Cheap 1776 (Restored Director's Cut) (DVD) (Peter H. Hunt) Price

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Customer Reviews of 1776 (Restored Director's Cut)

Better with age
First,a note about closed captioning-an important feature in this household. The DVD has yellow English subtitles which do not interfere with the widescreen viewing and the CC(which we prefer) on our set converts the words wonderfully. Interesting that a recent showing of this film on Turner Movie Classics still does not have the CC available(they are usually very good about broadcasting CC,while boneheaded AMC could care less)-a main reason why we spent the money for the DVD. <
>Much of both the negative and positive criticisms contain truths. It is a bit stilted. Watching historical figures break into song and dance a la Fred Astaire or Gene Kelly takes some getting used to. Comparing this kind of movie musical to the then-current "Cabaret" is a bit unfair. On its own terms and with repeated viewings,this show takes on a life of is own. The idea of keeping many ties to the Broadway version(including director Peter Hunt, choreographer Onna White and Orchestrator Eddie Sauter,ands casting many of the stage actors instead of film stars was probably one reason why the film version sank at the box office but why it glows today. Most of the players here were not overexposed in other projects. Blythe Danner is probably the closest who became a movie star(filmed here while pregnant and carrying future movie star Gwyneth Paltrow),while Daniels,Cullum and Howard achieved success on TV. Da Silva,out of film work for years during the Hollywood Communist blacklisting,steals many a scene as Franklin. And I bet there are few patriots who aren't moved by Daniel's look into the future, "Is Anybody There?",-the sentiments expressed in the song are still true today. <
> A tad too long,yes,but there really isn't anything here that should be left out,especially since Executive Producer Jack Warner tried this and did the wrong thing. <
>People following Daniels career will see lots of inside references to his work in "1776" in future TV projects,"St. Elsewhere" and "Boy Meets World",besides other roles Daniels has taken on portraying members of the real Adams family(I wonder if there are any references in "Knight Rider"?).

Still Great!
I purchased the video to use in my classroom. The students were studying the events leading up to the Declaration. I saw the movie when it was first released during the Bicentennial and loved it. I thought it was a perfect vehicle for my seventh grade class. They enjoyed the movie and were facsinated with the idea of a musical about history. The quality of the production was first rate and I was pleasently surprised at the additional musical number. I wasn't disappointed.