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John Adams (HBO Miniseries) | 
| Actors: Paul Giamatti, Laura Linney
Studio: HBO
Category: DVD
List Price: $59.99
Buy New: $38.99
You Save: $21.00 (35%)
New (20) Used (8) from $37.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  115 reviews
Sales Rank: 1
Format: Box Set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Number Of Items: 3
Running Time: 501
Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5.8 x 1
MPN: 1000038820
UPC: 883929020065
EAN: 0883929020065
ASIN: B000WGWQG8
Theatrical Release Date: March 16, 2008
Release Date: June 10, 2008 (New: Last 30 Days)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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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
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
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| Customer Reviews: Read 110 more reviews...
 Must see July 6, 2008
I am not a history buff. As a matter of fact, I hated history in school. I didn't like to memorize names and dates etc. This movie has put a real human side to the history of our country. Many teenagers today do not know our U.S. history. I am 42 and want to know more of the personal and human side of our countries history. This mini series shows you that side of the founders of our country. This is one depiction of our history at that time. Not everyone will share my opinion. But, it is a VERY good series that everyone should watch and learn more about the great country they call home. I am recommending this show to my family and friends. This is how I've been celebrating my countries independence and birthday. It has been enjoyable. Watch the show. I don't think you will be disappointed.
John Adams (HBO Miniseries) July 5, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Loved the John Adams miniseries. So much interesting history. Good refresher for the Independence Day celebration. Dragged a little in a few places, but overall was very good.
The Perfect 4th of July 'Birthday Present'! July 4, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Until I viewed the HBO Miniseries, "John Adams", my impression of the American patriot had been based largely on William Daniels' brilliant, if preening rooster, in the musical, "1776". After viewing Paul Giamatti's fabulous, more grounded portrayal, I must admit THIS is by far the best Adams you'll ever find! Proud, yet insecure, lacking the sophistication of Jefferson, stature of Washington, or urbane wittiness of Franklin, Giamatti's Adams is occasionally coarse, frequently headstrong, but makes up, in fervor, what he lacks in tact. Unlike Daniels' 'take', he is certainly no genius (his thinly-veiled envy of Jefferson and Franklin provides some of the story's conflict, and humor), but he is an impassioned activist, a 'doer' without whom America would never have been born. The first third of the series, covering the Revolutionary War, 'reinvents' Adams for modern audiences, and is both fascinating, and quite moving.
Based on David McCullough's celebrated biography, and filmed largely in eastern Europe and Williamsburg, VA, the series wonderfully captures the 'look' of the times, from untamed wilderness, to cities both old and grimy, and young and dynamic. In this tableau, rough-hewn Americans contrast sharply with coiffed Europeans, providing a nice visualization of the difference between the Old and New Worlds, and justification for the existence of a new nation. In the entertaining 'middle' segments of the production, Adams is thrust into European society, a bull in a china shop who embarrasses both Franklin (a terrific Tom Wilkinson, looking eerily like the legendary Founding Father), and later, Jefferson (Stephen Dillane, who lacks Jefferson's height and charisma, but is quite good). Despite the loyal friendship of George Washington (a dead-on, very effective David Morse), Adams proves a disastrous diplomat and Vice President, and is stymied as President by a near-fanatical fear of terrorism (shades of 9/11 and today!)
Perhaps the series' finest moments come when Adams leaves office, and tries to adjust to life as a farmer and forgotten 'hero of the revolution'. Here, Laura Linney's contribution, as Abigail Adams, truly shines; a loving, feisty, politically savvy woman, she now ages gracefully as a supportive wife and heartsick mother (particularly during the illness and death of daughter 'Nabby', portrayed sensitively by Sarah Polley). Linney and Giamatti's scenes together, terrific throughout the series, are especially poignant as their lives draw to a close. Another plus in these chapters is the renewal of the Adams/Jefferson friendship, through correspondence, as two old warhorses face a changing world and mortality, together (both would die on the same day, July 4th, fifty years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence...a touch no author would dare invent, but true!)
"John Adams" is an epic achievement, and the perfect way to celebrate Independence Day, any time you pop it into your DVD player!
John ADAMS July 4, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This series is one of the best things I have ever seen on TV. It brought that very important history alive and it made me appreciate the great contribution of John Adams to our history. He was indeed a great man. The acting was first-rate and the settings were magnificent. I have been thoroughly delighted. The special features were very interesting also.It would be wonderful if more similar movies could be done on America's history.
A Towering Miniseries About America's Founding July 4, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This towering miniseries, based on David McCullough's biography of John Adams, tells the story of one of our Founding Fathers and our second president.
The miniseries begins in 1770, when Adams agreed to serve as counsel for British soldiers following the Boston Massacre. Adams was a leader in uniting the various sections of the colonies for independence from Great Britain. One of the most poignant scenes in the entire miniseries was the one in which the delegates to the Second Continental Congress voted to issue the Declaration of Independence, and then seemed shocked that they had done so--they must have known how extremely difficult and costly it would be to make the new Declaration stick.
Adams then was ambassador to France, the Netherlands, and England, and the miniseries shows the toll that his absence took on his family life.
After the Constitution was ratified, he was elected the nation's first vice president and was frustrated in that role. In 1796, Adams was elected president. Relations with France were a large part of what Adams dealt with during his presidency--he became very unpopular after the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts, which were passed in 1798 in response to the XYZ Affair and Quasi War.
This miniseries accurately portrays the buildings that people lived in and daily objects used by people during our country's founding. Life was very hard then (there is graphic portrayal of ghastly late eighteenth/early nineteenth century medical techniques--be grateful that you live now and not then). John and Abigail were the first couple to live in the White House--they moved in just before Adams was defeated in his bid for reelection by Thomas Jefferson in the 1800 presidential election. The portrayal of Washington D.C. as simply the nearly empty, unfurnished White House and a couple of other buildings in the midst of a bunch of mud and forests serves as another reminder of just how young the country was at the turn of the nineteenth century.
In his later years, Adams revived his friendship with Thomas Jefferson. Adams and Jefferson, two of our most important Founders, died within hours of each other on July 4, 1826, fifty years to the day after the Declaration of Independence was issued. No Hollywood scriptwriter would have ever dared script that scenario!
Some of the bonus features on the DVD set include "Facts Are Stubborn Things", which provides subtitles that add background information (this feature can be viewed or not viewed while watching the miniseries); "The Making of John Adams", which provides information on the special effects and sets in the miniseries; and there is also a feature on David McCullough's work as a historian.
The miniseries is a reminder of the high price that Adams and the rest of the Founding generation paid for our independence and demonstrates how grateful we should be for their bravery and sacrifices.
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