. However, I so much appreciated him being portrayed warts and all. In a world of people casting aspersions on John Adams, he was his own worst enemy. While recognizing that he was obnoxious, he continued to be so. While intellectually superior to most of the educated world, he was socially and emotionally inept and seemingly unable to either recognize the need to/or maintain a relationship except with Abigail (who apparently saw him at a deeper level) and to a lesser degree, Thomas Jefferson. I'm in the habit of being able to see the actors in persons playing the lead roles and it took until the second viewing to accustom myself to the man playing Adams. It should be noted that I'm in the minority on this one as Paul Giamatti won Best Actor in the Emmy's for that role. The makeup was wonderful! Skin tones were shown to be varied, as they are. You can see freckles and red spots. Abigail, who we often saw in close-ups, is all the more beautiful for it. Just the fact that noses and cheeks were red from the cold was a big extra. The man cast as Sam Adams had a mouth that pulled straight up on top. Did he look like that? Don't know, but he could have. The point being, the character was an American hero we were predisposed to like but not played by a Hollywood handsome. The little twit from South Carolina, hard to imagine someone that arrogant with so little reason and you saw both in the movie. Gen. Washington is such a huge name in our history yet he's seldom the subject of historical entertainment(?). He was portrayed as an enigma yet believably so. There weren't enough dates posted. I'm fairly familiar with history but got lost in time. How long was J A in Paris and Holland? How long were he and Abigail in England? I had to think about the kids' ages, remember how old Quincy was when he went to Russia, etc.; that was confusing. It could be that no one else would care about that but I did. I ended up respecting Adams' contributions to the beginning of our country but know it would have been difficult to have served on a committee with him. He carried the burden of never being wrong. I had been predisposed to liking Abigail for her famous note to John about not forgetting the women. Because of the movie, I saw the tremendous humanizing and level-headed influence she had on the man who was the second president of the United States, but first, one of the foundation blocks of the beginning of our country and I admired her all the more for it. Finally, I fell in love again with Thomas Jefferson, that man of few spoken words. I had started David McCullough's book prior to my sister recommending the movie. I now have to finish it to see how the movie compares. I highly recommend purchasing it, for it's high entertainment value and all the historical education that you'll end up enjoying.

Excellent history of American history. Highly recommend to teachers, children and those that cheerish our American history.

A DVD feature called "Facts are a stubborn Thing" was an outstanding addition to this truely exceptional mini series. It would flash historical background history that rounded out the experience. I recommend this series highly.

An entertaining and educational way to see how John Adams influenced and helped to form the United States. The acting is excellent, every character is believable and accurate. What is even better is that the series is not profusely pro-American, giving a view on all sides; French, British and of course American. Simply an excellent series that is a must see.

I saw this docu-drama on HBO. I call it a docu-drama because it is American History and not glamorized.

If you love real stories and history, you will enjoy this series. I especially liked the set design and costumes of the period; not flashy but everyday clothes.

This series based on the best seller book by David McCollough makes you really identify with our founding fathers and makes one proud to be an American.

Overall, this was very well done with amazing attention to detail in scenery, lifestyle, actual history & founder's quotes spoken by the actors. There is occasional artistic license from hollywood, but the ideals of liberty and the basic history of the founders are strongly represented. The only things that were mysteriously kept out of this hollywood creation is the massive amount of documented religious speech and activity among the founders and early congress. (Did you know that after independence was won, congress actually had bibles printed for use in schools?! Not in the movie.) All religious quotes and influence on our constitution was left out as well, but many important facts are in the production and more was added with a "facts are stubborn things" option that lets you see more of the historical reference info on the bottom of the screen as you watch. There is much more to the story than even a 7 part series such as this can include, but you will get a good sense of the founders sacrifice, risk, knowledge and character from it. You can learn more if this inspires you to read non revisionist versions of history in books, documents and websites. Obviously, most of the attention is given to the story and ideology of the Adams' with less insight into what the others were experiencing at pivotal points in the history of the Revolution. I was really hoping to see more vivid attention given to the struggles and hardships that Washington & the continental army were experiencing during the war as well, but the production is called "John Adams" and the Washington story is really too enormous to present in a few minutes! I thought that the acting was very impressive. The method of filming was great too. It's as if you were standing there, witnessing the events as they took place and you really get a sense of life without the luxuries we have today.

