Hamilton 4K 2020 Ultra HD 2160p

Story Movie

The story of Alexander Hamilton, the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, set against the backdrop of the American Revolution and the founding and early development of the United States.

Review 4K Movie

The quarantine has, of course, put the entire world in a unique situation—at the very least when it comes to the production and consumption of content.

Theaters have been hit the hardest, forced to move their readings online, show their old productions to raise funds, or create full-scale performances on Zoom. It’s certainly interesting to watch all of this unfold, if only because it immediately reveals who will be able to stay afloat once restrictions are lifted, and who will simply sink or move online permanently.

Given everything happening in the world in general and in America in particular, Disney’s streaming service has managed to jump on every possible hype train, as far as I can tell. And what did it do to achieve this? Well, it simply released a recording of the 2015 musical, where all the leading roles are played by Black actors (hello #BLM), who deliver amazing rap verses about rising from rags to riches—all set in the 1770s, at the dawn of the American Revolution against the British Crown.

Generally speaking, I don’t want to view the musical *Hamilton* and its release right now through a political lens, even though the musical itself is almost entirely about politics and the history of the “Founding Fathers and the Bill of Rights.” I just want to marvel once again at what history can become in the hands of a skilled creator.

And the creator was indeed skilled. The actor playing the lead role of Hamilton—Lin-Manuel Miranda—conceived the idea for the musical back in 2008 after reading Alexander’s biography, and the project has been in motion ever since. The title numbers “Alexander Hamilton” and “My Shot,” a trial performance at the White House, the musical’s extended runs and move to Broadway, the soundtrack’s number one spot on Billboard’s rap chart and a Grammy win, the Pulitzer Prize for Best Drama, and numerous theater awards.

And it’s not about the historical context or the political agenda at all. It’s about how to play with that very context, wrapping the dried-out pages of the Bill of Rights in an R&B wrapper—essentially not changing the content, but making it more transparent and understandable. How can you ignore the agenda and use a color-blind approach to cast actors of all ethnicities who will be incredibly cool and deliver a truly memorable performance?

Because at the end of the day, power doesn’t lie in the color of your skin, but in what you say and how you act. Do you wait by the sea for the weather to change and keep quiet, or do you write pamphlets and fight for independence?