Customer Reviews

Founding Fathers

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This helped to shine an unexpected new light on our heritage.... Definetly more real than the way it was presented to me in my youth.
A good additional learning tool.

Recently, I viewed and purchased the sequel to this, "Founding Brothers". I found this series, focusing on the start of the revolutionary spirit to the creation of the Constitution, a bit better.

It is very rare indeed that any video (let alone something for the always mainstream 'History Channe') focuses on the intellectual history of our nation. Usually, the physical aspects of the revolutionary war is focused on. The subject matter here, the revolutions intellectual fire, is not only interesting; it's host of characters: Patrick Henry, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Thomas Paine, etc. is a great "cast".

There are two problems. First, the documentary, like its sequel (see my review) is very one sided towards the federalists. Alexander Hamilton, George Washington and John Adams are treated as saints whereas Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson are written off as purely self-motivated hacks. Similarly, James Madison is focused on AS a federalist but his later anti-federalist leanings are not even MENTIONED.

The second flaw is that some of the voice-overs do not seem quite right. Burt Reynolds as Patrick Henry, James Woods as John Adams, Hal Holbrook as Franklin, these are fine. But imagine my suprise when I found country singer Randy Travis reading for James Madison. And whoever did Thomas Jeffersons voice had equally little passion.

Ryan Setliff's review below may well be a typical reaction to a DVD like this. No, it does not paint the founders as perfect noblemen, but it is accurate. Patrick Henry had a monstrous temper, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson were flirts. John Hancock and Alexander Hamilton were greedily ambitious, John Adams was disagreeable in most senses of the word and Thomas Paine was a drunk. Strong statements but I would challenge Mr. Setliff or anyone else to find citations to disprove them. many of the scholars, contrary to Mr. Setliffs contention, have proven themselves. Jack Rakove anyone?

This DVD offers an interesting and useful perspective on the Founding Fathers. It is a relatively painless way to learn a great deal about these men, their ideals, and some of the things that gave rise to the American Revolution.

I personally thought that the historian-commentators were largely mouthy and annoying. The narration was pretty good, and in fact I wish there were a way to simply edit out the commentators while leaving the narration. It is possible to present the Founders both as the human beings they were without losing sight of the fact that America was extraordinarily fortunate to have brought forth such men at this critical time. At times I thought that this series missed the mark in this regards, and went out of its way to focus on minor personal quirks that frankly are of no importance and only minor interest. The Founding Fathers were, after all, giants.

Nevertheless, at least this piece deals with the American Revolution and the Founders, which are underrepresented topics.

I love history and in recent months I have been voraciously reading / viewing various books / DVD collections. The Founding Fathers, which I believe is based on the book by M.E. Bradford, is one of 2 DVD collections available by the History Channel that discusses the lives and times of the countries' founding fathers. The other DVD collection is based on the Pulitzer Prize winning book Founding Brothers by Joseph Ellis. This DVD collection was the first one created by The History Channel.

Both DVD collections discuss the lives and times of the founding fathers (brothers). This particular DVD collection starts with a discussion of Sam Adams and the rise of discontent amongst New Englanders. It focuses on the events that led to the American Revolution much better than the other DVD collection, Founding Brothers. After viewing both of them again I would say without a doubt that this series deals with pre-revolution to the constitution whereas Founding Brothers is more constitutional conventions to post revolution times and the establishment of parties / bickering amongst the founders.

1. This DVD collection is well produced. Famous actors provided the voices for the characters.

2. While the DVD is certainly worth watching I found myself wishing it had more facts about events of the American Revolution. But, as the title states, this series is about the founding fathers.

3. The series did a nice job of discussing how various fathers had issues with slavery. It discussed whether they were pro-slavery or against it and how some had serious troubles dealing with it.

4. The one thing I thoroughly enjoyed about the DVD collection was that it clearly depicts how each of these men came together despite their different backgrounds and temperaments to found a nation.

