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46 of 47 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is the best documentary I have ever seen, made before the final humiliating pull-out in 1975. Great detail has been given in an earlier review so I won't attempt the same, but if you want to see the full horror of Vietnam, not in a commentary but in words of people involved,and the images of war and brutality, then buy this DVD. The lunacy of American policy becomes plain in the words of the policy makers themselves, as is their almost total ignorance of the Vietnamese people and their insensitivity to human suffering. Sadly, you also realise that they seem to have learned nothing from the war because in Iraq and in foreign policy generally they show the same attitudes and ignorance. Buy it - you won't be disappointed.
38 of 41 people found the following review helpful
By P. White
Format:DVD
I've just watched this documentary and it has impressed, appalled and educated me. It's expertly filmed and edited, the print and transfer are impeccable and it looks like it was made yesterday.
The film is a clear and powerful perspective on the true nature of warfare and the true idiocy of US foreign policy during the Vietnam war. It allows the participants to tell their own stories and often gives them just enough rope to hang themselves in the process. Some of the military and political comment has to be heard to be believed! The people of Vietnam also tell their stories and appear far more humane and informed than their aggressors (except when fighting for the latter). It's difficult to view this outstanding film without drawing parallels between Vietnam and Iraq. Please see for yourself.
NOTE: the documentary contains some harrowing scenes of death and mutilation but they are in context and VERY necessary illustrations.
The film is a clear and powerful perspective on the true nature of warfare and the true idiocy of US foreign policy during the Vietnam war. It allows the participants to tell their own stories and often gives them just enough rope to hang themselves in the process. Some of the military and political comment has to be heard to be believed! The people of Vietnam also tell their stories and appear far more humane and informed than their aggressors (except when fighting for the latter). It's difficult to view this outstanding film without drawing parallels between Vietnam and Iraq. Please see for yourself.
NOTE: the documentary contains some harrowing scenes of death and mutilation but they are in context and VERY necessary illustrations.
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
By B. Remy
Format:DVD
An exceptionally good documentary. I love documentaries and rented this because it got good reviews and I didn't know a huge amount about the Vietnam war. I wasn't disappointed. There is no real narrative and no commentary, but this documentary conveys the horrors of the Vietnam war expertly.
This film uses war footage, interviews with soldiers, politicians, parents, victims, and is expertly edited in a way that the horror of the Vietnam war, is felt with a tangible force.
It's interesting, and heartbreaking to watch in the context of current events. American presidents lied to their citizens, waged war on false pretexts, started wars they didn't know how to finish and served untold horrors onto innocent people 30 years ago, and yet current administrations don't seem to have learnt a hell of a lot. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if they recycled some of the speeches from back then - some of them sound depressingly familiar!
It's a painful film to watch but its a worthwhile exercise. I can't say I 'enjoyed' it, but I was never bored. It's too easy to forget the human tragedy that accompanies the decisions to go to war, and it's the kind of film that people should watch lest they forget just how raw and destructive war is.
This film uses war footage, interviews with soldiers, politicians, parents, victims, and is expertly edited in a way that the horror of the Vietnam war, is felt with a tangible force.
It's interesting, and heartbreaking to watch in the context of current events. American presidents lied to their citizens, waged war on false pretexts, started wars they didn't know how to finish and served untold horrors onto innocent people 30 years ago, and yet current administrations don't seem to have learnt a hell of a lot. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if they recycled some of the speeches from back then - some of them sound depressingly familiar!
It's a painful film to watch but its a worthwhile exercise. I can't say I 'enjoyed' it, but I was never bored. It's too easy to forget the human tragedy that accompanies the decisions to go to war, and it's the kind of film that people should watch lest they forget just how raw and destructive war is.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
POWERFUL
A GOOD DOUMENTARY ABOUT WHY AMERICA WENT INTO VIETNAM AND THE SHATTERED ILLUSIONS OF THE SOLDIERS AND ALSO OFF THE TOP BRASS,INTO WHAT THEIR WERE FIGHTING FOR.
Published 22 months ago by V. Pykett
5.0 out of 5 stars
Devastating
The insanity of American involvement in Vietnam is laid bare. There is an irony consistently alluded to throughout this documentary that the US was born when it fought and defeated... Read more
Published on 21 July 2010 by Mr. Christopher E. Murphy
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Study in Why War is Always Bad!
I found 'Hearts & Minds' to be a thorough examination in why war is always a terrible and brutal occurence and why in every single case and no matter what country is involved... Read more
Published on 19 Jun 2010 by Mr. P. Smith
5.0 out of 5 stars
Vietnam told by the people that were there.
The testimony of the people in this film is a pretty damning verdict on war and especially US foreign policy in South East Asia. Read more
Published on 3 Nov 2009 by kdog
5.0 out of 5 stars
The wonderful ability of the Americans to see the error of their ways
The American Government does terrible things in the name of its people, but one of its redeeming qualities as a nation is the ability of its media to expose its powerful men, and... Read more
Published on 30 May 2009 by William Cohen
5.0 out of 5 stars
Still Shocking & Devastatingly Relevant After All These Years
The Vietnam war was the most photographed and broadcast war in history. Nightly news arrived in our living rooms pretty much unfiltered documenting the shocking story day by day. Read more
Published on 24 Sep 2008 by pjr
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bush and Blair
We shall not cease from exploration,
and at the end of our exploring
will be to arrive where we started
and to know this place for the first time... Read more
and at the end of our exploring
will be to arrive where we started
and to know this place for the first time... Read more
Published on 25 Jun 2008 by Billy Ray Cyrus
5.0 out of 5 stars
CONTEMPORARY RESONANCE,
Its not difficult to fathom the motives behind the resurrection behind this documentary. Three decades after it won best Documentary Hearts and Minds serves not just as an... Read more
Published on 19 Jun 2008 by Billy Ray Cyrus
5.0 out of 5 stars
A first-hand mosaic of the Vietnam war
This is an excellent documentary and I did not find it unduly harrowing, as is perhaps suggested by other reviewers. Read more
Published on 29 July 2007 by Overseas Reviewer
5.0 out of 5 stars
Oscar winning documentary from 1974
Peter Biskind's best-selling exploration of the New Hollywood era 'Easy Riders, Raging Bulls' (later made into a so-so documentary of the same name) offered up examples of the... Read more
Published on 7 Mar 2006 by Jason Parkes
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