sons of liberty

[snidervolley]

been watching the first episode of sons of liberty ,
fun but there seems to be a lot of modern language with a sprinkling of old English and I feel it went over the top litterly when they chase sam adams on the roof top chase ( flat leather sole shoes on a slick boston roof top would have lasted one step , not the ongoing chase like crouching tiger hidden dragon ) despite all this I give it a thumbs up and should watch as there al kinds of cool details that where captured .

 

[elhombreconnonombre]

I liked it when ol Ben Franklin called Sam Adams ideas "bat sh-t". But he agreed with it.
So are all those colonial and British troops trained extras, reenactors?

 

[rcmodel]

I tried to watch it.

Turned to another channel about 1/2 hour in.

Revisionist history, bad acting, and worse casting.

And who new Sam Adams was a Parkour practitioner?

rc

 

[Steel Horse Rider]

I haven't watched it but my dentist told me this morning that he turned it off because he felt they had made the Tea Party into a soap opera.......

 

[snidervolley]

omg two more episodesandthey have done what they pleased with facts .

 

[frontiergander]

Did john adams really act like a cup cake the way this actor portrays him in the series?

 

[Crawdad1]

I gave up on these history channel special 'movies' a long time ago. Amateurish at best, down right silly at its very least.

 

[snidervolley]

at lexington green they are screaming insults at the british open fire in volleys , when they actually got shot on the run hightailing it out of there

 

[Loyalist Dave]

IF YOU LOOK at the photo that began the thread...

British soldiers didn't wear black neck scarfs, they wore black cloths under their collars.

They didn't wear the white leggings, they wore black, half-gaiters (half leggings sorta)

They didn't carry the 3rd Model Bess, adopted in the Napoleonic era after 1800 (if you look at the brass oposite the lock the "J" shape gives it away)

They didn't carry the muskets like WWI privates shouldering 03A3 Springfields



Further:
In one of the show's scenes they thow a British flag from a window or a rooftop...it's the Union Jack...adopted in 1801.

NOW if OSCAR MAYER can make a commercial where Paul Revere tells a guy to eat the proper snack, and Revere in the commercial HAS A PROPER CANDLE LANTERN to the 18th century....WHY CAN'T THE FREAKIN' HISTORY CHANNEL do it's job? :banghead:

LD

 

[snidervolley]

john hancock acts like wofgang amodaues mozart in that movie

 

[RonC]

I found the show to be so bad that my attention was focused away from the historical themes and onto the poor performances, poor production, ridiculous caricatures of people like Hancock, and the forced theme of the tough young guy who was going to take on the evil Empire singlehandedly (Sam Adams sulking in the shadows).
It has devolved into the TV cliche of the good looking, impetuous, intemperate tough guy who is going to beat the daylights out of all the stereotypically evil bad guys. Sam Adams was a Han Solo (Star Wars) or John Wayne cowboy time warped into the revolutionary war period.
John Hancock is made to be a clueless buffoon and an effeminate clown in some of the worst acting I have seen in a long time.
Of course there is the attractive and slighted young lady to lend spice.

The language was dumbed down to use modern colloquialisms (like bats...t, as mentioned before) so supposedly the clueless viewer could understand. Ben Franklin saying to Sam Adams "You are living in a fantasy world" - ridiculous! And the production? When Sam Adam's buddy in the tavern is hit with the butt of a British rifle, the execution of the strike was so poorly done that my wife laughed at the scene.
Maybe it is just me being hyper-critical and harsh, but I was very disappointed.
Ron

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

It would appear that the "History" channel took some liberties with this production...

 

[72coupe]

I enjoyed it for what it was. It didn't replace the version that I learned in school.

 

[Officers'Wife]

I enjoyed it for what it was. It didn't replace the version that I learned in school.

What about the people that never heard this mentioned in school?

 

[Ephraim Kibbey]

Even without school, those of us who saw Disney's Johnny Tremain in 1957 know what happened. Then we had the Swamp Fox and the Grey Ghost. That was HISTORY TV at its best.

 

[snidervolley]

the very first painting of Lexington green (carving ) came closest ,showing the few (not hundred + as movie) turning and fleing from an over welming professional army ,not screaming obsenties and threatinening them ?

 

[togterry]

If people are turning to television and expecting to get an education this country is in worse shape then I thought. It is not a documentary. It is called entertainment. If you want to learn history go to school or read a good history book. The Revolutionary War is an incredible moment in history. Television is entertainment and that is what the series is for. Nothing more.

Better yet go to an Appleseed - that is where you will get the facts - not television.

 

[Ephraim Kibbey]

But a movie is NOT entertaining when everyone knows it is wrong. Look at how weird adaptations of beloved books are adversely received by the public. The audience goes in with a certain mind set expecting to see dramatized what they read and are angry when they see something else.

 

[splattergun]

It was a fun watch, but I had to laugh at some of the myths it perpetuated. Such as Paul Revere completing his ride to Concorde. Sam Adams, though instrumental in forming the resistance, was in no way as thoroughly to blame for the Revolution as the movie depicted.
It was interesting how different Brit regiments varied in their uniforms. Some wore black leggings, some black, some neck wraps, some not.

That pic in the OP is not truly representative of the way the muskets were carried in most scenes. Usually, it was a 2 handed carry.
But love those Brown Bess!

 

[MartinS]

I'll count it a success if it gets folks who don't begin to know what you all do interested in the whole enterprise of taking freedom and keeping it.

 

[rcmodel]

Some wore black leggings, some black, some neck wraps, some not.

Well, how else were the British supposed to tell the SAS guys, from the SEAL Team 1 members, from the Regular Army guys?

rc

 

[elhombreconnonombre]

So what is the purpose of the black neck wraps/face masks/bandanas?

 

[Palehorseman]

I tried to watch it.

Turned to another channel about 1/2 hour in.

Revisionist history, bad acting, and worse casting.

And who new Sam Adams was a Parkour practitioner?

rc

Ditto here too. Found it stupid and boring and of no historical value,

 

[Loyalist Dave]

If you want to learn history go to school or read a good history book. The Revolutionary War is an incredible moment in history. Television is entertainment and that is what the series is for. Nothing more

So you think that a company called The History Channel that intentionally messes up history, isn't committing a fraud since they are on TV, and you're OK with that?

When TV shows offer a differing viewpoint on facts and circumstances, they put up a disclaimer of "The opinions presented in this program are those of the speakers, and do not necessarily represent the opinions or positions of the station airing this program". THC tried to do that on their website, calling it "historic fiction"....um...it's either history, or fiction, not BOTH...that's an oxymoron...UNLESS you present fiction from the past, like a Shakespeare play...then that's "historic fiction".

So what is the purpose of the black neck wraps/face masks/bandanas?

It allowed the Costumer to go home early on a Friday, and to start Happy Hour... in reality, they wore neck stocks, which for the British by the time of the Revolution were simply a uniform item, no real application.

LD

 

[snidervolley]

read now we are enemies by thomas fleming , excellent book on bunker hill and the relationships beteween all involved (s/b/made into a movie as the descriptions of the british attacking are phenominal