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Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Cool men. Few women. Hot days. Stifling clothes. Knuckleheads and fighters. Cowards and wimps. My observations on this film. More as follows. During filming: post-civil rights era or tail end. During Vietnam War. Poor men's fight. Rich men's game. True in both wars and still true. England was coming back again in 1812. Women lovely gowns. Dog great. Franklin one-liners hilarious. Loved the songs and dances. So many main players have passed away. RIP. Kudos. Great film. A lot really happened. I have a degree in American History. 10/10.

When it was first released, the film was not a box office success. To be fair, though, the studio butchered the film after its debut -cutting more than 40 minutes, including one complete song and parts of several others. Based on the award-winning musical play, 1776 is one of the best-written musicals of all time. Watching the restored director's cut is an entirely different experience from what most people saw in their movie theater.The script humanizes and characterizes the founding fathers in a way never seen before, and seldom seen since. Much of the dialogue is taken directly from the letters and speeches of the characters (written before, during, and after the revolution). There are a few historical inaccuracies and embellishments, but the film by and large tells the true, and often unknown, story of how the Declaration of Independence came to be written.The score, by former history teacher and sometime-popular-songwriter Sherman Edwards is delightful. Contrary to some of the reviews posted here, there are several stand-out songs, including "Yours, Yours, Yours", "He Plays the Violin", and "Momma, Look Sharp". The score and orchestrations evoke the musical styles of the period, and provide a lot of the film's humor. 1776 holds an odd record in the theater world: the longest space of time between musical numbers (over 30 minutes). Some critics have suggested that the show should have been a straight play, rather than a musical, but the songs serve to lighten the mood and energize the storytelling, It would be a lesser show if they were -as evidenced by the very different audience reaction to the highly-edited release version where much of the music was cut. Sadly, the film's soundtrack album was horribly botched, with heavy reverb added to the mix, and has never been available on CD or in digital format. An expanded, remastered release is possible with the remaining sound elements, but not deemed commercial enough to warrant the expense.The cast is uniformly excellent, drawn almost entirely from the original and later Broadway and touring casts of the long-running hit. This is one of the very few times Hollywood allowed most of the principal cast of a Broadway show to preserve their performances on film. William Daniels owns the role of John Adams as few actors have ever owned a role. His scenes with Virginia Vestoff (Abigail Adams) are among the most beautiful and touching ever filmed. Howard DaSilva's Ben Franklin provides a great deal of common sense along with the comedy. He nearly wasn't allowed to do the film, but we are fortunate that he finally got to preserve his wonderful performance. (He had a mild heart attack during the Broadway previews and missed the opening night. Contractually, his understudy, Rex Everhart, got to record the original cast album, while DaSilva actually performed the role during the Broadway run.It is amazing that the film was ever made. 1776 was a virtually all-male musical (there are only two female roles) about history and politics, made at a time when traditional musical films were box-office poison. It had no big names, and no popular song hits. Jack L. Warner is often excoriated for cutting "Cool, Considerate Men", when really he should be lauded for preserving a classic American musical in what must be considered the most faithful film adaptation ever made.

In school we were presented with a stodgy version of history, so 1776 was immediately appealing simply for turning our American saints into human beings.Some of the songs are absolutely delightful, such as The Lees of Old Virginia, and the fairly perfect But, Mr. Adams. The story is involving and the characters well defined. William Daniels has his best role as John Adams, and Howard Da Silva is so perfect as Benjamin Franklin that it's hard to accept anyone else in the role.On the other hand, a lot of the songs are fairly forgettable, and some, like He Plays the Violin, are extraneous, which is a particular issue if your movie is overlong. While the second half is fun, the more serious second half sometimes drags, for all its admirable good intentions in showing the dark side of revolution. And to me, the letter exchanges between Adams and his wife seemed only mildly interesting.Watching the movie, I couldn't help thinking that it parts of it (like Adams and his wife) would probably work better on stage, although that's only a guess.This is well worth watching, but I wouldn't call it a truly great musical.

30 years ago I sat home on a rainy day and discovered my calling. I stumbled upon this great American film and by the time it was over I knew I wanted to be a history teacher. The relationship between Adams and Franklin, the witty song lyrics which actually tell the true story of our quest for independence, and the humorizing of these great men (Yes, I said humorizing!) Throughout the last 28 years of my teaching career, I have often found myself reliving this version of history. William Daniels IS John Adams. Howard De Silva is Ben Franklin. The performances are so right that I hear their voices in my head while I teach. It accomplishes what all great films do. It makes the viewer want to learn more about the subject. I can not recommend this film highly enough.