The Vietnam War

I love documentaries, I'm incredibly interested in wars and I'm biased towards Ken Burns' Docs. So I may be skewed in that regard when I say that The Vietnam War was the most moving thing I have seen on my television set in years, maybe decades. It is an investment. 10 episodes, most of them 2 hours long, at times admittedly redundant, but packed with incredible insight, astounding footage, and all kinds of juicy political revelations. I have heard some criticisms that this documentary leans favorably towards Communism and does not celebrate American soldiers enough. I would beg of anybody to watch this to put aside their political views when watching this beautiful documentary. Many times during my viewings, I thought I had a firm stance on something that occurred during the war and then somebody would come on and share their view on the subject. Immediately, my view was shaken, if not changed altogether. I can't say that the film looks favorably or unfavorably on any particular political party or 'side' if you will. All I can tell you is that everybody, from VietCong farmer, anti-war protesters, prisoners of wars to ambassadors all have plenty of screen time to share their perspective. And in a nutshell, that's what blew me away about this documentary. The different perspectives that arose. I am only convinced of one thing after seeing this documentary, there simply is no answers on this war. And certainly no obvious truths. War is complex, war is hell, war wounds and war heals. You can go into this thing looking to vilify Nixon, slander the VietCong, lambaste antiwar protesters, but I assure you you will walk away having learnt something and fostered a new outlook. Incredibly highly recommended but this is not popcorn and beer viewing. Serious, graphic and powerful stuff. Amazing.

Over the years I have soaked up every film and documentary I could find on the subject of the Vietnam war, and I can say this series is by far the most profoundly complete I have seen. It uses insights from the individuals caught up in it - the Viet Cong & North Vietnamese Army, the US Military & South Vietnamese army, civilians from both sides, politicians and journalists alike, to explain, account and report from the early circumstances causing the build up and outbreak of the war through the fierce intensity at the height of the conflict to the final withdrawal and legacies.

It explores and reports the socio-political aspects, the strategies and technologies, the cultural contrasts of the belligerents and most of all the people fighting it. It gets across the absolute sacrificial determined tenacity of the north Vietnamese and Viet Cong people - hand made IEDs and mind boggling hard graft versus the richest most technically advanced, but often disillusioned, army in the world (not the last time this would happen). It covers every angle - it's the most complete and compelling telling of this tragic yet fascinating landmark in our history that I've come across.

If you have an interest in this significant piece of modern history - the first rock n roll war - which became an unmitigated disaster, this brilliant, powerful and compelling series is absolutely unmissable.

I'm honestly shocked at some of the negative reviews. This is quite comprehensive and almost seems appropriate that there are so many personal accounts intertwined. It's actually a blessing to have so many people from that generation (I was a baby and young child over those years) able to share their insight.

From the beginning, we get the history of France's involvement in the region starting in the mid 19th century and it leads through the political history of Vietnam along with some of their key leaders.

I think for many who think Vietnam was a mistake, its true but perhaps not for the reasons many assume. But there is a lot of overlap over administrations from Truman to Nixon back then to what's happening now starting with Iraq and likely even before then. We never learned the lessons of Vietnam and to this day over both democratic and republican controlled leadership, we have made the same mistakes in the Middle East.

This's should be must TV for people today to see how much we and our leaders haven't learned.

This isn't an easy watch, but it's one that I would highly recommend nonetheless. I watch many documentaries, but I have only rarely seen such an insightful and comprehensive portrait of a chapter in history.

Over the course of 16.5 hours this docu series takes the viewer from the earliest roots of the conflict in Vietnam and the country's sad colonial history to its modern-day reality after the war. Along the way, it tells a mesmerizing, shocking, appalling, tragic - but most of all: incredibly immersive and informative - story from the perspective of the people who were affected by this man-made tragedy.

Unlike most other documentaries on the subject, we also get to hear first hand accounts from North- and South Vietnamese officers, ARVN and Vietcong fighters, civilians from both the South and the North, in addition to learning more about the American experience and about the profound effect the conflict had on US society.

What Ken Burns and Lynn Novick have accomplished here can hardly be overstated; this is more than "just" an in-depth look at the Vietnam War: this is nothing less than the portrait of an era. A masterful work. 10 stars out of 10

Favorite TV-Shows reviewed: imdb.com/list/ls075552387/

Favorite films: IMDb.com/list/mkjOKvqlSBs/

Lesser-Known Masterpieces: imdb.com/list/ls070242495/

Favorite Low-Budget and B-Movies: imdb.com/list/ls054808375/

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Heartbreaking. Deeply moving and beautiful film about a great tragedy. Many of the 18 hours made me want to cry.

I've watched every minute of every film Ken Burns ever made. I couldn't be a bigger fan. I know not everyone is, but I don't understand how. (Too emotional? Emotions are the greatest truths. And that's never more the case than in this film "The Vietnam War".) (Too liberal? No, objective, moderate.)

It's common for Burns's works to contain important tangential sub-themes. (A primary sub-theme of "Baseball" was race in America.)

"The Vietnam War" only had minor tangential sub-themes. It's story is so important that it didn't need major ones. Burns's "The Civil War" (about the only more-divisive war in American history) told the story of a nation growing up, coming together. "The Vietnam War" tells the story of America becoming it's modern, highly polarized, ungovernable/chaotic present. As such this film could not be more current, relevant, and important.