Rehenes

This wasn't meant to be a full length documentary...it's four episodes long...but it's still tooo long...

it's got too much to cover for it be a movie...so i think it should have been a two-part documentary...a show made of 2 parts...take out all the unnecessary parts and just keep it straightforward...

the first two episodes had me hooked!...it was pulsating i was getting information i had no idea about...it was informative riveting and very thrilling...but about ten minutes into the third episode it lost that intrigue...i lost interest...i didn't care anymore...

this is going to sound illiterate and stupid...but i didn't like the parts where i had to read subtitles...i get that this is a two-sided story and we need to get the voice of the Iranians who don't necessarily speak English...i get the logic and practicality of it...subjectively i just didn't like it...it was too tasking for me....

it still. Is a good show though...it just kinda fizzles out towards the end...it starts out as a documentary...it ends as people talking about their feelings...

Elaboration of the 1979-1981, 444 days o ameriacan iranian muscle fighting over 52 hostages connected to the tehran embassy in the start of the islamic revolution. Khomeini and carter armwrestling got a positive outcome, but there were really no sensitive and edible inter-national cooperation with iran after the calamity was over.

I remember well the images of khomeini, and the black cladden inhabitants rolling and waving about in the streets of tehran, just as a black plague fear for a young teenager to comprehend. This and all of the prehistoric line of events leading up to the fall of the shah and transition into an islamic republic are elaborated and conducted in a very objective manner, making it edible for westeners as well as a commemorative look back at the birth of a nation for iranians, or persians.

For history nerds and people who wants to know why and howcome u.s./iranian relations has become so hostile over the years , this is more than a x-mas gift, i can tell for sure. The grumpy old man has learned a lot and can only recommend this as one of the best in the documentary genre made products of the year.

This documentary was extremely humbling & as strongly put together as any good documentary I've seen in the last few years right there with Ken Burns's Vietnam War, The Last Dance, etc.

Sadly the Iranian regime has seemed to be the one country who's really had their way with us even after & I could not imagine the turmoil of Carter's tenure as president which could have happened to any POTUS. Worst of all, I could not imagine the pain & frustration with the uncertainty of return for the victims & fam.

These types of documentaries deserve better attention vs. Netflix's Dahmer which has 40X the IMDB votes for example & offers the view of one's sickness as opposed to a country's oppression which went from bad to far worse. M

It is important we understand Iran's revolution & continued volatile disgrace towards women's rights, religious freedoms & hostility towards the west as it is a dangerous a country now as it was then & I predict will form an axis type alliance with China & Russia before we know it as these countries close-mindedness & extreme dictatorships can crumble our globe 100x over WW2 w/ 3 countries like these as compared to Germany, Japan & Italy did appx 80 years ago.

Great presentation of the chronological events from mid 70s. However to fully understand why the hostages were taken the series should have started in 1952. Shah's father Aka Reza Shah (same name as his son) was overthrown in a revolution in 1953 by Dr Mosaddegh. The CIA overthrew this democratically elected Mosaddegh and reinstalled the monarchy by bringing back Reza shah, ; this time Reza Shah the son. This was orchestrated through the US embassy. The coup was never forgotten by many Iranians who then came to know the shah a US poppet. When the second revolution took place in 1979 the students stormed the embassy in order to prevent a second coup and possible US meddling.

Interesting, yes. However there are at least three sides to this story: the revolutionaries, the hostages, and the Shah.

Unfortunately, there was minimal to almost no coverage of the accomplishments of the Shah although he is loved and revered millions of Iranians. About the only person who was interviewed who supported the Shah in this documentary was his American spokesperson. The Shah did so much to modernize the country (infrastructure, education, women's rights, etc). Truly sad that his legacy was portrayed in this manner. Millions of Iranians fled the country during and after the revolution when the Shah was overthrown while the documentary makes it appear as though the whole country was demonstrating against the Shah. Thousands were massacred by the new Islamic regime.

One other aspect of the history of the revolution that was not discussed was Carter's role. His administration did in fact communicate with Khomeini and there were reassurances that they would not stand in the way. Khomeini also reassured Carter's admin that he would not do anything to harm the US interest in Iran. This information came to light in declassified of umbers decades later. There are many members of the Shah's government that have also stated that the Shah turned to the US for support prior to his departure, but it was refused. The Shah is portrayed as an ally of the US but was deserted by the US in the end and most likely due to the fact that he no longer served his purpose. Carter is no hero in this story. It was a deal with the devil that would change the course of history in the Middle East and across the globe for decades thereafter.