Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I've owned and treasured an incomplete VHS set of this marvelous series since the late 80's, and now I know where part of my tax refund is going. This fascinating documentary series from the late 70's walks a very fine line between scholarship and pure entertainment. Although the delivery is decidedly dry, representing well the less sensationalistic Cronkite-era jounalistic dignity, this very long series never ceases to inform and absorb you. Viewers who have come of age in the CNN/Oliver Stone era may have a tough time NOT being told who the villians are, but man oh man is it a blessed relief for sentient humans. Vietnam:The ten thousand day war, is as close to agenda-free as you will ever see these days. The roles and experiences of the 3 Presidential administrations, the Vietminh, and the anti-war demonstrators are studied in minute detail, never betraying for a moment any editorial slant at all. The day-long running time allows for an exhaustive look at all aspects of the conflict including several with which most of us are unfamiliar, the early stages of the conflict and the role of the French for example, spending almost 2 hours on Dien Bien Phu alone. The film spends a great deal of time following the enormous diplomatic complexities the conflict entailed, instantly making fools of all the pundits of any political stripe who nursed any number of pat, absurd "Why don't we just leave??" or "Why don't we just flatten them??" notions. The one thing I can promise the casual historian or political science major is this; you will walk away from the experience of this documentary series knowing a great deal more about the Vietnam war and era than you did before you sat down. It is, without a doubt the most scholarly and objective documentary on any subject I have ever seen, and yes, that includes Burns's The Civil War.
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The real story behind the longest, most controversial war in modern history. Known as history's first "living room war," the Vietnam conflict is presented in this nearly 10-hour documentary with clarity, authority, and insight, complete on 2 DVDs. Written by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Peter Arnett and narrated by Richard Basehart (Moby Dick, LaStrada), Vietnam: The Ten Thousand Day War covers the entire conflict, examining the shifting attitudes of the United States toward Vietnam from 1945, when the battleground was known as French Indochina, to 1975, when Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese. This superb award-winning series of programs re-examines without blame or judgment the rise and fall of America's 20-year commitment to the war in Vietnam. Forceful and evocative, with film clips shot by both sides, it revisits the time and place that molded a generation and changed the course of American politics forever.
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