I knew something was off right from the start, as this film opens in 1774 and portrays James Madison as a member of the Virginia Assembly. Uh, that is incorrect. Madison was never a member of the House of Burgesses before it was dissolved. This would be only the first of a tidal wave of inaccuracies, misleading anecdotes and half-truths that populate this 20 minute mess of a short. It's kind of remarkable how much they got wrong in so brief a time.
Here are more lowlights:
- The Virginians are shown rallying to the support of Boston after it was learned the British closed the port there and suspended some civil liberties. This is true enough, but it's portrayed as if the British did this solely because they are evil and despotic. No mention is made of the Boston Tea Party, which occurred in December 1773, and which was the reason why the British took those punitive actions. To watch this, the British did it because they hate Americans and that's all.
- British troops are shown trashing property and printing presses in Boston. Nothing is mentioned, however, of the Sons of Liberty "tarring and feathering" Loyalists, or of their destruction of several houses of government officials. The Sons of Liberty mob "destroyed Royal Governor Thomas Hutchinson's furniture, wrecked the garden, tore out the windows, walls, wainscoting, tiles and even tore down the cupola on the roof" of his house. But eh, let's not talk about that lol.
- The "Fairfax Resolves" of 1774 and the "Virginia Declaration of Rights" of 1776 are represented here as being one document. Not so fast guys.
- The film shows Governor Dunmore dissolving the House of Burgesses and then stealing the colony's gunpowder virtually on the same day. In reality, the House was dissolved in June 1774 and the gunpowder wasn't seized until April 1775. The film also shows Patrick Henry's "Liberty or Death" speech given as a response to the seizing of the gunpowder, but again, wrong. That speech was delivered in March of 1775, a full month before Dunmore ordered the gunpowder seized.
- The flag of the Culpeper Minutemen is shown at this juncture but that militia didn't form until July 1775.
- The pistol 'booby trap' set in the powder magazine by the "evil" British is a complete fabrication.
I could go on, but I think I've made my point. This short film is an absolute travesty and little represents 'what actually happened.' Adding to the weirdness, George Washington, who was present for many of these events, was never shown in the film; meanwhile, James Madison, who wasn't, is given a prominent place. I'm awarding it a few stars for the early use of color, the costumes, and what appears to be location filming in Colonial Williamsburg. The rest is just terribly misleading and inaccurate 'history.'
3/10. Would I watch again (Y/N)?: Definitely not. And contrary to what another reviewer wrote, our kids should not watch it either, lest they become as uneducated as we.