With all of the attention to detail in most aspects, I was surprised to hear Ben Franklin say that an original line in the Declaration of Independence "Smacks" of the pulpit! I've never seen that terminology used by our founders and there is actual, historical dispute as to whether Franklin or Jefferson himself changed that line from the draft to the final version, which is in Jefferson's writing. The film has no mention of Jefferson's Declaration of Independence line condemning the king's introduction of slavery to the colonies (later voted out by 2 colonies)before unanimous signatures were gained, although it does hint at the dispute. It's amazing to look back on this time in our history with amazement and gratitude for the sacrifices that were made for that and future generations. It's nice to see it given strong attention. It really wasn't that long ago that our country's freedom was fought for and won through a war that lasted 8 years. Tom Hanks has stepped up again to put the spotlight on those who have honorably defended freedom. He did a very impressive job. Very real. I'll be keeping this. You won't see it as an ebay auction from ME!

It made me explore this time period even more! Search ebay for "The American Heritage Series". I've seen some of the series on youtube and it's loaded with documented info. I've also read these books (available on ebay) .. The Real George Washington by Jay A. Parry, The Real Thomas Jefferson (American Classic Series)by Allison, Maxfield, Cook, Skousen, The 5000 year Leap by Skousen.... The John Adams DVD made me a history buff! I recommend it.

I bought this dvd set for myself. I enjoy history but I really learned a lot that I did not know from watching it. The actors are wonderful and even though parts of the film are slow in developing, it kept my interest throughout.

Rented first DVD and totally enjoyed. Saw this one for sale. Will watch other 2 and then send along to family. Excellent series. Our country is deficient in accurate history and we all need to know what sacrifices our forefathers made for us. Much could be written about their way of life compared to present with all our problems. I recommend watching this series and hope to see more of them.

This is one of the best historical accounts of the revolutionary war I have see.
I like the way it is told from the political view point instead of the war view point. Giamanti was brilliant and carried the movie himself.

DVD came exactly as described and in a short amount of time. I decided to buy it because the bidding ended right where I wanted to be

I never received this DVD package. I tried to contact the seller two times and never received a response. I'm out $28 and I never got my item nor any satisfaction from the seller or from EBAY. Unless that happens. I will never buy on EBAY again.

I teach honors American history to high school sophomores. The movie has some great parts in it during an era that we study. It is well acted and very accurate. My students love video clips.

I saw a couple of episodes while out of town in a hotel that had free HBO, something that I do not have at home. I was so encaptured in the series I hated to leave Portland to go home to Maryland. I decided that I must purchase this and was so excited to watch the whole series and was not disappointed.

I purchased this DVD set as a gift for someone. It is brand new and I'm sure they will enjoy it as a gift for Christmas.

I watched the HBO series and bought the DVD set as a gift for my in-laws who missed it. It is a buy, not a rent.
These episodes bring to life a tumultuous time in our nation's history and allow us to share in the pains and triumphs of those who lived it. For many it will serve as a history lesson.
The acting is executed spot-on by a cast featuring Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney, whose performances make one believe they had become one with their characters. Hopefully HBO will continue to produce period pieces like this and the also-incredible series Rome, which was a joint production with the BBC.
Kudos to all involved.

I recently purchased the John Adams HBO mini series on DVD for my mother. I had watched the series when it originally aired and LOVED it. I told my mom about it and we even made the trip down to Quincy MA to see the John Adams House (well worth the trip!). I wanted her to be able to see the series for herself and buying it on ebay was quite the bargain! We have watched 2 of the 3 DVDs so far and it is simply fantastic. I highly recommend this series (for adults and older teens) because it is an amazing and little known story that is a huge part of American history. ENJOY!