Product Details

• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: PBS
• DVD Release Date: June 29, 2004
• Run Time: 200 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0001ZWLVA
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #195,526 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fair & Balanced, Educational and Interesting, July 8, 2004

By 

Redcoat "Redcoat" (St. Paul, Minnesota United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rebels & Redcoats - How Britain Lost America (DVD)

I am a Revolutionary Reenactor. This film is a "British perspective" on why they lost. As such it often refers to the "American patriots" as "rebels." It brings forth a number of ironies regarding the Revolution such as the proslavery attitude of Southern patriots. It equally notes atrocities committed by both sides. But despite the fact this movie is focused on the mistakes of the British, it also offers praise to the ingenuity, perseverance, and motivation of the patriots.

Judging from some of the comments in the review section, there are a number of people who do not like the fact that this film is pretty balanced for a movie presenting the British perspective. The assertions that this film highlights American atrocities and ignores British atrocities is simply inaccurate. It portrays British brutality and American brutality on an equal basis. It shows not only how blacks fled to the British in large numbers, but also how many of them were betrayed by Cornwaillis in the end. This film is the perfect complement to most of the American documentaries filmed so far. If you want a fantasy film where the patriots are always the good guys, go watch "the Patriot." If you want to learn the good, the bad and the ugly about the American Revolution and have an expanded knowledge about it, see this film.

On the down side, the uniforms and equipment were a mixed bag. A crisp line of redcoats is sort of ruined when there is a guy with a goofy bicorn hat and long sideburns in the middle. There is a lot for reenactors to criticize in the recreated scenes. My advice is simple, resist criticizing the trees and enjoy the woods. This film does an incredible job at reproducing the flavor of the battles and experiences of the troops from the brutal storming of Breeds Hill to redcoats slogging through southern swamps in waist deep waters. This documentary shows British troops with uniforms adapted for regional campaigns and does an excellent job of recreating battles on what appears to be (through what I suspect are computer effects and clever editing) the actual battle sites. It's just too bad, they didn't go a little further on keeping the uniforms and gear accurate.

A final criticism is that the narrator makes some bizarre political comments at the very end of the program which I am sure will inflame some. Also inflaming are some comments by a goofy American who claims America would have been better off in the long run under British rule. But these comments are offset by others, especially George Neuman talking about the American spirit. I think Americans can judge for themselves how successful or unsuccessful the Revolution was in obtaining its goal of liberty. I think we did pretty good considering the imperfect world we live in.

32 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, August 22, 2004

By 

Dr J (United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Rebels & Redcoats - How Britain Lost America (DVD)

I have mixed feelings about this DVD on the American Revolution. On the positive side, the use of reenactors was good. Generally, PBS does uses reenactors much less than A&E (and its sister companies)and Discovery. This DVD was quite refreshing in that respect. I also very much enjoyed certain characters talking to the audience. I like this technique in historical documentaries. It cuts up the monotony of listening to a narrator and makes history come alive. Great job here. However, the battle scenes were small--only a handful of reenactors showed up on filming day, so we see the same few guys again and again. Also, the use of guys with beards seemed odd. Nevertheless, you work with what you have.

As far as the presentation goes, the narrator is the star of the show. He is on screen way too much. It's 'interesting and valuable to see how some of the old sites, e.g. Breed's/Bunker Hills, Old North Church, etc. look today, but I really don't care to see the narrator traveling around in his car, playing with his radio. I felt that the film crew just followed this guy around on his vacation with a camera. And I cared even less to see MODERN New Yorkers (I think they were) going about their business. At least show me some painting from the 18th century.

On to the content. This DVD is supposed to be from the British perspective. This is a welcome idea. I felt that it was very balanced, but too much so! I didn't get any sense of what the British, in 1776 or now, thought/think about the American Revolution (of course, there is the usual "loudest yelps of freedom from slavedrivers" quote, but so what? That really doesn't tell us much). I also didn't care for the narrator interviewing random people on a bus. That looked more like something from Leno's "Jaywalking" segment.

Well, why did the British lose the war? The only thing that came through was that they "didn't win the hearts and minds of the people." Well blow me over with a feather!! I want to know what policies and practices, both from the generals and in London, led the British to defeat. What could they have done differently? Who was making the policy in London? What forces influenced his decisions? Could we have spent a few minutes watching a reenactment of a debate or council or the Prime Minister even working out things in his own mind? That would have been made this a great presentation.

Quite honestly, there's not much new here. I would recommend A&E's or Discovery's Revolution sets (not PBS's Liberty, though). They go into much more detail. This set could be cut by half and we wouldn't miss anything. I've criticized a lot, and my criticisms are valid. However, the show gives good information, but it could have been a whole lot better.
Fritz Juengling PhD

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent documentary, though not for the biased viewer!, July 24, 2009

By 

L Gontzes (Athens, Greece) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rebels & Redcoats - How Britain Lost America (DVD)

Rebels and Redcoats: How Britain Lost America provides the British perspective vis-à-vis the American Revolution. Professor Richard Holmes does an excellent job of shedding light on little known aspects of the American War of Independence thus providing a more pragmatic, realistic, and in effect a more truthful account of events during the 1775-1783 conflict than what has been generally shown to-date. The documentary is divided into four parts dealing with as many aspects of and visiting as many geographic regions of the conflict as possible. Subsequently, the documentary provides valuable insight into a very important period of English (American and British) History.
Specifically: We get a taste of the different attitudes and mentality of English North American colonists during the war along with their wavering support for one side and the other (the Loyalist American English and the Continental American English respectively).
Moreover, the documentary presents the clash within the British side (i.e. the personality clashes-Clinton vs. Cornwallis, the admirals, etc.).
In addition, one truly recognizes and appreciates the involvement of French King Louis XVI (beginning in 1778) and the French contribution (who along with the Spaniards in 1779 and Dutch in 1780 entered the war in opposition to Great Britain, and tipped the scales against King George III.
Furthermore, there is special mention of the 100,000 American Loyalists that were forced into exile as well the Continentals' treatment (or mistreatment) of slaves and Indians alike.
As a result, Rebels and Redcoats: How Britain Lost America is a daring documentary, which shatters more than a few misconceptions, deliberate and not, surrounding attitudes towards the American War of Independence, and provides for accurate, valid and often unpleasant or painful historical truths.
In short, Rebels and Redcoats: How Britain Lost America is a documentary definitely worth watching, and one to seriously consider adding to your movie collection, along with films such as Benedict Arnold: A Question of Honor (Aidan Quinn and Kelsey Grammer), The Crossing (Jeff Daniels), and Revolution (Al Pacino). 5 Stars