Product Details

• Actors: Edward Herrmann, Keith Arbour, Carol Berkin, Beau Bridges, Richard Brookhiser
• Directors: Mark Hufnail, Melissa Jo Peltier
• Writers: Melissa Jo Peltier, Max M. Fletcher
• Producers: Bonnie Peterson, Cameo Wallace, Christina Lublin, John Gengl
• Format: Box set, Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 4
• Studio: A&E Home Video
• VHS Release Date: December 5, 2000
• Run Time: 200 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00004ZETJ
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #178,002 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for students of the Revolution, December 5, 2000

By 

David E. Levine (Peekskill , NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Founding Fathers [VHS] (VHS Tape)

If you are interested in early American history, specifically the period of the Revolution, I recommend this series of tapes. The four episodes are a recent series carried by The History Channel and although the tapes can be ordered from that Channel's website, you are better off ordering from Amazon since Amazon offers a discount. The series humanizes the founding fathers. For example, did you ever realize that dour John Adams was a very hot young lover deeply in love with Abigail and whose letters to Abigail were tinged with coded sexual references? I found particularly engaging the treatment of Samuel Adams and John Hancock. The two were so very different yet they combined into a powerful voice for the revolution. Hancock was very wealthy and part of his reason to support the Revolution was to protect his interests and, perhaps, to avoid the payment of taxes. Samuel Adams, on the other hand, was a failed businessman and a frumpy dresser (whereas Hancock was always perfectly dressed). However, the two worked together to form a passionate voice. In this series we learn how close the Revolution was to failure as Washington had only a few troops whose terms of enlistment were due to expire. However, these troops were rallied by Thomas Paine's famous words, "These are the times that try men's souls." Paine earlier had rallied the populous with "Common Sense." but equally important was his rallying of the troops. All of the founding fathers, Washington, Jefferson, Henry, Franklin etc. are presented in an engaging way. They are humanized and their contributions to our fledgling nation are illuminated. This series is particularly well suited to a middle school or high school history class. I recommend it highly.

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Decent Overview of the Founding Father's life, August 6, 2004

By 

Julius Caesar (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Founding Fathers (DVD)

First of all, this DVD is NOT about the American Revolution. If you want to know about the American Revolution and how the country was built, then "Liberty: The American Revolution" from PBS is a much better choice. Nevertheless, this is still a decent DVD, if you want a quick overview of the biography of the Founding Fathers. Each Founding Fathers biography is covered equally in length. They are Samuel Adams, John Hancock, John Adams, Patrick Henry, George Washington, Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison. You will learn that each Founding Fathers has different reason to join the revolution, not all of them get along with each other, they came with many flaws just like humans, and not all of them were respected after the end of the revolution. The DVD is begin with the seed of the revolution, why each Founding Fathers decided to join the revolution, the Declaration of Independence, the Revolutionary War, and the creation of the U.S constitution along with the Bill of Rights. Overall, this is a decent DVD. My only complains are sometimes they talk about the Founding Father's character that are not important to the revolution and there is very little coverage about the war. But overall, this is a good DVD if you want a quick overview of the life of the Founding Fathers.

33 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well worth watching despite the annoying commentators., November 5, 2002

By 

Roger J. Buffington (Huntington Beach, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Founding Fathers (DVD)

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.