John Adams Blu-ray

HBO

Jun 22, 2009 Web Exclusive By Nick Hyman Bookmark and Share

HBO’s big, blustery miniseries adaptation of Pulitzer Prize-winning author David McCullough’s biography of Founding Father John Adams has arrived on Blu-ray. The already impressive miniseries looks incredible in high definition; its stunning production values shining brightly, as do the award-winning performances by Paul Giamatti (as Adams) and Laura Linney as his wife Abigail Adams. The excellent supporting cast—that includes Tom Wilkinson as Ben Franklin, David Morse as George Washington, Stephen Dillane as Thomas Jefferson, and Danny Huston as Samuel Adams—are uniformly great; the series actually makes you feel like you’ve entered a time machine and are watching these real events unfold.

The Blu-ray DVD edition contains all of the extras from the previously released DVD edition (a good making-of and a great profile of McCullough), but also includes extra facts in the best extra called Facts are Stubborn Things, an on-screen historical guide that give the viewer extra context and facts from the scenes they’re viewing. History lessons are rarely this entertaining and engaging, as the violence and idealism of this nascent period of American history are beautifully rendered. (www.store.hbo.com)

Author rating: 9/10

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Average reader rating: 9/10

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