THe John Adams DVD set. How factual is it?

[greenbriar]

I am debating on buying it or not


how true to facts is it?

[LisaM]

1. Who put it out? A lot of the books on the Founders that were written

in the past ten years or so have turned out to be written by people with ties to the Federalist Society, AEI, etc. Sad, but true. It makes me not totally trust them.

[Mojambo]

2. McCullough totally downplays Adams' collosal failure of a presidency

in the book. I don't know how it's played out in the mini-series.

[Lex]

4. He shows that he wasn't well liked

or well thought of at the time.

It shows his tumultuous friendship with Jefferson.

[Mojambo]

6. How are the Alien and Sedition acts and the XYZ affair handled? n/t

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

12. If memory serves,

Adams is shown commenting about them only.

[Royal Oak Rog]

3. Well in the one I saw

John Adams goes to northern CA to do some wine tasting....wait that might have been Giamatti's other movie, always get those two mixed up.

[bicentennial_baby]

5. If you can get ahold of the review in The Nation

from a couple weeks back, it's very informative and comprehensive. :)

[TheCentepedeShoes]

10. Thanks

I am thinking about getting the DVD, too. I have a stack o' Nations to catch up on this weekend. I'll read the review.

[MonkeyFunk]

7. Regardless of people's opinions on how factual it was...

it was a wonderful production. Well-written, very well-acted, well-produced. I loved every bit of it.

[Old and In the Way]

8. 2 Thumbs up

I think it was a good balance between fact and historical assumption. I suppose there was a lot of dialogue that was meant to give context to the historical record. I found it to be well produced and a great educational series if one is teaching early American history. I didn't like Giamatti's casting, at first, but I was hooked by the end of the series.

[summer borealis]

9. Overall, it was superb

Of course, some things were changed, like Nabby Adams meeting her husband in the US when she met and married him in England.
But the pure vitriolic political environment of Adams' presidency was made clear arou8nd the likes of Jefferson, Hamilton. David Morse did a great Washington, too.
I wish more time would have been devoted to Adams in 1776 when he was truly "the atlas of independence."
I will surely buy the set and watch it often.

[Catch22Dem]

13. I loved David Morse

He did an awesome job. I was actually more intrigued by the Jefferson portrayal than the Adams one. Giamatti is an incredible actor though.

Hey, welcome to DU!!

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

11. The most recent film about Adams?

If that's the one, I watched it recently. For one thing, I can tell you that their portrayal of the tarring and feathering of the man was all wrong. He wasn't stripped nude and the provocation was different that depicted. Also the operation on Adam's daughter and its aftermath weren't accurate either. I think some scenes telescoped events together for the sake of brevity and drama.