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John Adams (HBO Miniseries) | 
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| Actors: Paul Giamatti, Laura Linney
Studio: HBO
Category: DVD
List Price: $59.99
Buy New: $34.98
You Save: $25.01 (42%)
New (38) Used (21) from $32.17
Rating:  348 reviews
Sales Rank: 23
Format: Box Set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
Number Of Discs: 3
Running Time: 501 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.8 x 1
MPN: 1000038820
UPC: 883929020065
EAN: 0883929020065
ASIN: B000WGWQG8
Theatrical Release Date: March 16, 2008
Release Date: June 10, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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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 343 more reviews...
 Disastrous Mini-series October 16, 2008
John Lester
After reading David McCollough's truly inspiring John Adams, I was eagerly awaiting the HBO Mini-series. I was hugely disappointed. It seems HBO was hell bent on an agenda to almost totally distort the image of this passionate patriot. Several episodes in the book were particularly inspiring, as they offered a measure of John Adam's dedication to our fledgling country. One was his determination to travel with his company a thousand miles by mule to Paris after the Sensible could not make it to its intended port and needed to let the John Adam's party off the coast of Spain. In the miniseries, John Adams and John Quincy just appear in Paris. Another episode involved negotiations with the British over the details of Independence. These negotiations included defining the boundaries of United States territory, navigation rights on the Mississippi, debts, fishing rights off Newfoundland and compensation to the loyalists. Adams insisted on America's position on all these issues and won. Most impressive was John Adam's absolute insistence that the British recognize the United States before any negotiations could take place. He stood strong on this point, in spite of the Continental Congress's direction to avoid this issue. These were truly inspiring episodes which would be the stuff of imaginative genius, but they are especially glorious because they are the actual accomplishments of this truly great man. For reasons that make no sense, HBO completely disregarded them both.
HBO's depiction of John Adams as a person was of one not recognized in the book. John Adams was clearly the fire and passion behind Independence, a truly great patriot, a loving husband and father and a faithful friend. HBO's John Adams comes off as a humorless, peevish, arrogant toad, guided to any positive accomplishment only buy the hand of his wife. In fact HBO's Abigail is so prominent in the miniseries, she at times seems to hold the central role. I grew increasingly weary of Abigail being continually lionized in contrast to the HBO's deeply flawed version of our second president. Shame on HBO!
A great man - a great book - a disastrous miniseries.
 Truly riveting, adds much weight to our collective American experiences October 15, 2008
wunderbeast
I don't claim to know much about the history of this country, nor the history of the world really. I only began to take interest in things bigger than myself in recent years. I admit, applying real world stories to a dramatic medium increases the appeal of something that is already so significant but that's just exactly what this mini-series did to me. It made me think about the literal idea of me standing here being able to live in a world and time where I can come home, chill, grab a bit to eat, and write this review on a lazy Tuesday evening. Sounds like a cliched endorsement perhaps, but the corniness doesn't make it any less true. I am Asian-American so even more so am I amazed and grateful that it's because of the founding principles of this country that I am leading a comfortable life, although that's not to say it wasn't a struggle to get to where we are today...and believe me, I know things still aren't perfect.
And I think that's one of the key words that should be attributed to "John Adams", however general: struggle. If so far, you are conjuring images of a sweeping, glorified epic tale of our revolution, well, I have to say my words were probably a bit misleading. There are times, especially in the first few parts where the tone feels that way but make no mistake, this is the story of John Adams, the excellent supporting characters, and his relation to his country and the world. Where the word struggle comes into play are the moments when I realize that disagreements will certainly exist in this world, and there will be many of them. Such is the case here. The real undertaking of establishing a nation isn't as bright or glorious as we like to make it seem sometimes. Congress may not always act, there may be people whose intentions aren't quite noble, public opinion may affect the politics etc. So with that in mind, you incorporate great in-depth characters like John, his impressively insightful wife Abigail, Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington. And in "John Adams", they are portrayed as real people rather than what our mythology depicts them to be, although there certainly are scenes heightened in vitriol for dramatic effect.
As you continue to watch, you certainly notice some of the characters' imperfections, namely the title character. He may be noble in spirit, but many times he doesn't have the social tact or grace to get through certain political situations as it was in the painful scenes of him and Benjamin Franklin in France. Which really begs the question, "How do you judge a man?" or would that be too egocentric to ask. Also, there are times when you actually do question Adam's goodwill when he makes statements regarding whatever credit he deserves, or his disappointment with his lack of popularity compared to other relatively softer spoken comrades (and nemeses). At times, John comes off very passionate, with great qualities of leadership shining through. Those same characteristics are also his flaws as you will soon see. Other times, he is very petulant, almost childish and belligerent. There are times that I literally got frustrated in how he incited train wrecks of social and politically important situations. That's what makes his story so compelling to me. It's very easy to depict good guys and bad guys as many (certainly not all) network television shows are proof of that. Not so here: you will cry for him and other times you will want to hold your face in your hands and say to him, "What the **** are you doing?!" The supporting characters like Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson contrast very well with Adams, and so does Abigail (I'll get to her later). Because their words are gentler, and therefore politically helpful, rifts of friendship begin to form sooner or later. There is even a point when Adams is clearly chided by Franklin in one of the more memorable quotations in the series: "A good diplomat observes much, acts little, and speaks softly." To digress, there are other great quotes, one from Abigail: "You do not need to quote great men to show you are one."
