Rating: 
Summary: Splendid DVD
Review: I'm not sure which DVD the reviewer below was looking at, but at least half of the items she lists are, in fact, in the DVD (at least #4-9 are, and I'm tempted to rewatch the disc again to check out #1-3).Indeed, it's a fine, rich recreation of the film, itself marred only by jarring differences in sound between dialog and music, and some rather clumsy adaptation from stage to screen. The cast (save, perhaps, the soporific Ken Howard) is magnificent, the music wonderful, and the glimpse into American history well worth the price of admission.
Rating:
Summary: Historical Masterpiece
Review: I have been a fan of this show for 25 years, and was always disappointed in the movie theater and VHS version. What a treat to have the entire film restored in this DVD! Finally seeing the entire Scene 3, the time between "The Lees of Old Virginia" and "But, Mr. Adams" is extraordinary. The restoration makes all of the holes I used to see, disappear. For anyone interested in Broadway Musicals, or American History, I recommend that you buy this one today!
Rating: 
Summary: The issue is RESORATION!
Review: 10 years ago Pioneer LD came out with a magnificent restoration of 1776. It included stereo, restored overture and intermission, isolated score minus vocals and restored reprise of "Piddle, Twiddle","Lees of Old Virginia" and of course "Cool Men". Much of the audio commentary was Peter Hunt railing against Jack Warner's cuts and literally whooping over the restored music. Now here comes Peter Hunt to out Jack Warner Jack Warner!. He has "cruelly waged editing, cut reprises of Lee and Piddle, removed chunks of Ray Hiendorf underscoring, overture and intermission gone!..Hunt is a tyrant and shall reamin so whether we say so or not! HE HAS WAGED CRUEL EDITING!" Why should this national treasure suffer such a cruel fate! One wonders why he did not leave in all the bits and let DVD handle all the material at hand. If you know only the VHS tape you MIGHT be delighted but for real fans of this magnificent show who have the Pioneer edition they can only pray that Pioneer will release the laser edition onto DVD the way the Criterion edition of "Spartacus" was released with all of it's laser disc goodies. In the meantime BUYER BEWARE..This is NOT the restored 1776. SHAME ON PETER HUNT AND PETER STONE. Jack Warner is probably laughing like hell in his grave over this Digital Video Disaster!
Rating:
Summary: "1776" on DVD - Worth the Wait
Review: Having seen most of the Broadway cast in the national road company production at the Schubert Theater in Chicago in the early 1970's, I've been hooked by "1776" ever since. I somehow missed the movie when it was first released, and suffered through the truly awful pan-and-scan/mono version released on VHS and shown on TV/cable over the years. Having now viewed the Sony DVD version three times since I got it a few days ago, I can honestly say it was worth the wait. The image quality is excellent for a film made 30 years ago and the previously muddy film sound quality is greatly improved. And best of all, you can finally see everything the director intended with the widescreen format. True, the commentary is a bit irritating at times, but we should remember that lots of folks tend to ramble a bit when they recall events from decades ago, and actually some of the tidbits mentioned were truly interesting. (...) "1776" on DVD is a must-have for Broadway musical fans and history buffs, who can now toss the obnoxious VHS version.
Rating:
Summary: A Broadway gem sparkles brightly once more
Review: As a long-standing admirer of this delightful if improbable Broadway musical hit, I was abashed by the film version even when it opened in theaters, mainly because I missed the witty "Cool, Considerate Men," which had been cut altogether. I chalked it up to the usual Hollywood-just-doesn't-get-Broadway mentality, which often wants Broadway musicals to be a little less, well, musical. Seeing this, um, revolutionary DVD almost blew the top of my head off with sheer joy at seeing so much of the original piece restored once again. Obviously, I loved that we have "Cool, Considerate Men" once again, but I also loved seeing a bit more of Blythe Danner's adorable Martha Jefferson, among other previously truncated treasures. Others already have commented on the excellent restoration job, including the glorious widescreen image that throws some of the supporting performances into startling new relief. And I haven't even listened to the commentary track: This DVD is well worth its price simply for its loving restoration of a musical that has long suffered in a gratuitoously botched version. This will be one of the treasures of my DVD collection, no doubt about it.
