Product Details

• Actors: Jack Perkins, Peter Graves, Harry Smith, Dave Hoffman, Bill Mumy
• Writers: Agnes Nixon
• Format: Black & White, Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: A&E Home Video
• VHS Release Date: December 23, 1996
• Run Time: 60 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• ASIN: 6303471315
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #131,585 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

She was the Native American princess who, at the age of twelve, saved the life of English explorer Captain John Smith. Before her death at 23, she had single- handedly forged an improbable peace between two nations: the legendary Pocahontas. Popular history remembers her for a single act of courage. Yet Pocahontas had a vision of peaceful cooperation between the European settlers and her own people that was far ahead of its time and jeopardized her life on more than one occasion. Ambassador, stateswoman, peacemaker, visionary, and friend, her struggle ultimately cost Pocahontas her young life. But her legacy lives on with the survival of a colony that led to the birth of a nation. Explore the remarkable life and enduring legacy of one of the most intriguing figures in American history.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Shame on A&E for inaccuracies!, August 24, 2000

By 

Tracy Davis (California, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Biography - Pocahontas: Her True Story [VHS] (VHS Tape)

The A&E Biography "Pocahontas: Her True Story" attempts to clear up the debate on who this woman was and what she actually did. Unfortunately, there are some unforgivable inaccuracies in this documentary; the most blatant is when narrator Monte Markham, in describing the time period of the 17th Century Jamestown colony, mistakenly says '1508' instead of '1608'. This should have been caught in pre-video release and fixed. The video also sensationalizes the relationship between John Smith and Pocahontas (something Disney did as well), and implies the desire for an intimate relationship that is not backed up by any real evidence. The video constantly emphasizes the diplomatic skills of Pocahontas to the point that it seems she was, at 13-15, in charge of all negotiations between her people and the English colonists. I find this farfetched; even though women held a high place in certain areas of Native American life, I don't think a young woman would have been charged with such a weighty burden. On the 'good' side, it is interesting to see all the artistic depictions of Pocahontas through the ages(who looks incredibly light-skinned while her father Powhatan is much darker), and to know what became of her son by husband John Rolfe. Since the video was done in 1995, I think that A&E was cashing in on the Disney film (also inaccurate), and didn't want to de-romanticize a woman who was incredibly important to our early history. It's a shame, because the story is interesting enough without the embellishment.