Rating: 
Summary: Interesting and educating!
Review: One of the best musicals ever made in my opinion. I learned a lot from this movie. This was not just a fun experience but also indeed a learning as well. Movies main characters are John Adams and Benjamin Franklin. It basically illustrates how it was they who were behind the approval of the Declaration of Independence. The musical is over all funny with very interesting twist of seriousness of the situation. As being a foreign student in the United States I found it very useful in terms of crash course on the Declaration of Independence.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Musical But . . .
Review: I think this is an excellent musical about the writing of the Declaration of Independence and the struggle to get all 13 colonies to agree on it. The acting is excellent with William Daniels as John Adams seemingly alone leading the charge to rebel. While Howard Da Silva's Benjamin Franklin is well portrayed, Ken Howard's portrayal of Thomas Jefferson is weak. I don't know whether this is due to Howard's lack luster performance, the director, or the writers, but I must say I expected more and better about Thomas Jefferson who (to judge by this movie) could not write the Declaration until after he slept with his wife! Richard Henry Lee appears to be a comic book character rather than some believable patriot intent on revolution. Richard Henry Lee is boisterous, loud, and offensive - like some television peddler in a commercial or a ring master announcing the greatest show on earth and not a movement which will change the course of history. I also think John Dickinson is made out to be more of a villian than he actually was. Books I have read portray Dickinson's objection to the Declaration well enough, but they have him supporting the United States nonetheless.The music and lyrics by Sherman Edwards are very well done but not particularly inspiring. I was hoping for some adaption of local folk songs, similar to what Aaron Copland did in his masterpiece: Applachian Spring. All my complaints considered, I still give this musical four stars because of Daniel's and Da Silva's performances. I own one copy and ordered another for my family. The movie tends to give flesh and blood to those people who help create America; people we think of as mere shadows of history.
Rating:
Summary: Where's the missing song 'Cool, Cool ,Men'
Review: They released the extra footage, not originally released in 1972, on the laserdisc that is out of print, lets have it on dvd or vhs, it has "Cool Cool Men" ,a pivitol song in the play.
Rating:
Summary: Obnoxious and Disliked? I Think NOT!
Review: It's not often to hear an uplifting story about America's past but 1776 goes down as the most entertaining history lesson in both cinema and theatre history. It's difficult to keep a story, let alone a history story, on a equillibrium with wonderful comedic moments along with moving and catchy tunes. Not to mention the appealing and inspirational performances by Daniels and Da Silva (Who was perfectly cast as Franklin.) and also the excellent cinematography emphasizing on each character's emotional depth during each sililoquoy. The crowning glory being Rutelidge's salute to slavery "Molasses to Rum." And the script manages to simplify the events in congress and as stated before managed to keep us laughing and also gives us the drama the came with all the problems that the founding fathers had with their colleagues. I garantee that this wonderful musical is not just for your history teacher do yourself a favor and watch something with style and dignity and watch this film
Rating:
Summary: great yet human in 1776
Review: 1776 is a wonderful movie. I love history and I especially enjoy it when the human side is portrayed. Seeing this video answered some questions I had wondered about for years such as why slavery was not meationed in the declaration of independence and why all colonies had to vote for independence and not just a majority and why had the fighting in the American Revolution been going on for more than a year prior to the declaration of independence. The peformances of William Daniels and Howard Da Silva were delightful. They along with others in the cast brought an aliveness to our founding fathers. Often times we see just the inamimate portrayal of them. While I doubt very much that John Adams, Ben Franklin and others did break out in song and dance during congressional sessions most of what what portrayed in this movie is real. There were emotions of anger, humor, frustration, and resolve. And afterall it is a musical. If you want to learn more about how our nation battled for its independence and want to see life in the great yet very human players of the American Revoultion this is worth your viewing time...again and again!
Rating:
Summary: 1776 needs DVD...
Review: Wow! This is a great musical only, as pointed out below, it needs to be restored to it rich brilliance and brought to us unadulterated on DVD. What better movie for the 4th of July (or any time of year for that matter) then this historical gem. DVD please!
Rating: 
Summary: suffers from pan & scan
Review: The previous review (June 10) was very helpful. I especially endorse his point about the need for the movie to be in widescreen, which apparently doesn't yet exist. 1776 is a prime example of how much of the picture we're missing with pan & scan format. When I first saw it in the early 70s, it seemed too solemn and flag-waving for its day - and it still should be viewed with a critical eye for what it does and doesn't admit - but it's held up surprisingly well and does a very graceful job with a subject not readily lending itself to a musical.
