Product Details

• Actors: Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee
• Directors: Various
• Format: Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Mill Creek Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: March 9, 2010
• Run Time: 465 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0030VBGF4
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #181,859 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

An Important and relevant portrait of America's early years!

Embark on an exciting, historical journey through the battles and victories surrounding America's pursuit for freedom. This poignant documentary series is comprehensively presented through narration, photographs and paintings to create a visual history of America's founding ideals of liberty and freedom.

This ten-part documentary series examines the people and events that led up to our nation's battle for independence against the world's largest military power during the Revolutionary War through the presidencies of freedom fighters Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln who were forever dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

The Revolutionary War Vol. 1 / The Revolutionary War Vol. 2
After a series of taxes and laws that took power away from the 13 American Colonies, the British monarchy found resistance that lead to a revolution. From the Declaration of Independence, George Washington's armies, to the eventual British surrender at Yorktown, experience how these events birthed a new nation.

Thomas Jefferson Vol. 1 / Thomas Jefferson Vol. 2
As a man of the Enlightenment he was the principle author of the Declaration of Independence. Follow the journey of his life from childhood, to the colonial days of America, the events that lead to the American Revolutionary War and beyond.

Abe Lincoln Vol. 1 / Abe Lincoln Vol. 2
Abraham Lincoln lead the nation through a tremendous upheaval; a time when our country was pulling apart at the seams. This intimate portrait of Abraham Lincoln, using authentic stills of the time, will hopefully bring you a little closer in understanding the complexities of our 16th President of the United States.

The Civil War Vol. 1 / The Civil War Vol. 2
As the war that inflicted more casualties on America soldiers than any other, follow the events from Lincoln's victory in the presidential election of 1860 to Lee's surrender in Northern Virginia on April 9, 1865, at the McLean House.

The Diary of a Confederate Soldier Vol.1 /The Diary of a Confederate Soldier Vol.2
This is an intimate look into the Civil War as told by a Confederate Soldier who recorded his thoughts and feelings on paper. Understand the Civil War like never before as you see and hear events unfold from a man on the battlefield during our nation's most divided time in its history.

Over 7 hours of captivating, historical storytelling.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Shallow documentary-- avoid it, June 27, 2010

By 

Word "Lou" (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: America: The Birth of Freedom (DVD)

I will start off with how I viewed this series, and will then give a somewhat-detailed review followed by an overall mini-review.

Viewing:
I popped the first disc in and began watching, hoping to find at least a mediocre presentation of the American Revolution to show to students to reinforce the various battles and to give the students a break from lectures and bookwork; however, after half an hour it became obvious that it would benefit my students more to give alternative assignments than to have them suffer through this. I graded and listened to the narration in the background after 20 minutes of viewing, and had trouble even doing that.

Review:
The best part of this DVD set is the cover. Mill Creek Entertainment created solid cover art to make it look almost like a legitimate PBS or History Channel/A&E substitute for a US history film series. Once opened, however, one finds two separate discs in paper holders. This is surprising, considering the box is about the thickness of 2 regular DVD cases. The fact that almost 8 hours of film are packed into two discs also shows that the quality (picture and sound) is rather low too. Now for the actual documentary itself.

"America: The Birth of Freedom" features a monotone narrator who retells key events of the war while pictures are zoomed in and out of and scenes of the same reenactments play over and over again. The monotone voice that accompanies these pictures and reenactment scenes is the ONLY voice you'll hear in this documentary series, which is a disappointment considering the fact that this narrator sounds disinterested in history. Absent are the various historians and specialists who would normally add flavor and trivial information that makes viewing these kinds of things either more interesting or at least bearable. I know it likely costs time and money to get prominent historians or specialists to comment about historical events within documentaries, but this problem could have been somewhat alleviated had there been a few unnamed persons being interviewed throughout the series. Worse yet, the background music is extremely loud, so instead of at least hearing information presented by a monotone narrator, music that does not necessarily fit the time period dominates the film. I looked for a subtitle option and, unsurprisingly, found none, effectively ending my attempt to enjoy this series even for purely academic purposes. I gave up on this series because I knew I'd just be bored and/or frustrated at all times.

Please note: I did not purchase this DVD documentary series at the advertised price (at the moment it is around $13) and actually paid a mere $5.50 after tax (likely due to it almost being Independence Day at the time of this review). That being said, my cost at $5.50 has been considered in this review, and it is still recommended to avoid this set, even if you find it lying around in a clearance bin.

