Vietnam War Secrets
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Movie Reviews of Vietnam War Secrets
Movie Review: Read a book instead....
Summary: 1 Stars
Absolutely atrocious.
I would have to advise anyone perusing this website in search of a documentary on the Vietnam War to approach this coma inducing snooze fest with extreme caution. Do not be fooled by the content it promises to deliver.
If you're like me, you read the details of any dvd like this with utmost scrutiny lest you find yourself in possession of yet another, by now dime per dozen, chest thumbing, pseudo-patriotic account of US military glory and heroics in a war that was in reality nothing less than a genocidal campaign against a civilian population the US was there ostensibly to "defend". This dvd clearly does not follow that line and for that, we can all be thankful. However, content alone cannot save a documentary. The presentation is truly baffling. I would suspect that the narrator probably borrowed a cheap camera, slipped down into his mother's basement and procured the flag the family hoists up each memorial day, draped it on a wall behind him and then rummaged around for the nearest garden chair to sit down in to present what must be the dullest lectrure ever delivered in the English language. The first disc consists of nothing whatesoever except for the shot of the aformentioned narrator, looking rather uncomfortable (it probably was a tad drafty in his mum's basement) uttering line after monotonous line even mis-speaking on a few occasions. He has zero personality or charisma and it becomes a truly Herculean task to fight off the onslaught of sheer fatigue this utterly unmemorable and excruciatingly dull presentation will induce. There is one other thing that happens in disc one, the narrator who I'm guessing probably stole a few old reels of archival news coverage from the local library, pauses momentarily from his tiresome droning and allows the aforementioned archival footage to present the points he himself has already butchered to the point in which no one on Earth could possibly care about them by virtue of his tedious delivery. This though did present the one interesting moment of disc one, it was indeed a truly vigorous exercise of the intellect to ascertain just what was more torturously dull, the narrator or the pathetic archival footage he vainly hoped would make him look better. The resulting judgment was a ruling of "no contest". I cannot comment on the other three discs because naturally, I did not watch them. I just couldn't. If the introductory disc is that poor, the disc that ideally should compel the viewer and draw them in, what are the chances the others could possibly salvage the wreckage of disc one?
One wonders how this piece of garbage was ever released. I could only conclude that the studio that released it must be owned by proponents of the far right who astutely realized that this amatuerish production does (like Michael Moore) far more to discredit the left than anything else.
Again, I must emphasize that the content itself was good, but the presentation made it unwatchable. You'd be better off spending your money on a book which without question would be far more entertaining as well as more insightful than this dvd. I came into it agreeing with the points made on the dvd (and still do) but midway in disc one, I seriously wanted to switch sides just because of how lame the narrator is.
It's worth noting that more than 40 years before this embarrassing dvd was released, Noam Chomsky pinned a book on the Indochina Wars which were still raging at the time. Unlike the narrator, Chomsky was active then, in the hopes of ending an unjust war the narrator was actually fighting in. It's all hindsight is 20/20 now perhaps for the narrator, but Chomsky was slashing the fictitous justifications for the most disgraceful of wars when it was actually happening. If you want to partke of something truly revelatory and insightful, read Chomsky's book At War with Asia. If you have an unruly and hyperactive child you wish to sedate, watch this video.
Movie Review: Just awful
Summary: 1 Stars
I made the mistake of watching this DVD recently in an effort to learn a little more about the Vietnam War. As an academic, my area of expertise is confined to religious wars fought several centuries ago, but I was keen to understand more about these years, and the terrible atrocities committed on both sides during the Vietnam War. While I don't doubt that Mr Rasen has some respectable credentials as a Vietnam Veteran I am frankly astonished he claims to have any as an`explosive' documentary maker. The promise, that through "these never before released top secret documents and interviews" the real truth about the War will emerge, is just not, in my view, delivered upon. From the outset, the narrator's delivery and style of presentation left me utterly bewildered. Sitting at a desk, speaking in a long monotonous drone, and then simply interspersing this with archive footage of soldiers in action, does not constitute an explosive documentary. A good example of what to expect would be the fact that Mr Rasen repeats, over what looks like a poor PowerPoint demonstration, for minute after tedious minute, not only the casualty numbers, but the endless numbers of the crippled, maimed, wounded, and depressed. List after list after list of men and women killed in helicopters, planes, on the ground, in hospital...it is truly relentless; astonishingly,the only things to gaze upon while this is underway are the figures themselves. Breaking down the deaths of every single member of the American military in Vietnam into torturous categories and sub-categories is something which only the dullest of books should do. I had hoped to learn from this DVD, but ultimately, after an hour of what can only be described as excruciating boredom I switched off. I did make the mistake of trying several of the discs, in an effort to be fair to Mr Rasen, but sadly, I have to report they were all equally dreary.
Unless you wish to spend what will almost certainly be the dullest evening of your life, I'd avoid this.
Movie Review: Unbelievable
Summary: 1 Stars
I just received this DVD set and I am in total disbelief!! This is possibly the worst presentation on ANY subject I have ever seen!!! Rasen sits in an office chair, with the American flag proudly behind him, looks into the camera and READS the monologue! You don't get any visuals, such as maps, charts, footage (at least not on the first disc) or anything else. It's just the author, mindlessly droning on. The subject matter is very insightful, although I was well aware of the Tonkin Gulf "incident", the Russian grain purchase, etc. He makes it seem like he just revealed the secret of life, repeating them again and again. It's not the content of what he talks about, it's the delivery!! Imagine the worst audiobook narrator and then multiply by 10! This whole presentation is so amateurish, it looks like someone in junior high school produced it. This really takes away from the subject matter, which is undoubtetly very important.
I couldn't finish the series, it was just too painful to watch. Instead, I have read three important volumes on the subject, gaining the same knowledge and then some in the process.
Sorry to be this honest, but this is the worst!!!
Movie Review: narrator blew it
Summary: 1 Stars
THE NARRATOR IS BORING,WHAT A FLAT AFFECT.
I HAVE OVER 30 DVD'S ABOUT NAM THAT ARE FANTASTIC.
THERE IS TO MUCH TALKING BY HIM AND GUESS.
WE WANT TO SEE MORE ACTION WITH NARRATING IN THE BACKGROUND.
I AM SURE HE(EDWARD RASEN) MEANS WELL.
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