Rating:
Summary: Revolutionary "1776" undergoes a rocky crossing to film
Review: When first produced on Broadway in 1969, "1776" was both artistically innovative and politically liberal. On the one hand, it abandoned the traditional chorus, avoided the "song-every-five-minutes" approach to musical structure--the Congressional debate is, in fact, the longest scene *without* a song in musical comedy history--and reduced both female characters and romance to a minimum. On the other, it deliberately undermined the "great man" approach to the Revolution, suggesting instead that true heroism lay in the ability of flawed human beings to rise to a momentous occasion. The show has survived as a minor classic largely on the strength of Peter Stone's fine book; Sherman Edwards' songs, while intriguingly eclectic--everything from traditional Broadway showstoppers like "The Lees of Old Virginia" to Irish melodies like "Momma, Look Sharp"--and carefully suited to the dramatic occasion, have not always worn so well. There are some occasional dramatic imbalances, with minor characters who suddenly take center stage and then vanish just as quickly, but the structuring is mostly tight. The film version, helmed by the Broadway production's director Peter Hunt, aims to be completely faithful to the stage version--an approach with serious pluses and minuses. On the plus side, we get to see several veterans of the stage production, including William Daniels as Adams (repeating a now-legendary performance), Howard da Silva as Franklin (particularly nice, since his understudy Rex Everhart sang the part on the original cast album), and John Cullum as Rutledge. On the downside, however, several performances come off as unintentionally campy. This is most annoyingly the case with poor Ron Holgate, whose Tony-winning performance as Richard Henry Lee doesn't translate well from stage to film--not because he does anything "wrong," but because the character's no-holds-barred flamboyance is too "big" for the screen. (On the other hand, Holgate--a great singer with only one other film to his credit--is in much better voice here than on the cast album.) Moreover, too much of the dialogue sounds too obviously "stagy." The direction has similar problems, particularly in the songs. "Molasses to Rum" comes across as a singer performing a song instead of a congressman orating; only "But, Mr. Adams"--with its ingenious use of a staircase, Ken Howard's height, and a quill pen--really transfers well to the screen. Jack Warner's infamous hatchet job on the editing doesn't help matters, particularly since he eliminated the conservatives' song along with some rather important dialogue from the debate scene. The video transfer suffers, too, from a ghastly pan-and-scan; Hunt used every square centimeter of the original wide screen, so that in the video characters regularly vanish from scenes. Those with access to laserdisc players will want to look at the restored widescreen version, which replaces almost all of the "lost" footage and, perhaps more importantly, all of the picture.
Rating:
Summary: Sit down, John
Review: This is one of the best screen adaptations of a musical to come along in a long while. William Daniels is superb in reprising his Broadway role as the agravating and endearing John Adams. Most of the Broaway cast does repeat their roles,with the notable exception of John Cullum as Edward Rutledge. His "Molasses to rum" is one of the outstanding moments in the film. It may be stretching the facts a bit,but its a good way to get your history lesson!
Rating:
Summary: History comes alive
Review: Despite this being a musical, it is one of the most realistic cinematic treatments of this period of history. The Founding Fathers, usually thought of as some kind of cardboard icons cut from a historical textbook, are delightfully portrayed as regular people with faults, fears, humor, and sexuality. Franklin and Adams are the perfect comedic team, trading barbs with each other as they try to start an unlikely revolution--probably not too different from how it really happened. The Revolutionaries were just that--more rebellious scoundrels than the revered nobleman they have come to be thought of today. William Daniels as Adams gives one the finest performances of his career, one that is often overlooked for his work on TV. To me it's his signature role. Amazingly, the film is always interesting even though we know how it's going to end. We all know that the Declaration of Independence was passed by the colonies, but what's interesting is how it got there despite what initially seemed to be impossible odds. The songs add much to the humor of the show. Not only is it a laugh seeing these historical characters break into song and dance, but also the lyrics are quite clever and music memorable. There are also a good number of more dramatic songs, and a moving love ballad between John and Abigail Adams, with lyrics taken from their actual letters to each other. The "Momma Look Sharp" number, an anti-war song about a mother searching for her dead son, is an obvious allusion to Vietnam considering the picture was made in 1972. Unfortunately, the movie released on video is a cannibalized version, missing about 40 minutes of footage that was deleted by Jack Warner after initial screenings to cut down on the length of the picture. Bits and pieces are cut from several scenes and songs, but the most damaging deletion is the entire song "Cool Considerate Men" which kind of explains the antagonist position, and when omitted much of the subsequent action loses impact and sometimes doesn't even make sense. Also, it was shot in wide screen cinemascope, using full advantage of the wide frame, so it doesn't transfer too well to pan and scan TV format--entire characters are lopped off the edges of the frame, especially in "The Egg" number--the interaction among Adams, Jefferson and Franklin sitting side by side is completely ruined. So if at all possible, see the complete widescreen uncut picture available on laserdisc. Once you see the uncut version it will really be hard to watch the edited pan and scan video version. The laserdisc even has a newly remixed stereo surround soundtrack--something that wasn't even heard in the original theatrical presentation. Avoid network TV screenings, as they edit it even more, seemingly attempting to sanitize the characters and reverting it to the old boring history book portrayal. Hopefully, Sony will release the complete version soon on DVD and video. Maybe they need a little encouragement from movie lovers.
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