Sons of Liberty (2015)

I loved all three movies. I love history. After watching the series I felt and understood the struggle and pain the colonists endured and what drove them to declare independence.It's one thing to know history and another thing to totally feel the desperation they endured. I also loved the characters. This was so well done. I wished the characters could have gone on to continue the struggle. You could have made it a series like Rome and people would have eaten it up.

I consider the true history of the American Revolution, and the establishment of our present Constitution, as lost forever; and nothing but misrepresentations, or partial accounts of it, will ever be recovered. (John Adams) Never was that quote so true as with this pathetic, over reaching example of the American revolution in film. I missed it on Television so I purchased the set on Amazon. I watched part 1 and some of part 2. I was literally cringing and screaming at my TV. So as not to have debris spread all over my living room for taking a hammer to it I calmed myself long enough to toss the garbage into the trash. In case my views are not clear. The makers should be tarred and feathered. At least then they could claim that they have some knowledge of what it was actually like to live during that time. As it stands now, its clear the producers haven't a single clue.

"Sons of Liberty" pretends to be a dramatization of the first stages of America's War of Independence. The story chooses to revolve around an actual historical figure, Samuel Adams, as it follows his actions in stirring up a rebellion. The show is fraught with problems, however, not the least of which, as so many have pointed out, its complete lack of any sort of historical accuracy. The writers make fast and loose with the facts, until we feel more like we are watching an episode of 24, with Ben Barnes playing the lead role of Jack "Sam Adams" Bauer ... only set in 1770 rather then the present day. The awarded the show 4 stars mostly because of the elaborate sets and costume design. The musical score is also well done, and carries the show along nicely. The show misses on all other fronts, including writing, acting, directing, casting, and most of all, any sense of historical credibility. I believe it was a huge mistake to centre the show on a figure like Samuel Adams, when anyone with access to a computer or smart phone can look him up on Google and find that he was absolutely nothing like the character portrayed. Immediately, the audiences sympathy for the main character evaporates, as we find we are watching a complete sham. Better to have chosen an unknown character who viewed events from perhaps an inner circle, but who's name is not known today. Samuel Adams, and all the rest of the characters for that matter, could then have been portrayed more realistically. Another major gaff on the part of the writers was to portray the British as such unsavoury villains. The British, in truth, did none of the things the the show has them doing, other then the contrived version of the Boston Massacre, which loses all credibility when it has Sam Adams clubbing a British soldier into submission at its conclusion. The reasons for revolution are demeaned by this type of sensationalism, and the real heart of the matter, the lack of freedom to govern their own lives and land, and the pillaging of the colony for profits for England, get lost behind the mythical house raids and fictitious mass arrests.The acting is some of the worst that I have seen in some time, I think because of the horrible miscasting of so many characters. Ben Barnes is a bit of a Keanu Reeves look-alike, with acting skills on about the same level. He says his lines, goes through the motions, makes stern or happy faces, but none of it is terribly believable. John Hancock plays an astute New World businessman like an effeminate hair dresser. Ben Franklin as the most miscast character of the lot, and a total waste of the tremendous talent of Dean Norris. This show had so much potential, and it is a shame that so much time and money were wasted on this travesty. If you are wise, you will avoid it.

I am 24 years old, and this is one young viewer who is so disappointed. You would think based on the fact it's a history channel production, we would get the utmost accurate depiction (with all its resources) of how our Founding Father's lived and sacrificed for our independence. WRONG. It looked like a College kid on shrooms wrote and directed this movie. The previews got me pumped for what I thought would be a rebirth of the HBO Series John Adam's, but with the evil cousin's side of historical events. Like the John Adam's Series, I was hoping to be transported into history as if I were in a time Machine; looking into a window of the our countries past. I didn't get transported, it felt like a Soap Opera. It seemed like the sets were recycled from Pirates of the Caribbean, or even Pirates (Yes the porno). What truly got me was the fact the actors who were suppose to portray our founding fathers, was so inaccurately casted, such as Sam Adams he is suppose to be 45 years old and we end up with a younger version that, I half expected him to break into a musical, because they made him look like he should be in The Backstreet Boys "Vintage Style." It's like the casting crew was also on shrooms the day they hired the actors, because I don't see any other excuse for the horrible job. I later found out that it was a historical fiction story, but don't get me started on that one. If we compare this to the patriot also a historical fiction, you would be better off re-watching that instead. Don't buy this on demand you will get ripped off. I only watched the whole thing, because I paid for it, and the whole time I was looking forward to the credits. Cried when I finished the John Adams Series, because I wanted more. I was hoping that this series would help feel that void, but no Banana :(