What are the best Vietnam documentaries? (1 Viewer)

[Hans M.]

The Fog of War documentary was mentioned earlier in this thread as not being available on DVD. Just to clarify: it is out. I rented it, and should be watching it this weekend.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Agreed that the single best filmed documentary about this war was PBS's excellent, multipart Vietnam: A Television History, by Stanley Kernow. Best I've ever seen.

 

[ChrisMatson]

I am looking forward to seeing Going Upriver which is currently at 95% at Rotten Tomatoes with 21/22 "fresh" reviews.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/going_upriver/

 

[Lew Crippen]

The Fog of War is certainly a brilliant piece of filmmaking and well worth anyone’s time—especially those who are interested in this period.

But it is not really a film about the Vietnam War, or even about our involvement in Vietnam—although that might seem to be the focus of the film at first glance. Nor is it particularly sympathetic towards Robert S. McNamara. Errol Morris always seems to revel in a bit of ambiguity and his style in this film is to let McNamara the person unfold slowly before us—and to let McNamara reveal himself to us; not through sharp questioning or confrontation (as perhaps we would get with a Michael Moore-style film), but by letting everything slowly and quietly build to (what I consider) the man indicting himself.

You might also check out The Weather Underground—another film not about Vietnam—but certainly a portrait of a small part of those troubled times.

 

[TimJS]

A quick update to this thread...

I mentioned Taking Charge in a previous post. Kultur/White Star has released the LBJ Tapes , a 1999 Peabody award winning Television doc (BBC-Channel Four). This 2 disc collection features 4-60 minute programs; one of which is entitled Into Vietnam - Playing with the Truth . This doc features edited versions of the tapes, narration & 1990's interviews, as well as some ok lip-synching re-enactments of the telephone conversations.

Also, just announced, the 1968 (1970 academy award nominee) In The Year Of The Pig (d.Emile de Antonio) will be released Sept.20th from Home Vision. It will feature an archivally-sourced commentary & interview by/with the director.

Tim

 

[Sam Favate]

Not sure if it is on DVD, but HBO ran a documentary circa 1988 called "Dear America: Letters Home From Vietnam." (Amazon has a pre-register message up for it, meaning it is not on the timetable.) It was an excellent piece that brought the war home in the words of the guys on the battlefield.

 

[TimJS]

Another quick update.

American Experience: Two Days In October - A synopsis from the web site:

In October 1967, history turned a corner. In a jungle in Vietnam, a Viet Cong ambush nearly wiped out an American battalion, prompting some in power to question whether the war might be unwinnable. On a campus in Wisconsin, a student protest against the war spiraled out of control, marking the first time that a campus anti-war demonstration had turned violent.

This may be available at your favorite e-tailer/retailer someday, but for now you can buy with and without various editions of the book "They Marched Into Sunlight" upon which the film was based from PBS .

Sir! No Sir!

I attended a screening of this doc last night, the director (David Zeiger) was there and indicated a DVD was forthcoming, so this is one for those with a real interest in Vietnam to watch for. This is the story of the largely forgotten/mythologized-out-of-existence resistance of active-duty (as opposed to veteran) personnel during the war. The only featured person the average viewer will recognize is Jane Fonda who appears in interviews and in period footage showing several FTA (kind of like an anti-USO) troupe performances for large (& appreciative) active duty audiences. Among the areas explored (though not exhaustively so) are Fragging and the Hippie Chick/Baby Killer/Spitting 'Rambo' myth. If this sounds interesting, you might want to check out the web-site (I couldn't find the advertised trailer). A worthy document of the war, it also made me want to check out the veteran's resistance movement featured in Going Up River , see the post from ChrisMatson.

Of related interest is another doc I saw about George McGovern called One Bright Shining Moment . This is "about" the triumphant race to win the 72 nomination, but addresses McGovern's life from WWII through the campaign which ended in a historic defeat. McGovern's political life & the Vietnam war were closely related and the war is accordingly central to the film. Since this film is distributed by First Run Features, I assume it will be available for Home Video at some point.

Tim

 

[alan halvorson]

This is what Amazon has to say about Vietnam - A Television History:

Undoubtedly, the shortening accounts for the missing segments. I would have preferred that WGBH hadn't removed the outdated information. I never saw the original (or maybe I did - I have no recollection), so I wouldn't know if the deletions were meaningful or not.

I can get along with a couple commercials so long as they are at the beginning or end and not during, although they ought not have been included at all.

 

[Michael Harris]

If there was outdated information then the producers should have just added the video equivalent of a footnote to highlight that fact. I am very disappointed. I may just buy the VHS version as it appears to be complete.

 

[TimJS]

Make sure you buy the old OOP 7 tape set. According to WGBH , presumably the source of Amazon's DVD blurb, the run time of 660 min on the current 4 tape set is identical to the DVD release.

I wish the series had been presented intact, and wonder about the "outdated" material exorcised; "cost" considerations would seem far more plausible, but I'm afraid that this is not the only older broadcast doc that will be offered in an altered version. Eyes on The Prize will have, at the minimum, different music due to rights, etc.

At less than fifty bucks (on ebay anyway), this DVD is still an excellent value. Even in the edited form, it remains a landmark documentary as well.

Tim

 

[Sam Favate]

To answer my own post, here is the DVD of the film I mentioned:

http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemID=HBD090207

 

[TimJS]

Here's a link to the Winter Soldier post . The DVD streets April 18th.

Tim

 

[AndySvn]

Vietnam: The Ten Thousand Day War can be seen on the History Channel on Saturdays.

 

[TimJS]

Sir! No Sir! is a doc I saw at a film festival last year. It's about active duty resistance to the war(!) and is a pretty amazing story. You can get it on DVD from the film's web site.

Tim