Benedict Arnold: Hero Betrayed

There is a timeless theme to this presentation of Benedict Arnold's life. When the machinations of politics threaten a populist hero, what happens?

This is a recurrent human struggle at least since the time of Christ.

We never know who are those who betray us--

Having grown up near the Saratoga Battlefield and Fort Ticonderoga, I was raised with the narrative that Ethan Allen saved the Revolution by taking Ticonderoga artillery to shell Boston--through the snow, and that Arnold was the consummate traitor.

Now I have to question the narratives told in my primary school days with new information...information that as an educated adult I have to give some credence to. If you can't see the parallels to today's world, it is only to your detriment because you have not learned how we applaud some of the most treacherous people who affect our lives.

Documentaries on Arnold are usually very interesting because it is tragic due to his own self destruction.

The tag line for this documentary did interest me. Does his heroics overshadow his treason, has history misjudged him.

How this documentary approaches it is by omitting the treason down to a footnote in the presentation. At least go through the entirety of what the British were expecting and the desired outcome of the plan. Just because it failed does not mean it should be discounted against his great contributions.

Even the coverage of his military career was slow and boring. Arnold's military career is anything but boring.

For a low budget indie, this film does a great job of showing the importance of Arnold's many and crucial military contributions to the American Revolution. He was indeed a hero on the battlefield -- and his story is a far cry from the simplistic tale of treason spun by your history teachers. Watch it and learn something! (The only reasons I don't rate it a 10 are the choice of actor portraying Washington and some quibbles over a few minor details.)

Benedict Arnold: a guy who gets screwed over at his job, then commits treason.

Not great, a C level history channel type show. Was he a hero? Yeah, until he wasn't because he switched sides. You can do a lot of great things, but when you give up military information to the enemy it negates all your good works. This is a poorly titled movie, titled so, to get the attention of people who like contrarian views on history. It was mostly accurate, except for the guy who played Washington. The CG stuff was painful to look at. There is no new information here. Dumb.

This is a bit of the truth coming out after centuries. Right from the start, the english so-called americans were not any better than the brits. The politics was just as rotten and back stabby. Greed and more power was the motivation of most. Jefferson wrote only a beautiful lie that they are still struggling to keep up today!