"Liberty! The American Revolution" (1997) TV series

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

23 November 1997 (USA)

Genre:

History | War

Plot:

Six-hour documentary on the American Revolution, from the passage of the Stamp Act (1765) through the...

Plot Keywords:

Bill Of Rights | American Revolution | U.S. President | American Constitution | Punctuation In Title

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Jane Adams	...	Sara Scott (6 episodes, 1997)
Peter Donaldson	...	John Adams (6 episodes, 1997)
Colm Feore	...	Alexander Hamilton (6 episodes, 1997)
Victor Garber	...	John Dickinson (6 episodes, 1997)
Anthony Heald	...	Philip Vickers Fithian (6 episodes, 1997)
Alex Jennings	...	King George III (6 episodes, 1997)
Mel Johnson Jr.	...	Jehu Grant (6 episodes, 1997)
Stephen Lang	...	George Washington (6 episodes, 1997)
Terrence Mann	...	General John Burgoyne (6 episodes, 1997)
Jefferson Mays	...	James Madison (6 episodes, 1997)
Donna Murphy	...	Abigail Adams (6 episodes, 1997)
Remak Ramsay	...	Thomas Hutchinson (6 episodes, 1997)
Forrest Sawyer	...	Himself - Host (6 episodes, 1997)
Paxton Whitehead	...	Horace Walpole (6 episodes, 1997)
Isiah Whitlock Jr.	...	Luke-Slave (6 episodes, 1997)
Philip Bosco	...	Benjamin Franklin (5 episodes, 1997)
Edward Herrmann	...	Narrator (5 episodes, 1997)
Roger Rees	...	Thomas Paine (5 episodes, 1997)
Campbell Scott	...	Thomas Jefferson (5 episodes, 1997)
Joris Stuyck	...	Johann Ewald (5 episodes, 1997)
Jake Weber	...	Gentleman / ... (5 episodes, 1997)
JD Cullum	...	Nicholas Cresswell (4 episodes, 1997)
Daniel Gerroll	...	General Charles Cornwallis (4 episodes, 1997)
Philip Seymour Hoffman	...	Joseph Plumb Martin (4 episodes, 1997)
Byron Jennings	...	John Hancock (4 episodes, 1997)
Roberta Maxwell	...	Mercy Otis Warren (4 episodes, 1997)
James Naughton	...	Patrick Henry (4 episodes, 1997)
Jamison Selby	...	Southern Patriot (4 episodes, 1997)
Francie Swift	...	Baroness von Riedesel (4 episodes, 1997)
Stephen Temperley	...	Hector de Crevecoeur (4 episodes, 1997)
Steve Zahn	...	American Sergeant (4 episodes, 1997)
Simon Jones	...	Ambrose Serle (3 episodes, 1997)
Mark Letheren	...	British Soldier (3 episodes, 1997)
Neil Maffin	...	Anti-Federalist / ... (3 episodes, 1997)
Kali Rocha	...	Eliza Wilkinson (3 episodes, 1997)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

Colonial Williamsburg, Williamsburg, Virginia, USA

Company:

Middlemarch Films

Soundtrack:

Devil's Dream

Not at all revolting

An outstanding series that doesn't race through or gloss over too much, like a lot of historical documentaries tend to do. Liberty! is well narrated, and features many appearances by actors as notable (and everyday) figures, reading from the diaries, letters and speeches of their characters: Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, Adams, Paine, Hancock, Thomas Hutchinson et al. This use of primary evidence strengthens the validity of the information being presented in narration, and makes the series far more palatable. You also get a 'feeling' for the personalities of these people, and history comes to life a little more than expected. There are also some terrific dramatic reconstructions, and plenty of graphic evidence as backdrops or overlays during the narration.

There are some flaws in the series: George III has a plum-in-gob British accent, when in reality he could barely speak English, and as expected the historical perspective is almost wholly American (there is no consideration to the common argument that the colonists were stubborn and greedy, and refused to contribute financially to the imperial power that had just defended their territory from France). There is a feeling too that a lot of time is dedicated to the course of the war, and not to other key ideas or movements. However these are minor quibbles: the series is generally terrific and a must for students of this historical event.