Stay Tuned

January 24, 2015

The Daily Star - Stay Tuned

Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/451700

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 17 of 19

The Daily Star, Oneonta, N.Y., Friday, January 23, 2015 18 By Rory MacDonald- Gauthier TV Media G reat things have small beginnings, no matter their origin or purpose. And "Sons of Liberty" shines a new light on perhaps the greatest tale of them all, that of Sam Adams, John Hancock and the rest of the Founding Fathers in their quest to cre- ate the independent country we know today as the United States of America. Be sure to catch the three part mini-series "Sons of Liber- ty," premiering Sunday, Jan. 25, on History, with the remaining episodes airing Monday and Tuesday, Jan. 26 and 27. America: land of the free, home of the brave. It's the for- mer upon which the nation was founded, and History doc- uments its formation in a thrill- ing way. "Sons of Liberty" tells the tale of Samuel Adams (Ben Barnes, "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian," 2008), his cousin John Adams (Henry Thomas, "E.T. the Extra- Terrestrial," 1982), John Han- cock (Rafe Spall, "Pro- metheus," 2012), Paul Revere (Michael Raymond-James, "Once Upon a Time") and oth- ers in their quest for an inde- pendent nation. "From the Boston Tea Party to the Declaration of Indepen- dence, 'Sons of Liberty' will tell the rebellious story of America's greatest fight for freedom," said History execu- tive Dirk Hoogstra in a news release. "History continues its commitment to bring viewers historical drama based on real events that have shaped our past, while capturing the spirit of the time. Adams, Han- cock, Revere, are famous names in our history books, and 'Sons of Liberty' will bring their stories to life." The show is broken into three parts that span three consecutive evenings and fo- cus on a trio of major events leading up to the inception of the United States of America. The first is the Boston Mas- sacre, which took place five years before the birth of Ameri- ca and set the underlying foun- dation of the American's upris- ing. Triggered by the death of a colonist child by a British sol- dier, this event rallied colonists and pushed them towards fur- ther rebellious acts in the name of a free nation. The second event resulted from the British imposing a taxation upon all shipped goods in Boston, specifically tea, much to the dismay of Hancock. As the British were dealing with a surplus of tea in London, they concluded that the best course of action to in- crease profits was to undercut the illegal tea trade across the sea, thus eliminating any profit possible by working class colo- nial citizens. This prompted the famous Boston Tea Party, an event that saw the Sons of Lib- erty and its supporters disguise themselves as Mohawk-Amer- icans and destroy 343 chests of British Tea. The last event, referred to as "Paul Revere's Ride" from Henry Wadsworth Longfel- low's poem of the same name, gave Sam Adams and Han- cock a chance to escape cap- ture by the British Army. As Revere traveled from Boston to Lexington, an all-out war was taking place throughout Massachusetts. Desperate for aid and a shot towards an end-all victory, Hancock, Sam and John Adams traveled to Philadelphia for the Second Continental Congress, hoping to convince other colonies to rally for independence. With Washington serving as head of the Continental Army and Boston surrounded by British troops, it was a do-or-die mo- ment for the eventual red, white and blue. There's also a name that is highly recognizable attached with the project, except this one works behind the scenes. Academy Award-winning composer Hans Zimmer creat- ed the title theme music for the miniseries, padding his al- ready impressive resumé. The German-born producer has struck a chord with audiences for years, composing sound- tracks and scores for more than 150 movies, such as "The Lion King" (1994), "Incep- tion" (2011), "The Dark Knight" (2008) and "Interstel- lar" (2014), and countless TV miniseries, including History's "The Bible." Be sure to catch "Sons of Liberty," premiering Sunday, Jan. 25 with episodes part 2 and 3 airing Monday and Tues- day, Jan. 26 and 27. Ryan Eggold, Michael Raymond-James, Ben Barnes, Rafe Spall and Henry Thomas star in "Sons of Liberty" The birth of a nation History's mini-series 'Sons of Liberty' depicts a classic tale of independence Featurestory

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of Stay Tuned - January 24, 2015