The Tillman Story

Before seeing this documentary i had never heard of Pat Tillman. Tillman was the all American hero . A pro American football player who gave up his million dollar contract to fight for his country. The problem was that things are never always that simple in The United States.

One day while out on patrol , Tillman and his group came under fire and he was shot in the head and killed. The family was that they had a fire fight with Afghan soldiers and that was how Pat had lost his life but it didn't take long to find out the the military were lying. Tillman had been killed by friendly fire.

Lets face it it's no surprise that the military and the US government covered this up. They are both institutions that are rotten to the core. What is so amazing is how nonchalant these people are about this cover up and that the cover up went all the way to the top .

The film has interviews with the family and his friends and it shows the amazing length this brave family went to get justice. It shows real footage of the memorial service for Tillman and the wonderfully honest speech his younger brother gave.

If i had one criticism it would be that the documentary is not confrontational enough but i suppose when your dealing with corrupt weasels like Donald Rumsfeld you have to be a bit cautious.

We have to be reminded, again and again, the sacrifices of our young soldiers. They should be honored in every possible way. I was born in Italy, a Country that got it wrong so many times and that, in many ways, seems never to learn, or wanting to learn the lesson. Democracy means the power of the people. America taught us that in the most spectacular way. That's why "The Tillman Story" is so disturbing. We can't and mustn't take anything for granted. I'm an American citizen now, for many years and proud of it. That's why we should unite our voices to those of the Tillman family and demand to be heard. If America loses its credibility, the entire world will suffer for it. Let's fight for America to remain as a beacon of light. "The Tillman Story" reminds us that together we must confront, question and fight. Thank you Tillman family and thank you to the filmmakers.

Pat Tillman was an Arizona Cardinals defensive back. After 9/11 in 2002, he decided to walk away from a big contract to fight in Afghanistan with his brother Kevin. On April 22, 2004, he was killed in Afghanistan. While most deaths are hidden from public view for the family's privacy, Tillman's death is heralded as a hero's death. He was supposedly killed by insurgents while saving his fellow soldiers. Five weeks after the public ceremonies, the military finally admits that his death is the result of friendly fire. What this documentary reveals is more than a fog of war. There is manipulation. This is not simple bureaucracy. There is a cover-up. Tillman's parents express their personal outrage at being lied to by everybody and are forced to dig for the truth.

and even though people might be moved and/or outraged, it's not like that ever stopped what moves the human animal to do this sort of stuff. people here at IMDb have already written something to the effect that there is truth and then there's the government's truth. that's been true not only of the US govt, but pretty much all govts, when looked at from a certain perspective. and, yes. the US govt is no exception...in fact, it may set new standards in the atrocity cover up dept. but i'll leave that as a response to other documentaries... if you'd like a better idea of what the US govt has done since its inception, i'd advise reading howard zinn's 'a people's history of the united states'. it's a real eye opener. i don't usually like history(maybe b/c, even as a child, i intuited the lies being told), but this book was one of the best(of any genre)i've ever read. and, yes, it's 'biased'. what piece of information ever passed on isn't? but you can decide for yourself how much of it feels truthful. esp in light of America's actions these days. what one needs to understand, basically, is that alpha animals are willing to do whatever it takes to stay alphas. anything it takes includes a lot of things we, generally, consider immoral. but it's 'business as usual'. and the need to control that business/investment. it's done, as i said, worldwide. large companies not only have a large influence on policy making, they, pretty much, dictate policy making. AND, their leaders, as recently seen with wall street and investment bankers, are beyond/above the law. like it or not they ARE the law. i would imagine an effective protest might be to withhold taxes, if large groups of people did so... good luck to those of you with consciences who want to make humane changes. i say this without a bit of sarcasm or failure prejudice implied.

Quite extraordinary documentary dealing with the emotional and intellectual issues around Pat Tillman's death in Afghanistan and subsequent Army cover-up. A film of insight, humanity, and righteous anger, but it never feels manipulative of the people or facts involved.

Like Tillman himself, it avoids simplistic answers and tries to look deeper. This isn't a propaganda piece, but a complex study of a family's grief, and how powerful organizations like the Army sometimes put their own image ahead of human honesty and decency.

Tillman himself emerges as a highly complex man – someone who didn't go off to war looking for glory, and indeed, tried actively just to be treated like any other soldier – a desire the Army refused to honor, even in death (Tillman had specifically, in writing. requested not to have a military funeral should he die in war, but the Army tried to bulldoze the family into one for PR purposes).

He believed the Afghanistan war was a righteous cause, but politically disagreed with the decision to go to war with Iraq, while fighting with honor and distinction. He was an atheist who respected and was curious about all religions, and whose public memorial was co-opted by public figures invoking the name of God, until finally his little brother – in an act of slightly drunken bravery - stood up to tell them all that wasn't who Pat was.

His family emerge as heroes of another kind, working tirelessly to discover the truth of what really happened to their son and why,all the while fighting an Army and political establishment that just wanted them to stand there mute, and look sad and grateful for the cameras.

Amir Bar-Lev is emerging as one of our best documentary filmmakers, and I'd urge you to also check out his earlier work "My Kid Could Paint That" and "Fighter".