This is a fantastic (20th anniversary) docudrama of the highest order. Martin Sheen (as JFK), Blair Brown (as Jackie), and Vincent Gardenia (as Hoover) are amazing, as is some of the other cast (i.e. E.G. MARSHALL). The dialogue and settings are very good, ESPECIALLY for 1983-era regular tv. I even liked the Clint Hill stuntman. Get this!!
Vince Palamara-JFK/ Secret Service expert (History Channel, author of two books, in over 30 other author's books, etc.)
Pittsburgh, PA

BEST JFK ASSASSINATION BOOK: ULTIMATE SACRIFICE
BEST JFK SECRET SERVICE BOOK: SURVIVOR'S GUILT BY YOURS TRULY :)

This is a mini-series that I think is worth coming back to time and again. Martin Sheen does a fabulous job of playing JFK. The series itself continues to surprise despite repeated viewings of trying to show everyone in the most realistic light possible, without sacrificing the narrative arc or the need for entertainment.

It is amazing to me how action packed the 1000 days of the Kennedy administration were and how wide ranging and far ranging the issues that were tackled - i) nuclear war, ii) soviet expansionism, iii) civil rights, iv) space technology advances, v) industry/labor relations etc.

Given later movies and writing on Lyndon Johnson, I wondered if he was shown in a more than unflattering light in this series, or if this was how the Kenndy's viewed LBJ.

Finally, the dialog, script, casting and acting are absolutely top notch and credible.

The extras, as other revieweres have pointed out are absorbing. Watching President Kenney deliver the Inaugral address is a singularly inspiring experience.

A rare gem.

Having already mastered RFK in 1975's THE MISSLES OF OCTOBER, it was only logical that Martin Sheen step up to the role he was seemingly born to play in what has proved to be one of the best mini-series ever produced. KENNEDY is a believable docu-drama that stays true to the 1000 day historical record. What's very commendable is Jim Goddard staying away in mass from the soap opera element of JFK's now much publicized adultery and the blind eye turned (to it) by his wife, staff and family. Vincent Gardinia offers memory burn as J. Edgar Hoover, just as Sheen does with JFK. The final ride through Dealy Plaza is horrific.

This 1983 NBC mini-series may well be the best of its kind and remains probably the definitive Kennedy docu-drama. The film is confined to the brief years of the presidential administration, and is refreshingly honest in retelling the Bay of Pigs fiasco, the presidential philandering and, of course, the drama of that fateful final day. Martin Sheen is magnificent, as usual, in the title role, and he plays his presidential role with a believeable human quality that the real man thought of his constituency as the disenfranchised. As the first lady, Blair Brown's portrait of Jacqueline Kennedy is riveting and haunting as impressed throughout with her voiced-over prophecy of her "appointment with death." Beyond the two leads, a stellar supporting cast is headed by the late E.G. Marshall as the Kennedy patriarch, Joe Sr., John Shea as RFK and the late Vincent Gardenia in a sinister turn as FBI head J. Edgar Hoover. But this film belongs to Sheen and Brown, and together they ignite a sense of glamour and vitality that defined the real couple. Brown, especially, however, is mesmerizing, and her accomplishment here is a must-see. There are apparently two versions on the market, the original and an edited time-condensed version. Stay away from the shorter one. The editing is so bad that continunity is sacrificed, and all we get is a jumbled mess. The original is well worth the five or so hours to watch it, and its an impassioned account of the successes and shortcomings of the Camelot administration.

Martin Sheen plays an excellent John Kennedy in the 1983 mini-series, Kennedy. he's got the voice of John Kennedy down almost to perfection.

the DVD version is great. you get additional footage such as JFK's Inaugural Address, One Day in Berlin, One Week in October, and The Last Two Days.

throughout the mini-series you see the tension between Hoover and both Jack and Bobby, you go along on the campaign trail with JFK, right up until the shots are fired in Dallas.
good mini-series.
i surley enjoyed watching all of it.