Rating:
Summary: Exceptional
Review: I have been familiar with this movie for many years and have been waiting for its release in the DVD format. I was not disappointed and enjoyed the restored footage. It is a clever way of portraying such a key event in our country's history and the strengths and weaknesses of our country's forefathers.
Rating: 
Summary: A Director's Cut--and Definitely CUT!
Review: While 1776 was a masterpiece on stage, it was less than a masterpiece on film, thanks to the presidentially mandated cut of a song that criticized political conservatives--not to mention Jack Warner's foolish meddling in order to placate theatre owners who complained that the film's 180-minute running time would cut one show per day. Consequently, over a half-hour was removed by Mr. Warner, resulting in a good but not outstanding translation of a Broadway masterpiece. A few years ago, a laserdisc release presented the film in its full length at last. True, the reconstruction included work print segments, complete with scratches and even a brief black-and-white cut, but it was wonderful. Now Columbia/Sony heralds this "restored" version, which it is, but all the hype carefully suggests a full-length version, which it isn't. This version, at 166 minutes, still misses 14 minutes, including two reprises and some witty and revealing dialogue. This version even has a different opening title sequence and misses the overture, intermission, and entr'acte. This version is restored only in surface quality--it's pristine--but the film is definitely NOT fully restored. It is many cuts beneath restoration.
Rating:
Summary: This is not the whole movie!
Review: As a few have already pointed out, this version does not contain all of the deleted scenes that were included in the Laserdisc version. I was so angered that I could not watch the whole movie through, despite the superb DVD video quality (the only reason this gets the extra star). I am one of the fortunate few who owns a combo DVD/Laser player and just a few weeks ago watched the 180 minute version of 1776 on LaserDisc. I was so looking forward to the DVD and was terribly disappointed. So much so in fact that I am returning the DVD and getting a refund. As long as I have the truly restored Laser version, I will regretably not be upgrading to the newer format for this, one of my all-time favorite movie musicals. For those of you who have never seen the fully-restored version, this DVD will no doubt please you immensely, just as I enjoyed the old VHS version before I saw the Laser version. However, unless Columbia ever decides to release the longer version of this musical, you may never know what you're missing.
Rating:
Summary: 25 Wonderful Minutes More
Review: I loved the play but only liked the movie in its theatrical release. This DVD restores 25 minutes that were cut out of the movie to return it to be more like the play. But that doesn't mean that it's just a film of a theatrical performance. The camera work in general and the permitted addition of outside shots add even more than the play could possibly have. Included now is "Cool, Cool, Conservative Men" that was supposedly cut out at the request of Richard Nixon. But that still leaves 15+ minutes of other restorations. All are subtle but important. It's also interesting how a mere "musical" breathes life into all the characters, how many layers of what happened are presented, and how nuanced all the performances are. It's too bad that a reissued "director's cut" of a movie can't be considered for more awards. This one deserves it. It also shows how badly this film was butchered for its theatrical release.
Rating:
Summary: Fills in a lot of holes
Review: It's interesting that Jack Warner (The head of Columbia at the time) spent all this money to acquire the film rights to 1776, hired virtually the entire cast and crew for the film and then proceeded to hack it up. Lastly trying to cover his tracks by destroying the negatives. Fortunately, this version restores all of the cuts and also restores the music soundtrack to digital stereo. For some reason the movie was released in mono to theaters and tapes. If you are a fan of the movie and own the VHS, pitch it and buy this. You will NOT be disappointed in the efforts. The DVD extras are sparse and the commentary drags in a few parts but overall the story is VERY much enhanced by restored scenes. There is a lot of discussion about the retsoration of "Cool Considerate Men" but I think equally important is the scene where Rutledge explains what his (and South Carolina's) desires are. Bluntly put, watching it on the DVD helps the movie make more sense about the opposition and why it was there. If you have never seen 1776 and like musicals, you will enjoy it.
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