America: The Story of Us (2010)

What a waste of my time!!!

Disturbing yet enthralling

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

Why have commentary from actors, mayors and former mayors? Why not use actual historians even if they have conflicting views? There are no sources cited, only opinion and the constant referring to the Continental Army as a 'band of rebels' reduces the importance of the Continentals to being just blithering rabble-rousers. Paul Revere was a political extremist?... as were John Adam, Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin. Really? Far too much Progressive propaganda in this waste of film for my tastes, especially when the claims made by this series are so easily refuted by reputable sources that go well beyond the dubious opinions presented as fact.This series is a vast waste of time. Try John Adams (the series) or even the fantastic and epic The Patriot (Mel Gibson) as they deal with more fact than the ridiculous show reviewed here in.

I declare an interest. I am British, so take what I say with a pinch of salt, or tea, if you like. The history is more like propaganda for an idea of American history than an assessment of it. For example, General Colin Powell makes the pint that African-Americans fought in the Revolution, on the side of the colonists. True. But it is also true that more of them fought on the British side and for a very good reason. It was clear that the British were moving towards abolishing the slave trade and slavery itself, after the Sommersett case, whereas the colonists were clearly going to keep slavery. In fact the theme of the series is the "story of freedom", or rather the American project to achieve freedom for all, based on individual character, hard work etc. But why did it remain a "project" for so long, rather than the reality? The slaves worked hard, but they didn't get the reward. And the US was the last country but one in the West to abolish slavery, the last being Brazil. The film is no doubt well-intentioned and believes in its own theme. But history is always more complicated than simple narratives can convey. The truth is that the colonists were more concerned with breaking out of the 13 colonies to move West, taking the Indians land in the process. The colonists had been confined to the 13 colonies by the royal decree of George III which declared all other land to be native title. And the southern states fought to preserve slavery. And why contributions from actors such as Michael Douglas? because he played the president in a film? Why not have professional historians, even disagreeing with each other? And it curious that more he positive points are not made: that in the nineteenth century the US was the most democratic country in the world?

This is an excellent series. From it I learned so much about 'where we came from' that I never learned in school in the 60's - and you can bet a lot less than that is being taught in schools today. First let me say that while at least one reviewer frantically objected to some of the modern-day figures who commented on the historical events, and I am not totally crazy about some of their comments, they are but a very small part of this miniseries.From it I actually learned how this country came from a handful of Pilgrims and what their lives were like, to becoming the United States. I learned about people who have long been forgotten and should not be, who endured hardships and gave up their lives that we might live in freedom.Typically we hear in school or historical references just a sentence or two about this or that battle, this or that person. This miniseries brings them to life, tells the how and the when and the where and the why. I doubt that 1/10 of 1% of Americans know even a tiny fraction of where this country came from. "America: The Story of Us" should be required viewing. While one viewer was very upset by comments made by some of the modern-day people which are interspersed here and there, those can all be taken with a grain of salt. The story itself and the historical accounts are superb and gave me an entirely new appreciation for how and why this country came to be, and it is excellent viewing. Watch it with your kids - believe me, they can use this education.

I admit they skipped a lot of the main events in American History, like the Lincoln Assassination and the Kennedy Assassination. Although one thing that this show did have, was they mentioned some stuff that really isn't in the history books, and stuff that some people don't know about, like skyscraper construction, the Hoover Dam, the Statue of Liberty construction, and Mount Rushmore, so in a way it was good, because it had important parts of American History that aren't really mentioned as much. I liked some of the commentators because you actually know who they are, although I think some of them are just there for publicity, like Meryl Streep, Rick Harrison, and Michael Douglas, because they're either popular actors or on popular shows. But some made sense like Donald Trump talking about tobacco farms in the 1600s in Virginia, and Rudolph Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg talking about New York history. Although my favorite commentators were Tom Brokaw and Brian Williams. The ending felt rushed though, like they just wanted to get it done and over with.