User reviews

I waited a long time for this mini-series to come to VHS, and even longer for it to hit DVD! Whenever I see a portrayal of a member of the Kennedy family in film or on TV, this is the film I compare it to, and this film comes out on top every time! Martin Sheen is not JFK's physical twin, but his speech patterns are perfect. Blair Brown delivers the best portrayal of Jackie Bouvier Kennedy you're likely to see, ever. The supporting cast is great, as well. I think only "Thirteen Days" ranks with the supporting cast portrayals, but Sheen's JFK is far and away the best on film!

Anyone interested in the Kennedy clan would enjoy and learn a lot from this film!

This may well be the definitive "Kennedy" film in terms of historical accuracy and honesty, positing forth the best and less-than-best of this so-called Camelot administration. Martin Sheen is, as usual, outstanding in the title role, and his Kennedy not only bares his fallacies but impresses an honest sense of public service. As the former first lady, Blair Brown is nothing less than superb, and her Jacqueline Kennedy is eerily touching, especially with her voiced-over prophecy of her "appointment with death." Together, Sheen and Blair actually generate the sense of youth and glamour that distinquished the real administration. They are more than aptly backed up by a stellar supporting cast headed by John Shea (RKF), E.G. Marshall (Joe Sr.) and the late Vincent Gardenia (as a sinister, throughly unlikeable J. Edgar Hoover). There are apparently two versions on the market: the edited and the unedited. Go for the latter; the former is so badly chopped up that the historical value is lost. My only question: where the heck can I get the original five-hour cassette (and I've looked!)? My other one's worn out! From the scholarship standpoint, this film is an important historical resource.

I watched the Kennedy Miniseries last Saturday on the History Channel. Blair Brown made a perfect Jackie Kennedy in very way but voice. She recreated that presence. I also loved watching Ellen Parker, a New York Stage actress and Guiding Light Emmy Winner as Mrs. Bobby Kennedy. Geraldine Fitzgerald made the perfect choice to play Rose Kennedy in every way. She should have won an Emmy for it. Martin Sheen really perfected the Boston accent and was the perfect choice to play a President many years later on the West Wing. Even Kelsey Grammar had a bit part. I enjoyed Vincent Gardenia's performance as J. Edgar Hoover (They should change the name of the FBI building because of him). I now really believe that he had something to do with the Kennedy assassinations. Overall, the seven hours flew by. Everything appeared near perfect. I am giving it a 9 because I think it could have used some editing but it is still worth watching any day. I also give it a 9 because I think they left out some scandalous activity in the Kennedy family. I think the world loves the Kennedys because they America's unofficial royal family. Now that they are so few of them, it makes us miss them ever more.

Movies about the Kennedy family (miniseries as well) lets face it they are a dime a dozen. People have a never-ending fascination with them and filmakers have always done their best to exploit this said fascination. I remember watching this miniseries in 1983 (it was released on the 20th anniversary of Kennedy's death). I saw it again recently when I was home on leave from Germany. It is the best Kennedy show ever. Martin Sheen is an amazing actor and Blair Brown is equally good as Jackie. The thing I liked best is that Sheen did an amazing job copying Kennedy's accent. Some of the actors who play him don't even bother putting on a Boston accent but Sheen's is flawless. If you had just closed your eyes you would have really thought that was Kennedy talking! He is that good. I particularly liked it when he re-created Kennedy's inagural address (he said many other eloquent things besides ask not what your country can do for you ask what you can do for your country). What was chilling was Vincent Gardenia's portrayal of J. Edgar Hoover. He portrays him as evil as an almost Shakespeare llke villan. They always show him in dark lighting and he speaks in a sinister voice. I remember because he was in a Walt Disney movie I liked called The Last Flight Of Noah's Ark. The other thing that I wanted to mention is the reenactment of the assassination. It is also chilling and makes you realize how horrible it really was. It was like darkness at noon.

