Product Description

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

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2008-06-10
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.77:1
• Formats: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 3
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 501 minutes

Amazon.com
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 Reviews

Superb
Television at its finest. The criticisms a minority have leveled here are without foundation. Those who claim boredom with this series must suffer from attention-deficit disorder. You can pick at nits if that is what makes you happy, but I would rather enjoy it. Giamatti and Linney are perfectly cast in their title roles, and the technical work is of movie quality and unobtrusive. David Morse's makeup scarily turned him into George Washington. The political pull and tug between Jefferson and Hamilton was portrayed without bias. In fact, I wanted to see more of it. This series, removed our Founding Fathers from the canvases of paintings and put flesh on them. Great work, HBO!

Clunky and tedious
It is so obvious that this miniseries is trying to portray John Adams (Paul Giamatti) in the best possible light, as if he's the most enlightened man in the movement for rule of law, racial equality, and political correctness. It completely downplays his viewpoints (and those of slave owner Thomas Jefferson, who built Monticello with slave labor) that would send any modern feminist or Marxist critic into a tizzy. Because this miniseries is so worried about offending people, it comes across as disingenuous, plodding, and inconsequential -- the perfect Sunday night soporific for HBO viewers who want to be lulled into complacent sleep before starting their harried work weeks. The relationship between John and Abigail Adams (Laura Linney) is passionless and arid, as if their marriage rested solely on chats about democratic ideals and legal principles. Ultimately, there is no insight on Adams as a person. We see each episode of his life, in dry serialistic form, but the series portrays him not as a man, but more as a historical ideal.

John would be pleased!
I have long been an Adams fan since watching the PBS series The Adams Chronicles in the 70's. The books by Joseph Ellis (Founding Brothers, Passionate Sage, American Sphinx, and At the Creation) served to further deepen my esteem and appreciation for our second President, warts and all. The HBO mini-series John Adams is an outstanding portrayal and interpretation of David McCullough novel, bring John, his wife Abigail, and the times in which they lived and struggled vividly to life.