The '60s

Generally, whenever I watch the networks attempt to depict American History I wind up on the front lawn randomly swearing at autos that pass my house, (until my wife turns on the sprinklers and forces me back inside.) But in spite of a few eye-rolling plot twists and cheesy lines, this is one of the very best docudramas I've EVER watched. Starting with the idealism of JFK, this movie is jam-packed full of references to a plethora of real historical events and personalities that defined the 1960s. Every single event and person is not flagged and explained. If you get it you get it, if you don't you don't. The better-read the viewer is, the more they will appreciate the numerous references. Abby Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Tom Hayden, electric Dylan at Newport, Joan Baez, Martin Luther King, the Lorraine Motel, Wavy Gravy, the Zapruder Film, Bull Connor, Bobby Seale, Black Panther breakfast program, "Soul on Ice," "Free Huey," The Hog Farm, The Gray Line Bus tours of Haight-Ashbury, the Weathermen, The Chicago Seven, Selma, Birmingham, "brown acid," Days of Rage, CO status, Watts riot, Cafe Wha?, Phil Ochs, Kettle of Fish, and on and on and on. If you are extremely literate in the real history of the Sixties you will find a wealth of information awaiting you in this 3 and-a-half hour tour. All right, so "Do You Believe in Magic" wasn't released until AFTER the troop train protest was held in Berkley but that is a minor point to get all steamed up over. Generally this is a feast for the literate student of the 1960s.

As a 17 year old who gets to always hear about the 60s second-hand this movie "took" me to the 60s. I really liked that all the kids in the Herily (sp?) family encompassed many of the kids of that time. One was a Vietnam vet, one an activist against the war, and one a hippie who ends up at Haight-Ashbury and the Hog Farm. From what I have heard this movie is very accurate and even noted the date and year of an event. The black family was great and the idea that they participated in the sit-ins and Freedom marches, and then to live in Watts, LA during the Watts riots was a great idea. I thought the climax was a great mixture of events that took place in 1965. I know there were a lot of stereotypes, but how else would we learn about the 60s with out a movie that encompassed all the feelings, looks, and ideas of the time. I loved the music but was upset that only one song was on there by The Beatles. Obviously, they forgot what an impact the Beatles had on the American culture and leaving it out was a mistake. All the other music was GREAT and I love the song by Bob Dylan and Joan Osbourne. All in all this movie was great. And I hate that people say there was too much romance and love, but hey, it was the 60s. Sex and drugs was a prominent thing in that era. You can't forget it. I give it a 9.5/10, for leaving the Beatles out.

The 60's is a great movie(I saw it completely in one night) about the hippy movement in the late 60's. Although the title would suggest otherwise the first 5 years of the 60's are not really important in this film.

The main character of the movie is Michael,a political activist who goes on the road in the US against the Vietnam-war. There he meets his girlfriend,Sarah.Michael's brother,Brian,goes to Vietnam to fight(what a surprise!).He comes back from the war and changes in a "Tom Cruise Born on the fourth of July" look a like and then into a Hippy.His dad is a pro-vietnam war type of guy(what a surprise!!).Michael's sister Kate gets pregnant from a Rock & Roll artist and runs away from home and goes to San Francisco during the summer of love. The ending is very poor(father becomes a liberal and everybody is happy),but I let this slip away from my vote(the rest of the movie is very good!).

The performances by the actors are pretty good and the soundtrack of the movie is absolutely brilliant. All the main events of the sixties are in the movie,like the murders on JFK and Martin Luther King aswell as the big hippy protests,the summer of love and Woodstock! Look closely for Wavy"Woodstock Speaker"Gravy(What we have in mind is breakfast in bed for 400.000!) as a first aid employee at the Woodstock festival!

In the end,the 60's is a beautiful movie about a beautiful decade! 10/10

Oh well - this series is crap, i mean, absolutely. They should have been awarded for worst script, worst acting, worst interpretation of history, worst use of stereotypes, worst use of a fake mustache in an attempt to duplicate the Tom Cruise of the 4th July - but, miracle!, making him walk - worst cinematography, worst art directing, worst costumes, worst editing, worst leftism (i mean, this is how you lived your '68? You shoulda stayed home! C'mon dude, where's the politics), worst use of Bob Dylan clips (clips from the seventies in a sixties movie?). If you wanna be a die-hard nostalgic hippie substantially not caring about most of the political facets of it, if you can't read a book or you'd fall asleep, if you hate documentaries, if Woodstock to you is a little yellow bird, if you want to see some 80s haircuts misplaced in time, well this might be for you. I mean, Hair was a musical, a fantastic movie, it was not intended to be a portrait of a generation - but hell, it was 1000 times more realistic than this. Hey, if all the people in the USA during the sixties were dumb as the characters of this crap i think at least somebody had a good reason to fly to Vietnam: not hearing anything anymore from dummies country! I guess the sixties were definitely better than this, but, i mean, what was the worst year in the whole history? The less interesting year of all time? I don't know, but put that year in the hands of a medium-level director and he'll do something more enjoyable. Shame on whoever worked on this - none of you did a good job!

I enjoyed the plot, The cast did a great job. If you ever seen Woodstock. This is in your ball park. The soundtrack is just as good as the movie. Julia Stiles proves that she is a great actress, Jerry O'Connell once again has proven his talent as an actor. This is one not to miss. If you did you wish you hadn't.