I remember when this movie was first aired in 1983 on the 20th anniversary of JFK's assassination. I was fed-up with all the Kennedy-mania at that time and I normally don't care for Martin Sheen. I remember seeing the ads for this movie on TV and I recalled that Martin Sheen had portrayed Bobby Kennedy in The Missiles of October, which was a very dry, 1974 TV movie that I couldn't sit through. Based on those factors, I decided not to watch this one when it originally aired. A few years later it was rerun on the 25th Anniversary of the JFK assassination. Between the time it first aired, and the 1988 rerun, I had seen a TV movie called Hoover Versus The Kennedys – the Second Civil War with Jack Warden and was very intrigued by it so when this one aired in 1988, I decided to watch it, and tape it, and I was not disappointed. As I pointed out, Martin Sheen is not my favorite actor but he is absolutely superb in this mini-series. This mini-series was very well done and has some big name actors in it which you do not normally see in made for TV movies. Historically and objectively, the movie is pretty good. As one reviewer stated, it shows "their warts" as well as their triumphs. A couple of historical mistakes – there are cars from the 1980s seen on the street as Jackie is conversing during a car ride. Also, Ethel Kennedy makes a reference to Marilyn Monroe singing Happy Birthday to JFK during a family event that takes place in 1963. I do not recall which event it was in the movie but Monroe actually died in August 1962 so it could not have happened the way that it is portrayed. Perhaps the writers just had to fit it in where they could. E.G. Marshall was stunning as Joseph Kennedy Sr. and Geraldine Fitzgerald was excellent too. The entire supporting cast was great and I really liked Vincent Gardenia's J. Edgar Hoover. The fact that Hoover's scenes were usually done in low light perhaps portrayed him as more sinister than he was but hey, it's a TV movie. I agree with the other reviewer who calls it "The Best Kennedy movie ever." It is very good. I believe the History Channel now owns it. Definitely worth taking the time to watch.

Whenever I read books about the Kennedys and their Washington contemporaries I sometimes visualize each one as they were portrayed in this excellent mini series.

The casting was ideal. Martin Sheen, in particular, as JFK ... the voice, the look, the mannerisms ... there were times when the archival footage of the man himself and Sheen the actor almost became one.

The story never ceased to be anything other than utterly compelling.

Strong support from the likes of Vincent Gardenia and E.G Marshall ensured success.

Period detail was occasionally allowed to lapse (for example, cars from a much later period could be clearly seen on the roads in several exterior scenes). But generally quite riveting.

I've owned this movie on VHS for some time, and being a Kennedy fanatic, it is one of my all-time favorites. I love Martin Sheen's portrayal of JFK, and Blair Brown's resemblance to Jackie is almost eery. I do wish the writers would have had the courage to actually name Marilyn Monroe and all of JFK's other dalliances; it would have made the film that much more respectable. EG Marshall and Geraldine Fitzgerald's appearances as Joe and Rose Kennedy were right on the money.

I would have liked to see a different actor portray MLK. The guy they had didn't really look like him at all--he was too tall and his face didn't have that pudgier look that we all remember.

Finally, the assassination scene, while obviously needed, was poorly constructed. It was obvious to anyone who lived through that day or is an conspiracy buff that the scene wasn't filmed anywhere near Dallas. For comparison purposes, Oliver Stone's re-creation for "JFK" was much, much better.

Overall, this is an excellent movie, and I would recommend it to anyone seeking more knowledge of the Kennedy administration and family, as well as Kennedy the man.

Luxurious American-British TV miniseries produced in 1983, written by Reg Gadney, who spent almost twenty years researching the Kennedys, and directed by the veteran English film and TV director, Jim Goddard, "Kennedy" was broadcast in the 20th anniversary year of the assassination of JFK and became one of the most successful miniseries ever aired, being sold to over 50 countries, including my homeland, Portugal.

It covers all the most important parts and decisions of the Kennedys' Administration from the Bay of Pigs' failed invasion, the Civil Rights Movement and their support to Martin Luther King, the Cuba missile crisis, to the early stages of the Vietnam war, and also their own personal lifes, including JFK close relationship with his father, the dominant Joseph P. Kennedy & his younger brother, the incorruptible 'boy scout', Attorney General Robert Kennedy, and his beautiful wife and iconic First Lady, Jacqueline, which became a model to the Modern Woman of the 60's. Some facts were put aside, like the Mob help on the JFK's rise to power, which he abandoned after his election and his several extra-marital affairs, including the legendary blonde bombshell Marilyn Monroe, whose name is never mentioned here, but a clever viewer knows it's her.

