All the President's Men Revisited

An interesting look back at Watergate and the making of the original "All the President's Men" in 1976. Ben Bradlee died a year after the documentary, so it was good it was made when it was. The "real" Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward was also in good form.

The former Nixon staffer's 40 years later was also interesting, especially John Dean and Alexander Butterfield.

I recommend seeing this in conjunction with the original film. Together they are a reminder of the dangers of an Imperial Presidency.

All the President's Men Revisited (2013)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Very entertaining documentary that originally aired on the Discovery Channel. The documentary features interviews with Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman, Carl Berstein, Bob Woodward and dozens of current political commentators as they discuss not only the film but also the events that led to President Nixon stepping down from office. To be honest, there's very little talk about the actual film, although Redford does talk about when he got interested in doing the film and there's also a reunion between him and Hoffman where they discuss the characters. The majority of the running time is devoted to the actual events as we hear current television personalities talk about the events and the breaking points that eventually brought Nixon down. For the most part this documentary does a very good job at explaining everything so that even the most single-minded person would be able to see what happened, why it happened and why Nixon had to step down from office. Ben Stein is interviewed and he's still brought to tears by the event. I thought the interviews were all extremely good and especially on subjects like Deep Throat. It's interesting hearing from the two real reporters on the events that led to the source coming out of hiding and admitting what he did. History buffs should certainly enjoy this documentary.

I write this review upon watching a "revisited" broadcast of this film Jan 2, 2018. I see Nixon and Trump walking in lockstep down the same hallway. The lies, the paranoia, and the attempts to stop investigations.

The main difference is that Nixon had a far more credible reputation than Trump has, and many more people believed Nixon than ever believed Trump. And since social media has come into being long after Nixon, Trump is able to manipulate public opinion far better than Nixon could.

As far as the film is concerned it was good to involve Woodward and Bernstein for this documentary and it amazed me that such a detective story could be so powerful a statement.

This is a nice one hour show. Well pieced to make a story. Well cut. But why? Why the television stars? Just to boost ratings? People who were children at the time are talking about what happened. Weird.

Than if done so later afterward, why not talk about the new data brought into the public view? A cute animation about twitter and the silly optimistic view of some talking head how things won't happen like that.

What I have enjoyed was an unplanned side effect. I liked the vanity fair. Lawyers paid by the state who are coming up decades after to talk about their courage and heroism with a smiling face. Huh? I beg your pardon? This is what they were paid to do. They should have done all this before Woodward and Bernstein. But they needed months to be reassured that the public opinion is against Nixon and only than they have acted. Than to see the corrupt politicians talk about their difficult decision and how they have done the right thing. Right. When they were taped, now that was a matter of National Importance. The war was something for the poor to fight and die in order to raise new generations of loyal middle class.

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This is gripping in terms of "today" and what is happening with our current President of the United States. Nobody should "sleep through a revolution". This is educational, interesting, thought provoking. Americans were more united at that time. Let's try to be again.