Genre Guesstimation – The Vietnam War (2017)

The idea behind this feature (Genre Guesstimation) is for me to watch a bunch of new movies (or ones that I haven’t seen many times) from the chosen monthly GG genre in order to expand my knowledge of movies within that particular genre.

This month’s Genre has been chosen by Quiggy of The Midnite Drive-In and it is Documentary Films.

Please get me your submissions by the 25th of Dec by sending them to docuquiggy@movierob.net

Try to think out of the box!

Let’s see if I felt that this movie would be worthy of being in the company of my others favorite movies in the genre of Documentary Films.…

“If aggression is successful in Korea, we can expect it to spread throughout Asia and Europe and to this hemisphere. ” – President Harry S. Truman

Number of Times Seen – 1 (10 Dec 2018)

Brief Synopsis – A comprehensive look at the US policies that led to the war in Vietnam and how it affected the country over more than 2 decades.

My Take on it – This is a documentary that I’ve been meaning to watch for quite a while but the near 17 hour run time always kept me from doing so. I decided to devote a few days to it and was rewarded with such a riveting film that is among the best documentaries that I’ve ever had the privilege to watch.

Ken Burns is an amazing documentary director and he does a superb job drawing the viewer in right from the start and not letting go until the final frame.

Many scenes in this film were left stewing in my mind long after watching them.

The choice to give both a broad perspective and an individual one was a great choice because that allows the viewer to get more emotionally attached to the story being told.

It gives a clearer understanding of the time and of everything going on from a very intimate and personal perspective throughout.

This film is filled with a vast amount of information and it’s unbelievable to think about how daunting a task it must have been putting this all together.

They do a nice job of trying to stay as unbiased as possible while presenting the various sides to this conflict.

This film has hundreds of interviews with people on the various sides of the conflict and this makes it even more engrossing and poignant throughout.

The footage shown is breathtaking to watch and shows real day to day life of the men and woman who fought in the war.

It’s extremely interesting to watch and stays that way for the entire run time.

This film will definitely now be quite high on my list of best films of 2017.

Bottom Line – Amazing documentary that draws the viewer in so deeply and doesn’t let go for nearly 17 hours. The choice to give both a broad and personal look at the war and its effect is a great one because it allows the viewer to get a much better understanding of things from a very personal and intimate perspective. The amount of information that this film gives the viewer is unbelievable and they do a great job trying to stay as unbiased as possible.  The hundreds of interviews with people on various sides of the conflict make it even more poignant and breathtaking.  The footage shown is engrossing and helps keep things so interesting throughout.  One of the best documentaries that I’ve ever seen and will now be quite high on my top ten list for 2017. Highly Highly Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Many of the combat footage reels shown throughout the series are not from the battle being discussed, for example, during the discussion of Saigon during the Tet Offensive, several videos filmed in the city of Hue are shown as if they are in Saigon. (From IMDB)

Genre Grandeur Worthy? – Absolutely! Amazing documentary that is so comprehensive and so riveting to wtach because it allows the viewer to get a better understanding of everything that happened.

Rating – Oscar Worthy (10/10)

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