"Kennedy" is well paced (where the 311 minutes went?) and dramatically well staged, especially during the family gatherings and their relationships and the tension in the cabinet during the crisis. Some sloppy editing here and there and cheaply looking directed exterior scenes (such as the racial brawls which looked a bit flimsy and poorly staged) were redeeming by the power of the narrative and the attention to details, the well written dialogues perfectly delivered by an all-star cast and the haunting sequence of the assassination itself which ressonates into a viewer's mind long time after.

Long life democrat, Martin Sheen as JFK, captured his voice, accent and mannerisms to perfection, even if they weren't exactly look-a-likes. Sheen smiles a lot thoroughly and even his teeth were pristine as Kennedy's. Other curious fact is that Sheen was exactly the same age at the time of filming as Jack Kennedy's was during the events depicted in the film.

Great support from John Shea as Bobby Kennedy (even less look-a-like to his real life counterpart than Sheen, but equally memorable in his acting); Geraldine Fitzgerald & E. G. Marshall as Rose and Joseph P. Kennedy and a special kudos to Blair Brown, whose uncanny resemblance to the real Jackie Bouvier Kennedy was only surpassed by the brilliance of her exuberant performance. Vincent Gardenia is also very good and a scene-stealer as the sinister head of the F.B.I., J. Edgar Hoover. Catch up for early screen appearances from John Glover, Kelsey Grammer and Trey Wilson, among others.

This miniseries makes a perfect raining Sunday afternoon at the movies, followed by the earlier TV movie, "The Missiles of October" ('74), starring William Devane as JFK and also with a younger Martin Sheen playing Bobby Kennedy; Roger Donaldson's "Thirteen Days" ('00), which covered the same missiles' crisis, starring Bruce Greenwood as JFK, Steven Culp as Bobby Kennedy and Kevin Costner as the Administration's consultant, Kenny O'Donnell; Oliver Stone's own conspiracy theory opus, "JFK" ('91) starring Kevin Costner as the District Attorney Jim Garrison, leading a star studded ensemble cast and Emilio Estevez's "Bobby" ('06) about Robert Kennedy's assassination in 1968 in which his father Martin Sheen also had a minor role.

It's an almost six-hour biopic of John F. Kennedy's presidency, particularly from the perspective of the extended Kennedy family. It covers from November 1960 to his assassination in November 1963, mainly in Washington, D. C., and Hyannisport, Massachusetts.

The series begins with the assassination as various members of the Kennedy family hear the news. It then shifts to election night in 1960 and the tight election with Richard Nixon. John Kennedy (Martin Sheen), Jackie Kennedy (Blair Brown), Robert Kennedy (John Shea), father Joseph Kennedy (E. G. Marshall), mother Rose Kennedy (Geraldine Fitzgerald), and Ted Kennedy (Kevin Conroy) are all present throughout and in character.

J. Edgar Hoover (Vincent Gardenia), Lyndon Johnson (Nesbitt Blaisdell), and Martin Luther King (Charles Brown) also have significant roles. There's a large cast, so all the important secondary characters like Robert MacNamara and Pierre Salinger are also present. The significant incidents are all covered--Bay of Pigs, Freedom Riders, the Cuban missile crisis, the battle with large steel companies, the beginnings of the Vietnam War, and the launch of the space race. The series ends with the assassination in Dallas until Kennedy is pronounced dead.

The perspective is of the Joseph Kennedy family seeing its role as running America for America's own good. Robert Kennedy is the pit bull that does all the heavy lifting for Jack on all challenging issues, including international ones that had nothing to do with Robert Kennedy's official position. Sheen and Shea reflect the close brothers exceptionally well, and their accents sound familiar. Vincent Gardenia is a scary J. Edgar Hoover; Charles Brown does not quite match the real MLK. Blair Brown plays Jackie Kennedy with more dignity than the public recognized then. The final scenes bring back many memories for those of us who were politically aware on November 22, 1963. The whole thing is a superficial but remarkably well-done trek down memory lane.