Abigail is the constant in John Adam's life. For all his flaws and his ill-tempered behavior, you will also see moments where you realize that "jerks" (and yes, he certainly was one in a good amount of scenes) have people to love, and people that love him. She is also what grounds Adams due to her more diplomatic sensibilities and her ability to not only see things that her husband may not have caught, but also to tell them straight to him when necessary, regardless of how he may take it.
The performances are nothing short of amazing, and coming from an actor, it means much to me. I've read in some places and websites where people think Giamatti was miscast. Honestly, I won't even touch the statement because I don't have a large enough frame of reference yet. When I read more literature about him, maybe I'll edit this review to reflect added thoughts. As it is, Giamatti is clearly a terrific and gifted actor if I were to judge his performance at face value. Linney is amazing and I didn't expect otherwise. All the actors are very capable of nuanced performances and pushing it to emotional levels in key places so that the overall palette has a lot of color. Wilkinson who plays Franklin, and the actors that play Jefferson and Washington are wonderful as well. Casting wise, I thought everything was top notch.
Some of what I may have written may contain spoilers already (as warned) but I tried to mostly limit them to showing you examples of what I find to be, well, exemplary. Here is another one, which I believe to be one of the main points of this work: HUGE SPOILER There is a scene later on when Adams reconciles with a friend due to differences in political/social views among other things. It was done in correspondence and one of them writes something to the effect of the importance of living in a nation where it is alright to disagree and that it cannot get in the way of friendship. Well, my friends, we are currently living at a...dramatic time in our history and I also believe it is important to honor the opinions of people who may not agree with you. What we have to remember that regardless of our differing perspectives, we all love this country for all its merits and despite our flaws. I believe everyone is capable of having civilized discussions and "going negative" is just not what our country is founded on, even if it is a reality of the world (which is all the more reason to rise above it). It would not be right if I believe every McCain supporter is dishonorable, just as it would not be right if I believe with naivete that every Obama supporter is teeming with complete benevolence. The truth and serious considerations of consequences of our actions should be what matters. And to that end, everyone should be respectful to each other because we all have very different ideas of what those things are. There is also nothing wrong admitting shortsightedness and adopting different viewpoints if one truly believes it's right to do so. You may call this message to be a bit of stretch but frankly if that's to be something I got out of watching this, I'd say I got more than my money's worth.
 John Adams comes to life October 14, 2008
Grandma again (New Hampshire USA)
HBO does a great job with their miniseries. John Adams was a little drier or slower than the Rome or Deadwood series but it was a good picture of how our US government began. Has it changed?
My ten year old granddaughter has studied John Adams in school but I think the miniseries is a little too graphic in places for her.
Perfect! October 13, 2008
CJS
Item arrived quickly and exactly as promised. Item was in perfect condition. Great experience!
Work of Genius and Depiction of Historical Events Regarding our Founding Fathers October 11, 2008
J. Heath (Fife, WA USA)
58 out of 58 found this review helpful
Although the miniseries title and episodes focus on the life of John Adams, the strength of the film lies in the exceptional ensemble cast. It was impressive to see such giants as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin, as well as the lesser known individuals, truly inhabited by the actors.
The challenge of the series was to breathe life into those stories and lives we know so well. The filmmakers worked closely to David McCullough's outstanding book for the details, along with the human side of the story captured in the voluminous correspondence of John and Abigail Adams. The political, military, and personal issues were all thoughtfully brought to life. The design values of the film were also superb. Nothing looked stagy or stilted in the sets and costumes, which provided an unusual authenticity of period style for television drama. With each appearance of George Washington (David Morse), it was hard not to gasp due to the believability of his character.
The drama of America's breaking from England for independence was an improbable story and one dependent on the courage and idealism of the individuals portrayed in this film. The personalities of these great figures make this program an accessible and rewarding experience for the entire family. For the patient viewer, what emerges from the John Adams miniseries is not merely a history lesson, but a drama with great relevance today. Simply put, we need more people in our country right now just like John and Abigail Adams, Jefferson, Franklin, Washington, Knox, and, above all, the ordinary human beings heroically portrayed in this fine film!
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