Most of my reviews are in business / economics and I encourage people to read them, whether here on ... or at my personal website. If you are interested in economic history book I would encourage everyone to read The Worldly Philosophers by Robert Heilbroner since it is more international in scope and deals with the lives and times of the most famous economists in history. If you are interested in economic development / evolution of U.S. property history I would encourage you to read Hernando DeSoto's Mystery of Capital but note his lack of focus on corruption in certain countries. A great general business book is by the management guru Peter Drucker entitled "The Essential Drucker."

Apparently the former reviewers just haven't studied the Founding Fathers and the War for Independence enough to discern that this video set doesn't do them and their cause any justice. Furthermore, most insights of historical value are usually accompanied with some politically correct rejoinder that holds the founders in contempt. It is fittingly post-1990's, post-Clinton since it earnestly strives to lower them to Bill Clinton's level. It focuses on making their cause lofty while caustically attacking their character... with such witty anecdotes as "John Adams would have needed Prozac..." Moreover, most of the panel of 'scholars' consulted for this puff-piece, haven't proven themselves in any way. A revisionist tale of the American Founding typical of the mass-media, which cynically reveres the founders. The good presentation and production put into the film is still unredeemed by the shoddy scholarship. It wasn't hardly worth watching when the History Channel aired it for free on TV- so why drop [money] to buy it on DVD.

The books, tapes and videos of Thomas Fleming's 'Liberty! The American Revolution' are much better work.

As a U.S. citizen living outside the U.S., I purchased this set for my children to have an introduction to our country's history. I was very happy with what I received. Founding Fathers introduces the major characters of the American Revolution, and it does so in a manner that avoids much of the mythology that has surrounded them. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Paine, Patrick Henry and others are profiled in this documentary in a way that introduces both their outstanding qualities and their mortal weaknesses. The result is a fine collection of very human portraits. This series would be an excellent companion to David McCullough's recent biography of John Adams.

This is definitely an entertaining series on the founding fathers. Very well produced. The series goes into the lives of several of the early patriots and shows how events drew them together and how they were able to make it all work.

While the DVD is certainly worth watching, I found myself wishing it had more hard facts. But that's a personal preference. They spent a lot of time on the personal lives but not as much on the actual historical things they did. But it's a minor complaint to be honest.

I think both students and parents will learn a lot about our country through this set and perhaps - perhaps - gain a great appreciation for how truly remarkable the United States is and why we should care about the course this country is heading into.

This is an excellent primer on the men who founded the United States. It is one of my favorite History Channel series. The stories told are intriguing and they did a good job of connecting the stories to the people in a way that you don't get lost as they jump from one person to another. The only reason I did not give this 5 stars is because 4 hours simply is not long enough for the subject matter. However, if you aren't looking for all of the details, but just want to gain a better appreciation for them then I would highly reccommned this set.

This four hour series about the Founding Fathers is truly excellent. It is extremely well written and the actors like Hal Holbrook and James Wood are wonderful! You really get a sense of what these men might have been like. It's also fascinating to see how much they are like today's politicians - both good and bad.I highly recommend it to anyone with a kid studying American history.

THE FOUNDING FATHERS is almost certainly the most fascinating and entertaining cinematic saga of the American Revolution. Related with poignancy and depth as a story of men - with all of their human foibles - rather than of icons, it is told with much greater candidness than the usual pedantic chronicle. This stirring account of American's finest hour is presented as a tapestry of the lives of the great, but very human, men woven together with the momentous events they created - events that still shape the destiny of this Nation. It is true, as one other reviewer mentions, that this is not a typical historical narrative: it has no plot and, at times, may seem somewhat disjointed. Given its brevity, and the nature of the material it treats, this is probably inevitable. The American Revolution was, after all, a congeries of events covering an extremely large area, full of the utmost diversity, at a time when the fledgling United States of America was in turmoil. Also, a presentation of this type must be extremely selective, which THE FOUNDING FATHERS is. Nevertheless it depicts brilliantly how the unique personalities of the Founders made possible the astonishingly unlikely series of events that permitted a handful of disorganized colonies to wrest their freedom from, arguably, the greatest military power of the time. If you like history, or if, having managed to escape the mindless America-bashing so prevalent today, you harbor even a vestige of patriotic feelings for the USA, you will not be disappointed by this series.