This mini-series more than earned its BAFTA award. It was well acted, true to the facts recorded in most books on the Kennedys, and very emotive. I was particularly impressed by Blair Brown as Jackie, and Nesbitt Blaisdell as an eerily convincing LBJ. Martin Sheen was Martin Sheen in the look-a-like stakes, but he put across the personality, temperament, and accent of Kennedy superbly, which is a lot harder than merely resembling a person. (Although, when watching the original footage of the inaugural address on the DVD version, I had to wonder if Sheen had maybe overdone the famous Boston accent slightly). The tension of the Cuban Missile Crisis was well captured, and the dramatisation of the assassination was the right balance of effect and imagination. Blair Brown's portrayal of Jackie's shock and grief stood up to the raw emotion of the opening scenes, perfectly bookending this amazing series.

John F. Kennedy's presidency has long proven a rich source for dramatists and filmmakers to mine. How could it not be from a dashing and charismatic young president with a beautiful wife? Or the dramatic events of his thousand days in office from Cold War tensions in Cuba and Europe to the struggle for civil rights at home, not to mention tensions between the White House and the powerful longtime FBI director J. Edgar Hoover? Rarely has all that been as well captured as it was in the 1983 miniseries Kennedy with a five plus hour look at the eventful years between election night 1960 and the events in Dallas, Texas a little more than three years later.

Coming when it did two decades on from the president's passing, Reg Gadney's script managed to have some but not enough distance with hindsight. Far enough removed from events for the sheen (no pun intended) to have come off the near-myth of Camelot to allow the writer to explore Kennedy, his family, and the administration as human beings with egos and failings (including JFK's affairs), adding to the sense of verisimilitude. In the four decades since, however, a wealth of archival sources have opened up that have greatly expanded our knowledge on the Cuban Missile Crisis (where we now know that the Cuba-Turkey missile swap dismissed in an EXCOM meeting here was, in fact, part of its resolution) and much of the decision making via White House tape recordings of meetings and phone calls. Gadney's script for Kennedy is caught between the two in its factual content with its presentation of events sometimes overtaken by history.

Yet there is no doubting that when Gadney's script works, it's engaging. The family dynamics, particularly those between the president and his brother but also their father and Jackie, too, are arguably the heart of Gadney's script. Weaving those stories and moments around dramatic moments including the Bay of Pigs, clashes with Hoover, and the aforementioned Cuban Missile Crisis. The latter takes up an hour or so of the miniseries, rightly so given its importance to the administration and representing what Kennedy had earlier termed "the hour of maximum danger." While historical knowledge (and the film Thirteen Days) have widened our understanding of the crisis, its presentation by Gadney and director Jim Goddard remains full of tension and uncertainty. While Gadney's dialogue is sometimes held back by being exposition heavy, it more than serves the purpose of presenting the thousand days of the Kennedy presidency.

Bringing much of Gadney's script to life is Martin Sheen as its central character. More than 15 years before he famously played another (fictional) President of the United States in The West Wing, Sheen took on bringing another Oval Office occupant to life. Like Gadney's script, Sheen's performance benefited greatly from coming two decades after the fact, allowing for a more rounded portrait separating the man from the myth. Sheen brings forward the charm and the brilliant smile, not to mention the biting wit, particularly in the early parts of the miniseries. Yet there's also the man in constant pain and who gradually becomes more thoughtful in the job, a character arc Sheen plays well in dealing with the Bay of Pigs and scenes set in the latter days of the administration. There's also the flashes of uncertainty and anger, the all too human punctuation marks that come to the fore with a volcanic fury. Given much of the five hours of screen time, it's a challenge that Sheen more than rises up to, capturing JFK in all his seasons. Indeed, Sheen's JFK ranks alongside Bruce Greenwood in Thirteen Days as the best of the screens depictions of the 35th President.

