1776 - HDnet Movies (1973)
Posted: Sat Oct 09, 2004 2:27 pm
John Adams works desperately to get a motion of independence for the 13 colonies on the floor for debate in the Continental Congress during this crucial time period as America awaits the arrival of the British military to keep the colonies under control.
As a musical this was an interesting experience. For me the best part of the movie was the drama leading up to July 4th. Every time the music kicked in I was slightly annoyed and very uninterested. I found only one song memorable; The one about who is going to write the Declaration of Independence. Otherwise most of it seemed out of place and the fact that dialogue intelligibility during the musical numbers was poor did not help. That said, it appears I find myself at odds with others in this respect when looking at the reviews on the IMDB.
While nominated for the 1973 Oscar for cinematography I found this HD presentation was soft all around and similar to others from the era recently reviewed. HD certainly did a good job of presenting excellent color while limiting losses in the 2.35 aspect ratio that was used. I found the images delightful and memorable.
At 2 hours and 45 minutes I am in a quandary to state a recommendation even though it was nominated for the 1973 Golden Globe Award for best picture. I know my wife would have not cared for it. When I was done there was a sense of relief. While one could skip most of the musical numbers all of them provide another aspect to the story you should not miss so in the end I would recommend bearing through them.
I suppose the best way to leave this is like so...
This movie was on my mind for several days afterwards so it was memorable and well executed. If there should be a new release that provides better resolution overcoming the softness of this master I would without a doubt have to see it again. Hopefully they can provide a better response with the soundtrack while they are at it.
As a musical this was an interesting experience. For me the best part of the movie was the drama leading up to July 4th. Every time the music kicked in I was slightly annoyed and very uninterested. I found only one song memorable; The one about who is going to write the Declaration of Independence. Otherwise most of it seemed out of place and the fact that dialogue intelligibility during the musical numbers was poor did not help. That said, it appears I find myself at odds with others in this respect when looking at the reviews on the IMDB.
While nominated for the 1973 Oscar for cinematography I found this HD presentation was soft all around and similar to others from the era recently reviewed. HD certainly did a good job of presenting excellent color while limiting losses in the 2.35 aspect ratio that was used. I found the images delightful and memorable.
At 2 hours and 45 minutes I am in a quandary to state a recommendation even though it was nominated for the 1973 Golden Globe Award for best picture. I know my wife would have not cared for it. When I was done there was a sense of relief. While one could skip most of the musical numbers all of them provide another aspect to the story you should not miss so in the end I would recommend bearing through them.
I suppose the best way to leave this is like so...
This movie was on my mind for several days afterwards so it was memorable and well executed. If there should be a new release that provides better resolution overcoming the softness of this master I would without a doubt have to see it again. Hopefully they can provide a better response with the soundtrack while they are at it.