Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Lucia Ayala It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Lachlan Coulson This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Kayden This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

starry-messenger I find the Canadian reviews far more interesting than the documentary. Its interesting that all Canadian reviews find it inaccurate and the rest including this one are responding to their comments. I work with many Canadians (French and English) and didn't realize that the War of 1812 is viewed by Canadians the way Americans view the American Revolutionary War.At the time of the War of 1812 current Canada was British North America, part of the British Empire. The Dominion of Canada did not become a nation until 1867 (as a result of the U.S. Civil War) and even to this day retains the British Crown. The War of 1812 was between the United States and British Empire. British North America at the time offered a convenient (if unsuccessful) point to attack the British Empire. U.S. expansionism was a motivation but as you all point out invasions to the north were very unsuccessful and not well manned or prepared. Regardless the U.S. attempted to invaded a British territory, not another country. I am unaware of any U.S. military invasion of Canada since 1867 and in fact the two countries share the longest unguarded border in the world.I want to respond to the points raised by jcp-9.1) After American independence Britain didn't recognize naturalized American citizenship, and treated anyone born a British subject as still "British" — as a result, the Royal Navy impressed over 9,000 sailors who claimed to be American citizens. Impressment was not abolished by the British until 1814. Impressment of a nation's citizens by another nation is an act of war. 2) British forces certainly invaded Chesapeake Bay and New Orleans. They were not invited. Yes the U.S. did declare war on the British Empire and this was in response to impressment as well as other grievances. 3) The United States was fighting the British Empire. The U.S. at the time was clearly the underdog. Again at the time Canada did not exist as a nation but as British North America. 4) Regarding the Battle of New Orleans, if the war was over why were the British invading? Communications were slow and neither side was aware of the Treaty of Ghent.Another point from Erik Kaufman, "Condemned to Rootlessness: The Loyalist Origins of Canada's Identity Crisis", Nationalism and Ethnic Politics: "Already, the War was being turned to mythical ends in Upper Canada: Britain had defended her colonies and Providence had ensured the 'Triumph of virtue over vice, of a good cause over a bad one...Together, Upper Canadians came to believe, they had vanquished the forces of tyranny and oppression. Out of the war there arose a sense of community, an awareness of being Upper Canadian, which encompassed all settlers. The War of 1812 came to be considered by many as the colony's rite of passage into young adulthood.'"

gideonlp I enjoyed this docudrama. I am now 80 and went to universities for my degrees back in the 1940/50 era. At that time we had more class coverage in history of the early days of the US. I do remember the War of 1812 being covered, but not as much as given in this presentation. Now as I read the comments of the Canadian, it is apparent that his emotions are getting the best of his judgment and feelings for understanding the realities. Of note is the attrition of the forces in the line charging and slaughter of the front rows as they advance. Modern armies would never do that sort of charging, at least not since the British tried charging the German lines that way, almost, in the Great War (known today as World War I). Historical events are now past, emotions for the most part are healed. Taking sides to belittle any part in the events past is ridiculous and will never change what happened.

msgreen-1 This "documentary" is so ridiculous it's laughable.I don't need to go over what other people obviously already did but I just have to say I agree with them 100% I literally thought at one point while watching this documentary early on (I tuned it after it already started) that I was watching some kind of a comedy sketch.The U.S. was acting in self defense when it invaded another country? On top of that, they were outnumbered and out-muscled by a small British expeditionary force and Canadian volunteer farmers with no military experience? And then on top of THAT, they won the war? (It's true that after Britain wrapped up their major war in Europe they sent battle-hardened troops to North America to fight this war, but that was already well after war broke out with the U.S. invading Canada - not to defend themselves but to try to take it over.) How do you have your capitol burnt, some of your territory occupied, so many of your troops captured, your country blockaded and only one major victory - occurring AFTER the war was over - and consider yourself the winner? It makes no sense at all. I guess you have to be American to understand it.

jcp-9 I am not a regular viewer of the History Channel, and I can only hope that the jingoist bias and chauvinistic pandering which deface this production are not representative of what that network presents to Americans as their "history". This video might work as a documentary to viewers in the U.S.; to Canadians, it is effective only as comedy. Imagine watching a German documentary which claims that Hitler invaded Poland only because he was provoked, and you'll understand how a Canadian reacts to this nonsense.This video's production values are fine, but a documentary needs to do more than just look good. It has an ethical responsibility. It needs to meet a certain standard of documentary credibility; otherwise, it cannot claim membership in the genre. On that score, this work fails miserably.This piece manages to misinterpret or skew virtually every historical detail concerning the reasons for and conduct of the war. Some assertions are more idiotic than others:1) The video asserts that Britain kidnapped American sailors on the high seas. In fact, Britain merely claimed the right to search American ships for Royal Navy deserters, many of whom ended up serving on American ships. In fact, the American Navy freely admitted that many British deserters served in its crews.2) The video describes the war as a British "invasion" of the U.S. This is absolute rubbish. The Americans were the belligerents. The U.S. Congress declared war on Great Britain, and the first hostility occurred when an American force invaded Canada. After it was thrown back across the border, Isaac Brock decided to take the initiative and, with his tiny force of Canadian militia and British regulars, decided to make a retaliatory strike into the U.S. For Britain and Canada, the war was always purely defensive. This video inverts the morality of the war entirely.3) The video speaks of America as the "underdog", whose amateur army took on the might of Great Britain's "battle-hardened" soldiers. In fact, for most of the war, Canada had only a minuscule force at her disposal, much of it made up of militia (i.e.Canadian farmers), many of whom were unfamiliar with basic military tactics. These inexperienced militia faced American regulars in battles that were always absurdly lopsided, with the Canadians outnumbered by ratios approaching ten to one. The notion that it was the Americans who were at a military disadvantage is sheer idiocy.4) The video claims that the Americans won the war and uses the Battle of New Orleans to punctuate this point. Two problems. First, the Battle of New Orleans occurred AFTER the war was over. Secondly, when you attempt to invade a country and are repulsed, you lose. America's attempt to invade and occupy Canada failed; America lost.I had not realised that the American myth of invincibility is strong enough to lead to this kind of Stalinist distortion. It's a little sad, and it's regrettable that so many, especially the young, will swallow this pap as if it were real history. What next? Are we going to begin seeing documentaries celebrating the American "victory" in Vietnam?