Rating: 
Summary: The stuff DWEMs Are Made Of
Review: THE FOUNDING FATHERS is almost certainly the most fascinating and entertaining cinematic saga of the American Revolution. Related with poignancy and depth as a story of men - with all of their human foibles - rather than of icons, it is told with much greater candidness than the usual pedantic chronicle. This stirring account of American's finest hour is presented as a tapestry of the lives of the great, but very human, men woven together with the momentous events they created - events that still shape the destiny of this Nation. It is true, as one other reviewer mentions, that this is not a typical historical narrative: it has no plot and, at times, may seem somewhat disjointed. Given its brevity, and the nature of the material it treats, this is probably inevitable. The American Revolution was, after all, a congeries of events covering an extremely large area, full of the utmost diversity, at a time when the fledgling United States of America was in turmoil. Also, a presentation of this type must be extremely selective, which THE FOUNDING FATHERS is. Nevertheless it depicts brilliantly how the unique personalities of the Founders made possible the astonishingly unlikely series of events that permitted a handful of disorganized colonies to wrest their freedom from, arguably, the greatest military power of the time. If you like history, or if, having managed to escape the mindless America-bashing so prevalent today, you harbor even a vestige of patriotic feelings for the USA, you will not be disappointed by this series.
Rating: 
Summary: Well worth watching despite the annoying commentators.
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Well worth watching despite the annoying commentators.
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: A great show about America's greatest story
Review: This four hour series about the Founding Fathers is truly excellent. It is extremely well written and the actors like Hal Holbrook and James Wood are wonderful! You really get a sense of what these men might have been like. It's also fascinating to see how much they are like today's politicians - both good and bad.I highly recommend it to anyone with a kid studying American history.
Rating:
Summary: Great way to learn.
Review: This helped to shine an unexpected new light on our heritage.... Definetly more real than the way it was presented to me in my youth.
A good additional learning tool.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Primer
Review: This is an excellent primer on the men who founded the United States. It is one of my favorite History Channel series. The stories told are intriguing and they did a good job of connecting the stories to the people in a way that you don't get lost as they jump from one person to another. The only reason I did not give this 5 stars is because 4 hours simply is not long enough for the subject matter. However, if you aren't looking for all of the details, but just want to gain a better appreciation for them then I would highly reccommned this set.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Primer
Review: This is an excellent primer on the men who founded the United States. It is one of my favorite History Channel series. The stories told are intriguing and they did a good job of connecting the stories to the people in a way that you don't get lost as they jump from one person to another. The only reason I did not give this 5 stars is because 4 hours simply is not long enough for the subject matter. However, if you aren't looking for all of the details, but just want to gain a better appreciation for them then I would highly reccommned this set.
Rating:
Summary: A good overview
Review: This is definitely an entertaining series on the founding fathers. Very well produced. The series goes into the lives of several of the early patriots and shows how events drew them together and how they were able to make it all work. While the DVD is certainly worth watching, I found myself wishing it had more hard facts. But that's a personal preference. They spent a lot of time on the personal lives but not as much on the actual historical things they did. But it's a minor complaint to be honest. I think both students and parents will learn a lot about our country through this set and perhaps - perhaps - gain a great appreciation for how truly remarkable the United States is and why we should care about the course this country is heading into.
Rating:
Summary: History, As Good As It Gets-Pure & Simple
Review: We often think of historical documentaries as a bunch of boring pictures with a cracked voice describing events like a list. This is however something very different. It tells the story of how we (USA) became a country through independence and the formation of a constitution as a true yet still continiously fasinating story. The history channel does that by telling the COMPLETE BACKGROUND (like how Franklin was a womanizer, or John Hancock was kind of a rich playboy, Patrick Henry's recitation of Church sermons that developed his speaking and ablities & much more that I encourage you to find out by buying this video) and from that they show you how those past personal experiences influenced all the actions of our founding fathers that resulted in the founding of America. By doing that the history channel allures any viewer to hold there breath and feel the amazement of how as humans such different yet all bright men found a country. And with that along with the hollywood style of clear, realistic-like voices of our founding fathers and with broadway like re-enactments that makes watching this movie feel like watching Braveheart. By shows end any viewer will be off better informed about the true founding of America (I learned so much, I even stumped my 9th grade teacher) and have this great feeling of how lucky we are to be Americans thanks to the amazing contributions of human people (for those overseas, the feeling of how extraordinary America is).
Rating: 
Summary: Good Cover, No Meat
Review: What a waste of time. I wanted to learn about the founding of America, instead I am force-fed moronic "professors" obviously chosen for their willingness to say stupid things. One said he was surprised the Founding Fathers were able to function because they were so drunk, using about four different descriptive slang terms rather than "intoxicated." Another said that John Adams was a candiate for Prozac and implied that the first child he had with his wife may have been illegitimate despite being born 9-10 months after the wedding (married in October, baby born in July). I am so sick of the tripe A&E and the History Channel release. The History Channel used to seem more legitimate than A&E, now it's just the same nonsense. Something calling itself "The HISTORY Channel" should do more than try to revise it. Don't waste your money.
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