John Adams (2008)

[SillyMammo]

John Adams Blu-ray

John Adams Blu-ray Review

Well, I finally finished the John Adams series and I'll have to be honest, I wasn't impressed with it. I thought the acting was excellent and visually it was superb, but the written was lacking.

I felt it never gave good reasons why John Adams was such a great man. Prime example: The Continental Congress sends him off to Europe during the Revolution. The impression I get was he failed miserably in France and the Netherlands and was simply kept over there to keep him out of the way. Then upon his return, he's so well respected by the people, that he gets the 2nd most votes for President only losing out to Washington(a hero of the people!) Why?

We get glimpses of him sticking to his principles, but that doesn't make you a great man. Sometimes you're just stubborn.

I really wanted to like this series and blind bought it. HBO makes some great stuff and I though for sure I'd enjoy it, but alas it was a disappointment (to me). Did everyone like this but me?

[tlimof]

I thought it was a great series, wonderfully acted, directed and written. I think is a very good portryal of John Adams the man, with all his virtues and failures. It was a very human portrayal of Adams.

I'I watched on HBO, then bought first day of release in blu, watched it then and I'm currently watching it for the second time.

Maybe you would enjoy it with the historical feature of the blu.

[xxJACKRYANxx]

I certainly enjoyed it. Acting was superb.

I think if we were to see accurate portrayals of most anyone from those times they wouldn't hold up to the standards we have today.

[Underworld54]

It's the best blind buy i've ever made. I enjoyed it so much that I just purchased the book that inspired the HBO series.

The partnership that he and Abagail shared was amazing and I would love to read those letters the two of them sent back and forth.

As far as History goes, if John Adams hadn't avoided war from abroad we may not be here discussing this film. We were ripe for the picking and he knew how susceptible we were at that time. He was an amazing man (grouchy a lot of the time) but still a very influential character in our history's past.

[Nightshade]

if i saw it in blu i would prob love it even more it was great

[Sussudio]

Exceptional acting and beautiful set design, but the cinematography was horrendous...whoever decided to throw modern-style camerawork into a period TV show didn't seem to have any idea what they were doing. The consistently drastic angles and shaky-cam work were very distracting to me, and while the story and acting is more important to me than the cinematography, the latter was noticeable enough to take me out every time I started to get pulled in. Just my .02 (and I noticed Ken shared a similar mindset in his review ).

[Lincoln6Echo]

Originally Posted by SillyMammo

We get glimpses of him sticking to his principles, but that doesn't make you a great man. Sometimes you're just stubborn.

No, actually that's what most people like in others no matter what they're political persuasion. If you stick with your convictions and principles, then at least people can say, "He stuck to his guns"....but if you're wishy washy, and waffle on every decision you based on what direction the political winds are blowing, then that tells people that you're not worthy of being a leader.

If you make decisions you start off by sticking your finger in the wind, or reading a poll, or if your triangulate, then most likely, you're gonna end up not satisfying anyone....your base, nor your opposition.

To be honest, that's been the problem with the Democratic Party for the past 20+ years or so when trying to placate one interest group, they end up ticking off one or more other groups.

[hostelmovies]

I liked it but could bring myself to watch it once in my life. I would love to see a George Washington one with David Hulse reprising his role as GW. He was without a doubt the best part of the show.

AND: John Adams decaying teeth over the course of the show was gross in HD.

[QuasidodoJr]

I really enjoyed it. Enough so that I actually double-dipped on the blu-ray. When it first released it was on DVD only.

[ChadFL]

I liked it. Very good series with a great cast. The only actor I didn't like was the guy who played George Washington. They could have done much better for that role.

[ChadFL]

Originally Posted by hostelmovies

I liked it but could bring myself to watch it once in my life. I would love to see a George Washington one with David Hulse reprising his role as GW. He was without a doubt the best part of the show.

AND: John Adams decaying teeth over the course of the show was gross in HD.

Really? I thought he was horrible as Washington.

[SillyMammo]

Originally Posted by Lumet

Maybe you weren't supposed to? It was a (relatively) objective biopic, not a fluff piece meant to glorify the man.

But why did people of the day regard him highly enough to become runner-up and then President? I'm all for objectiveness, but the story need to show some reasoning behind this?

[ChadFL]

Originally Posted by Lumet

Who is David Hulse anyway?

He must have gotten the name wrong. The guy who played Washington is David Morse not Hulse. He's a fairly good actor even though I didn't like the job he did as Washington.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001556/

[ChadFL]

Originally Posted by SillyMammo

But why did people of the day regard him highly enough to become runner-up and then President? I'm all for objectiveness, but the story need to show some reasoning behind this?

Mostly what I call "founder worship." The founders of the country were a very enlightened bunch for their time but as time went on it seems they are glorified far more than is called for.

The job of President was nowhere remotely as complex in the early days of the nation that it has been in the past century. In the days of Adams and Washington there was no 24 hour news cycle or global American empire to maintain. Comparing Presidents of John Adams's time to today's Presidents is comparing apples to oranges.

[oyboe]

Yes, enjoyed it when it was shown on TV. Got it for Christmas on Blu ray but haven't rewatched it yet.

[SillyMammo]

Originally Posted by Lumet

Perhaps you should give it another watch if you honestly didn't pick up on that. And maybe do a little brushing up on your American history while you're at it.

Nice!

So what were your thoughts on why he should have gain such high esteem among his fellow men? Again. I'm not trying to put this in today's context. What I'm asking is why people of his day thought he was such an important man? Within the boundries of the series, he was failure in France and he did not accomplish anything in the Netherlands and yet when he returned after all those years. He still got enough votes to be vice president.

Again, I'm not raggin on the series or trying to be overly negative. I'm honestly trying to figure out what others saw, that I didn't pick up on. Please don't take it personally.

[tlimof]

Originally Posted by hostelmovies

John Adams decaying teeth over the course of the show was gross in HD.

Really??? I thought it was awesome the level of detail, I hate when I see perfect teeth in the characters of movies set centuries ago.

[kurtlingle]

I just loved this series (rented on Netflix) and so I got it for 22.99 at amazon for my wife for Xmas.

I plan on watching these each 4th of July weekend over the next few years (used to watch the Patriot).

Great series and very well made indeed.

[sfmarine]

Great mini-series!

[Gremal]

For period-piece mini series I would recommend Bleak House over John Adams. Better picture/cinematography/acting and the story stays closer to the original.