Backing Sheen is a solid supporting cast. No depiction of JFK would be complete without his brother Bobby and John Shea proved more than up to the task, presenting a compelling portrait of the younger Kennedy as the right-hand man whose not yet the iconic figure he would become. Blair Brown as Jackie offers plenty of style and sophistication, along with a sense of initially being both out of her depth to a degree while pursuing her own aim of restoring the White House itself even if it means clashing with her husband on occasion. The sense of a loving, if somewhat distant, relationship is present if underplayed, though there's no doubting the chemistry between Brown and Sheen. From there comes the ever reliable E. G. Marshall offering a slightly crotchety take on the Kennedy family's patriarch in early parts, Vincent Gardenia as the slimy and obsessive FBI director, Charles Brown as Martin Luther King Jr, and early TV appearances by Kelsey Grammer and Kevin Conroy.

It's also a solid production, by and large. Not to mention a rather unusual one given its decidedly American subject matter, cast, and filming locations but having been produced (or co-produced) for British television. Not to mention its writer and director also hailing from the other side of the pond. Yet Kennedy holds its own against many of its US counterparts, with an eye for the details of the time apparent in costumes and sets, including impressive recreations of the Kennedy White House and its Oval Office especially. Goddard's direction doesn't go in for flash often which makes touches such as the wipes and fades from one EXCOM meeting to the other or the highly impressive three minute single take shot moving down and then back up the final motorcade at Love Field in Dallas before it leaves all the more impressive. It's only in the depictions of JFK's foreign trips, presented largely as stock footage news reports on TV, that the limits of budget and locations becomes apparent, not an uncommon issue for the era and far from a fatal one.

Indeed, from Sheen's human portrait of an iconic president to the supporting cast and production, there remains plenty to recommend Kennedy for.

This three part, six hour mini series was originally released in November of 1983, which was the 20th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Martin Sheen plays JFK and Blair Brown plays Jackie, both do great jobs. I remember seeing the entire film many, many years ago; it use to come on every November, but I have not honestly seen it from start to finish in a couple years on TV. As I recall, the series starts out on November 22, 1963, showing Rose Kennedy sitting in her living room and hearing about the assassination of her son on the news, then it cuts into 1960 when JFK was running for the presidency. The series then covers the very important personal and historical events of Kennedy's life and administration in the two years he was in the White House. Of course it ends with that dark day in Dallas. The scene of the assassination is very brutal but also very real and shows how quick it really happened and how fast history changed.

I saw this on the 40th anniversary of the Kennedy assasination and found it very interesting and timely.

As I understand, this movie first came out in 1983, before the publication of the book 'The Dark Side of Camelot' by Hersh. I wonder if it would be different had it come out after this book.

Jackie Kennedy was at the lobby of the Golden Beach Resort in southern India when an episode from this mini-series was being shown on the television set there. She watched it for several minutes before retiring to her room with tears in her eyes. She did not leave her room for a couple of days and denied interviews to Indian journalists. I know about this incident because I read a brief report on it in a Tamil language magazine. Like Mrs.Kennedy, I watched this mini-series when India's state-run Doordarshan showed it. Though it has been many years, I still remember some scenes from several episodes. I particularly recall the Cuban Missile Crisis episode. Martin Sheen's Kennedy came across as an abrupt, impatient and unlikeable fellow. However, I think he was a good choice to play Kennedy given his physical resemblance to the slain president; even his voice sounded like Kennedy's. Evidently, he had a speech coach.

To summarize, this was a watchable mini-series.

I was thrilled to be in this movie, and enjoyed it even not knowing if my scene would make the final cut. I was living in Richmond, VA, where they shot many scenes. Seemed like Richmond looked more like Dallas in 1963 at the time. I was in the church riot scene, where the ugly white mob (that would be me!) was throwing rocks at a church where Martin Luther King was supposedly preaching. The rocks were foam, and the church we were throwing the foam rocks at had been a church, but had since been turned into condos. We (the mob) torched cars, yelled screamed racial slurs, it was a different experience. It hasn't been repeated until about a year ago, on the History Channel. It may be repeated each November. Check it out!