Waste of time

This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

I thought that I was aware during the 60's and 70's regarding the War in Vietnam. Clearly I was not. I completely missed this exceedingly important part of the protests of U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia. I had thought that the student protests were a big part of our finally leaving Vietnam. It appears that is probably highly exaggerated as it was the actual soldiers who rebelled against the war, how it was being waged and the many, many lies we back in the States were told. And, this was at a time that the press was not the lapdog of the government as it is now with the Bush administration.A truly amazing moment, though small (spoiler here), was the myth after the war that returning soldiers were spat upon at the airport. A brief and interesting discussion about this leads me to believe that it was another Hawk-led bit of propaganda to continue trying to embarrass and shame those who opposed the war. Bottom line is that this excellent documentary shows us some incredibly brave heroes who sacrificed a great deal personally to oppose the War in Vietnam. And, that our soldiers are really a wonderfully brave representation of the best in our country. Bravo to these great vets, and of course, to those involved in this present war.

I thought I knew a lot about the Vietnam War protest movement, but obviously, not enough.I knew some soldiers had thrown their medals on the congressional steps and gone to peace marches, but not that thousands of American soldiers were actively involved in ending the war from within. And not because they were afraid to die or get hurt, but because they realized that the Vietnam War was immoral, illegal and they were killing people in a country who had never done anything against the United States THEY are the ones who deserve most of the credit for stopping the Vietnam war, not the civilians at home. The soldiers risked beatings, imprisonment and even death to protest the lies and atrocities of the Vietnam war, not for financial gain or glory, but to preserve their sense of morality. They showed true bravery--saying "NO MORE!" and were able to stop the bloodshed--for at least a few years. Thanks, guys!!!! This documentary also discusses the lie spread by right-wingers that protesters spit on returning soldiers, even ones on stretchers. A former Vietnam Vet investigated it thoroughly-- it DID NOT happen! Every American soldier in Iraq should see this. It's from the mouths of thousands of their own.On a technical level: The rare vintage footage is mastered at a very high level--audio is clean and clear. Interesting soundtrack, not the "Oldies" I'd expected, but modern, edgy--which was the perfect choice.And, oh, yeah, just in case you don't get the message from the cover, this is not a pro-con view of the Vietnam War. This film is definitely Anti-war.

I sat in my college dorm room in 1972, after student deferments had been discontinued under political pressure, and I watched TV with my roommates as the man pulled birthdays out of a bowl in order to put them in numerical order to determine who would get called up first, second, and so on, according to their date of birth. Some of us drew lower numbers and started to sweat, not knowing if we would end up running to Canada, maybe forever, or if we would try to find a doctor who would give us an out (flat feet, allergies, homosexuality), but the medical excuses were getting harder and harder to pull off. By 1972, the draft boards were getting tired of everybody claiming to be gay or psychotic, so they drafted the weirdos and sissies anyway. It was a time when the fear became so palpable, that it drove me bats insane, so I hope people can understand why some of us protested, even violently. Now, to see that soldiers in Vietnam resisted the war even after they had been sent over there comes as something of a revelation because that fact has been glossed over by revisionist historians working for the power elite. This documentary shows how some guys resisted fighting and were court-martialed for it, in some cases being put on trial for treason, with a possible death sentence. Then there were the underground presses. Tons of homemade newspapers were circulated under threat of dishonorable discharge or even court martial for merely having a copy of a rebellious rag. The GI's who published these things were heroes in the truest sense. Jane Fonda, who is mostly remembered for her visit to Hanoi, was actually in Nam entertaining the troops in a bizarre parallel to Bob Hope. He would put on "patriotic" USO shows while Fonda and her troupe were invited by soldiers who liked her politics better. And it drove the officers crazy, but they couldn't stop her from going where she was invited. God has blessed me by allowing me to meet Ms. Fonda. She was presenting this film in NYC, and she hung out at the cafe in the IFC movie theater, where it is now playing. I pulled out my draft card, which I have been carrying in my wallet for 34 years. I asked her to autograph it, and she said, "Oh, cool!" Her signature is on the card right above that of S. Witherspoon, the local draft board administrator. Email me if you want me to send you a jpeg of this little artifact of history.

Sir! No Sir! (2005) written and directed by David Zeiger is the "must-see" documentary of 2005. The film tells the story of the GI resistance movement during the Vietnam war.I'm a Vietnam-era veteran, and I was peripherally involved in the military-based resistance to the war. Although I certainly wasn't an important player, I knew enough about what was happening to attest that the depiction in "Sir! No Sir!" is accurate and balanced. (Most of my own anti-war activity took place when I was off duty and could participate in public peace demonstrations. The GI's who opposed the war when they were on active duty took much greater risks than I did.)Jane Fonda played a pivotal role in the anti-war movement, and she has a pivotal role in this movie. It's interesting that Ms. Fonda has--no doubt under pressure--retracted some of her statements and apologized for some of her anti-war activities. In the film she is not apologetic about her actions, and she clearly believes that what she did was right. I'm not sure which persona represents the real Jane Fonda. I hope it's the unashamed activist who was trying to save lives--both US and Vietnamese.The movie spends quite a bit of time discussing the famous story about returning GI's getting spit at by peace activists. I had always accepted this story as true. All the civilian peace activists I knew were in sympathy with the GI's--we opposed the generals and the Commander- in-Chief, Richard Nixon, as well as his chief adviser, Henry Kissinger. However, I assumed that a small splinter group of peace activists really did harass returning GI's. The film takes the position that the spitting episode never happened--it's an urban legend. I don't know the truth of this matter, but the fact that it may not have happened is certainly something worth thinking about.I was interested that the word "Iraq" never appeared in the film. However, the implications of this movie are obvious. We are again bogged down in an unpopular war that cannot be won. Before the war on Iraq started, many of us in the peace movement said, "It's going to be another Vietnam. U.S. GI's and Iraqis will die, and the country will be divided." The rest is history, as they say.In summary, this is an important documentary, whether or not you agree that the GI resistance movement was the correct and proper response to the war in Vietnam. See it and decide for yourself!