Liberty! The American Revolution

Around 4/5ths of this documentary is great. It really goes into the roots of why things happen, and is presented very clearly.

However, the other fifth of the time are segments with actors dressing up as historical figures and reading out things they had written. The acting is so incredibly awful, and just comes across as corny. Thus, it really takes away from the seriousness of the rest of the documentary. It is so bad that I just have to fast forward all those sections.

I was looking forward to watching this documentary with great anticipation, but was surprised & disappointed to see the storytelling element where many historical figures are reenacted/represented by actors. I was looking for cited quotations, a more detailed narrative, historic illustrations, & maps. I instead felt like I was watching a "history-lite" documentary that dwelled too long on the entertainment value of dressed up actors. I guess I'll have to find some books to read, because this documentary felt like too little substance for the length of the documentary. My sense was the "living history" actors took something away from the gravity of the narrative & history. "Liberty! The American Revolution" was produced after Ken Burns' "The Civil War." One would think these documentary filmmakers could have learned something from Burns devices for telling a story when one can't rely much on photography or video. Marginally recommend as a supplement to reading histories of the American Revolutionary War.

This is a six-hour program that starts out with such abrasive things like the stamp act of 1765. It covers well-known events and some not so well-known events. This presentation takes you beyond high school romantic history with heroes and heroic deeds that rival the Iliad. We can see some of the underlying motives and accidents that brought about our revolution. We are carried to the very edge of the creation of the Declaration of independents, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

The film is presented by major historians (I have to admit I never saw one or two of them before) but I do have a copy of "The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution of the United States" with an Introduction by Pauline Maier and it was interesting to see her as a presenter in this series. There are great deals of actors that quote actual letters and statements from historical figures; it almost becomes a game on the side trying to guess where you saw the actor before.

We get maps and diagrams to help follow the action. But it is the actual view of the countryside that can be so beautiful that it can take your breath away.

There is a companion book to this presentation and it goes into more depth. However, I do not think the book could do the justice or hold the attention that this 6-part series can , The Reluctant Revolutionaries: 1763-1774 Blows Must Decide: 1774-1776 The Times That Try Men's Souls: 1776-1777 Oh, Fatal Ambition: 1777-1778 The World Turned Upside Down: 1778-1783 Are We to Be a Nation? 1783-1788

Some of the bonus items on the DVD is: "Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier" Music Traditional Arranged by James Taylor and Mark O'Connor Produced by Mark O'Connor Performed by Mark O'Connor (violin), James Taylor (vocals, guitar), John Jarvis (keyboards), Russ Barenberg (guitar), John Mock (pennywhistle, low whistle), Glenn Worf (bass) and Eddie Bayers (percussion)

This documentary features actors speaking the words of long-dead people, from Abigail Adams to King George III to Hessian mercenaries. The result is a multi-faceted view of the American Revolution. I use part of this program to teach the Revolution in my college courses for this reason. Since this is a U.S. production, the bias is pro-Revolution. I do not mind this, since my side won that war. I appreciate, however, the honest discussion of the key contradiction of the Revolution--the maintenance of slavery as part of the struggle for independence. Our founders were people, not demigods.

I will correct another commenter on this website. King George III actually spoke flawless English, as the actor who portrays him does. The monarch's great-grandfather (George I) spoke German. George II, grandfather of George III, spoke English as a second language. George III, however, took pride in speaking excellent English.

An excellent primer on the Revolutionary War, LIBERTY is a penetrating view at the causes and motivations as well as the saga of the course of the war. It is interesting that the major source for information on the war is the writings of Sgt Martin. There's an excellent period score Da**[rn] the Defiant that's part of the opening and closing credits. Regretfully the audience for glorious cause is a pale shaddow when compared to that of the lost cause.

This compares favorably to THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION (narr Charles Kuralt) and HOW THE WEST WAS LOST (Amer Indian perspective).