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Founding BrothersRating:
Release Date: 30 July, 2002 Retail Price: $39.95 OUR Price: $31.96 You SAVE: $7.99! Cast: Complete Cast (8 total) |
Founding Brothers Reviews
What Wonderful Way to Get Your History
This four part series produced by the History Channel is very well done. I particularly enjoyed the musical selections, as well as the theatrics, and was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the various "reenactments" - they are actually pretty good and not too cheesy (as most such attempts often are). The numerous "voices" of the patriots supplied by a few fairly well-known actors are fairly well done. In all this series does an excellent job presenting a portion of early American history in a very entertaining way.
I must reluctantly disagree with a couple other reviewers of the series with respect to any noticeable bias towards one side or the other in the federalist/anti-federalist debate. I thought that everyone was portrayed accurately, with the arguable exception of John Adams, who I thought was portrayed a bit less brilliant than I think he really was (this perception, by the way, could very well be due to the early influence John Ferling has had on me). Thomas Jefferson, by contrast, is portrayed perfectly as the very likeable, albeit pouty, potentially back-stabbing walking contradiction that he was. George Washington is cast as the great unifying leader that he was, a classic General-President (as opposed to the more Philosophic John Adams), who perpetually remains above the partisan fray. I don't believe Jefferson lost his cool anywhere in this production, aside from being a sore loser by taking his marbles home to Monticello whenever he loses a major political debate. By contrast, it is the wise sage Adams who loses his cool and makes a couple emotion-laden, foolhardy decisions. The series also notes that it was Washington who had the very most trouble controlling his temper when under personal attacks (most from Jefferson, by the way). I should also mention that I am a dues paying member of both the modern day Republican Party and the (anti-federalist) Federalist Society, so if anything my personal bias runs the other direction than the tone in which I argue. The bottom line is that I found the Founding Brothers quite fair and balanced towards both Republicans and Federalists.
On another note, I thought the series did an excellent job giving Hamilton his deserved attention, including his continued battles with Aaron Burr that culminate into the famous duel between the two and results in Hamilton's untimely death. I also believe the series ends wonderfully by concentrating on the correspondence between Adams and Jefferson in the twilight of their lives - certainly a tribute to both great men and the spirit of bipartisanship, to be sure. A full five stars is warranted.
Astounding.
Founding Brothers is a phenomanal DVD. This documentary is one of a kind. Founding Brothers wet my apetite to learn more about this time period and since then, I have read many books on the same subject matter. What makes Founding Brothers so unique, is that it puts the politics of the era in perspective. For example; the myth that the founding fathers cooperated and worked peacefuly to found the single greatest document in American History, the constitution, is not true. These men were passionate, ambitious, and lived with codes of honor that rival American politicking even today. What could drive two outstanding fathers, Hamilton and Burr, to fight a duel to the death? How could the very man who wrote the words "All men are created equal," enslave his own children? And why is there a dark cloud over the Adams presidency? In Founding Brothers, you will find answers to these questions and more as this film takes you into the greatest crisis of American history, even greater then the Civil War.
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