Ride the Thunder

I was incredibly surprised at the extremely favorable reviews after viewing this film. It doesn't help that the recent Burns/Novik film was released several months ago, eclipsing the efforts of this film. The story is epic, some of us are very familiar with the history of Vietnam from early colonial times to the present. I'm one of those people, and have spent considerable time in Vietnam, speak basic Viet, and understand the culture - so that's the caveat. The story told in this film was nothing new to me, and I mean nothing. The Burns/Novick film was refreshing, and there was new material I'd never seen, including some compelling footage gleaned from the archives in Hanoi. VC and NVA vets gave emotional interviews.... and in Vietnamese. And US vets also told their incredible stories. Ride the Thunder made some attempts at this, with a couple of interviews with US vets. Nothing from VC/NVA, or S Vietnamese. In the end, these portrayals created an awkward mix of low quality drama, and documentary lacking any real substance. It's kind of shocking, really.

This film had terrible acting. I'm sorry to have to relay this, but it was on par with a hastily made lower budget TV program, featuring extras. It took me three separate attempts to finish this movie. There were some Viet Kieu (foreign Vietnamese) actors, but I'm not sure there was a single Viet word spoken in this movie. Besides Dien Bien Phu, or Saigon, etc, lol.

If you're not up to speed on post war Vietnam following the fall of Saigon, or issues US soldiers faced back home after this terribly unpopular and foolish war, you might find this film worth your time. If you are somewhat informed, then you may find this film exceptionally cheesy and factually anemic. I'd have given it a lower score, but out of respect for the filmmakers, and their efforts to portray various perspectives, I'm not doing that. In all candor, it was a real let down.

Acting wasn't the best. But a great story. Sad what we left behind when we pulled out. What you learn in school isn't what really happened.

While I didn't serve in Viet Nam, I remember that time well, and I served with people who did. This movie is a mix of docudrama and interviews with veterans. Those that pan that concept apparently don't watch much on the History Channel. Most of the negative reviews I read, if you click on the profile of the reviewer, you find that their negative review of this movie is the ONLY review they have posted. THAT should tell you that they specifically had a reason to bash this film. At least one reviewer called it political propaganda, but that's just what the TRUTH looks like when it isn't what you want to hear!

Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland and their FTA group, committed treason, and they should've gone to prison for that. John Kerry did as well and instead ended up as a lousy Secretary of State who made a terrible deal with our enemies in Iran. The description of the changes in America and the predictions of John Ripley came true. We are living that today. Disputing that fact is futile. The decline of mainstream media in this country began when Walter Cronkite went to Viet Nam and came home and his editor told him to "report what he thought", not just "what he had seen". From that moment on, news reporting became propaganda.

This is my sencond review - the first one is... missing :)

First of all, I have to say the film was ok. Part original footage part acted, did not expect a masterpiece here.

What was mind blowing to me was the original footage of some of the prominent member of the anti-war movement (John Kerry, Jane Fonda).

These people were actually promoting the communist propaganda. Oh, I am sure, they thought they were doing a good thing, promoting the peace, stopping the killing, but man it was heartbreaking to watch them parroting the communist lies.

Now, some 50 years later, their political descendants are talking about re-education again. Back then it was real concentration camps for re-education, today it's done within companies and the government.

Here's a picture I will never forget: Jane Fonda parroting Soviet propaganda.

That was a punch in the gut!

.."Ride The Thunder" = CLARITY. Losing One's FREEDOM = Hell on Earth ..as this Movie so clearly shows. For who knows best, then those who have had their's so violently taken from them ..then the Vietnamese People? And who also knows best that if FREEDOM were to fall here in a still Free America, they would have nowhere else to run to this time around. And NEITHER would the REST OF US..!!! That's why "Ride The Thunder" is a Must See for ..All the FREE..!!!

..This Movie's "NO MORE LIES" Message is focused and correct. The America I left behind in1965 for the first major battles of the Vietnam War, was no longer there upon my return home in 1966. This was caused by the flagrant Media misreporting of the Vietnam War to the American People. This is the same Media misreporting that now continues to this day, putting our very own FREEDOM at great risk. BRAVO, "Ride The Thunder"..!!!

I Feel so REfreshed.