Overall:
+ Decent cover art and attempt to give a value pack for those interested in learning about history
- The narrator is monotone and unexcited while the information is being presented
- The background music is more prominent than the narrator's voice, so it's hard to follow the information
- No subtitle options are given, so be prepared to rewind often if you really want to hear what the narrator is saying
- No interviews by historians or even random people to liven up the pace of the series
- Even if sold for pennies, this thing would be an unwise purchase

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Terrible - Don't waste your money, July 28, 2011

By 

someone (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: America: The Birth of Freedom (DVD)

This is quite possibly the worst documentary film I have ever watched. I didn't watch the last 9 films here - the first one was so terrible I couldn't quite make it through it. So these comments apply only to the first film - "The Revolutionary War - Pt. 1"
The narration is by a single male monotone uninteresting voice throughout - sounds like he's just reading a script. The musical background selections are often too loud - competing with the insipid narration. The information presented in the film is probably ok, it's just presented in such a boring way as to make it almost intolerable to watch.
For a good, high quality survey of American History, I would recommend the History Channel's "America: The Story of US" available on DVD and Blu-ray.

0 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Birth of Freedom? No!!, July 12, 2011

By 

Elsa "caregiver" (Cape Coral Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: America: The Birth of Freedom (DVD)

I find this documentary to be nothing more than another propaganda to promote Judeo/Christian/European/White virture, while diminishing or reconciling without addressing the great wrongs that Africa and Negroes are still experiencing in the world, at the hands of Western White Civilization and its Judeo Christian twin.

Looking at the destruction of nature and humans of color (especially Negroes) directly caused by White Power, will never allow me to accept that the ideas of Freedom just got started with White Western Civilization and Judeo Christianity. The clear evidence is that in a vertual blink of the eye, White world domination is responsible for exponentially more destruction of nature and many indiginous groups, than all of the destruction that others have been directly responsible for, for exponentially more time. Therefore any documentary that is willing to state that it was the Christian ideals that is responsible for ending slavery and introducing humanity to the ideas of FREEDOM should also equally state that without the snactioning of slavery by God in the Bible, the devestating enslavement of Negro Africans, would not have continued for so long.

And surely, without the power of the Church, once Negro enslavement was abolished it would have ended, just like the enslavement of other humans. Yet it is clear that Negro enslavement has continued to covertly morph itself by new tactics with new names, as Michelle Alexander has eloquently expressed in the New Jim Crow. Further; the indiginous tribes that have been wiped out, or greatly degraded by Western White World Domination, all experienced far greater degrees of Freedom, Love and Security for a greater percentage of their groups, than the quality of life that 80% of humans experience today, at the hands of 20% of those who force us to fear the power they can unleash, with their weapons and means for Mass Human Destruction.

Without the Catholic Chuch sanctioning slavery; Negro enslavement would not have been so profitible to elevate and still maintain White Superiority worldwide. So wise men like Martin Luther King knew that he would have no real power, except through the Church. Just as Abraham Lincoln finally realized that without free slave labor the Confederate South would have no power to continue waging a War. Lincoln's move to free ONLY those slaves in the Confederate South was a move first and foremost to cut off the bloodline of the South's comforts and wealth. That move had nothing to do with his moral uprightness for the ungodly acts being enforced on blacks.

I believe that Gandhi once wisely stated something to the effect that; no man can be oppressed without his willing cooperation. Such was the case with Negro slaves then, just as it is with any person or people being commanded and demanded today against their Will. Black people were funding and maintaining their own enslavement, by their refusal to die enmass rather than remaining enslaved. And today black people worldwide are still remaining Mentally Enslaved by insisting on being tied to Judeo Christianity and Judeo Islam idealogies; both of which suggests that the color of our skin, is the color of sin.

So that brings me to the true meaning of freedom that this documentary has failed to express. And that is; that every human was born free. And it is each man's Right and Responsibility to determine and execute his own unique course (whether it benefits or hurts him) otherwise freedom is only the perogative of the elite few.

Still in careful observation of life-forms, it is clear that Bio-diversity is a necessity for good and healthy living. One race should not decide on how everyone else should live. One race should not be controlling the world's resources in collusion with a small group of puppets from each group. And most importantly; only if we accept the Bible's genealogy and time-span for humanity as correct, could it be true that Western White Civilization is responsible for humanity's freedom for the first time in human history.

Consequently, this documentary like most supposedly scholarly work befor it, is misguiding humans to think that Negro/Black humans are the by-products of humans with lesser or no melanin. Therefore the contribution of Negroes to human civilization is suspect. And could only have started when a few white men stumbled upon Dark Africa; and with a lot of black assistance, started the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade. Then centuries later; a lot of whites (with Christian principles, and without significant Negro desire or involvement) ended the the wrong their white ancestors enforced.

Every crime against humanity would have been quickly stopped if victims had not been convinced by Religions that life is a One Time Shot, and that only a particular God can intervene to grant us eternal life. Such notions have prolonged every egregious crime against humanity. And if Christianity had uniquely great reedeming qualities, why did slave owning Chistians (when they realized that on Sundays slaves could plan and execute attacks) enforce laws for all white men attending Church, to take their guns to Church, in case of attacks?

So in conclusion this documentary, simply promotes European White Superiority and Judeo Christianity. And they found a very articulate black man to help promote the superiority of Europe, Judeo Christianity and White. Thus the status quo will forever