Admirable film.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Not a bad series, have seen it a couple of times now and lots of very informative stuff. Generally not a bad series but did note tonight that it seems that some of the on board carrier film is actually from the movie the final countdown.

I was born just shy of 10 years after Saigon fell so I had no relation to the war. I do have a strong interest in history, especially military history, but I must be honest, I avoided this documentary for a long time because Vietnam can be a hurtful subject and everything about the war since it ended has been so negative. I would never argue we, America, won the war, but everything I have ever been shown, taught, or read pretty much makes the point that everything about the war was evil or wrong. No exception. One evening I finally watched this documentary and I have to say it was perspective changing. I cannot tell you firsthand what Vietnam was like, but I can tell you first hand that if you started school in the 1980s or later, you have never been taught an unbiased view of the war. This documentary is the closest thing to an unbiased take on Vietnam I have yet encountered. This documentary does exactly what a good documentary should; open you to multiple perspectives by exposing you to film and primary sources and interviews. That exposure challenges you to think on your own. I came away with a new opinion on the whole war.Many reviewers criticize and say this documentary is jingoistic by trying to convince people the war was being won. On the contrary, the only reference to 'winning' I saw was the quotations of the Johnson administration about how we were 'winning' in body counts and the documentary uses this directly as a contrast to the reality the soldiers were facing of the ground. That is the endless Search and Destroy runs where people would die and gained territory was quickly abandoned. This documentary pulls no punches and is not afraid to showcase the insanity of the Vietnam War. Lots of stupid things were done. Lots of opportunities were missed. This documentary does not hide it.On the other side, this documentary doesn't write off the war as inherently evil or as a perpetually lost cause. It does not hide the fact we now know the NVA was nearly crippled after Tet and the US didn't capitalize on it. Similarly it doesn't hide that Nixon balked at destroying Vietcong supplies in Cambodia after Kent State. Are those things controversial? Yes. Missed opportunities? Maybe so. The documentary doesn't tell you what to think, it simply exposes you to fresh perspectives that my grade school teachers never offered me.Don't let commercial reviews fool you. This documentary is not overly simplistic. It is simply a fresh overview of a very complex subject. Overviews have their place. I guarantee that you will take new things away from this film. This documentary overviews the good bad and the ugly. Before I saw it all I was ever taught was the bad and ugly.Ultimately, this documentary really shines in giving our G.I.s the credit they deserve for sacrificing everything in the absence of clear objectives. Don't marginalize them or this documentary just because a majority of historians feel that Vietnam has to be portrayed a certain way.

yes, the footage is good, but as someone who's (too) familiar with combat situations and the history of war (the Vietnam war as well), I must say this isn't a documentary. The series try too much to show the US as the winning side in the conflict instead of covering the other aspects of the war. see how they emphasize the concept of "winning" after each and every scene and battle. If I had to summarize the purpose behind this series it would be "lets show all the great footage we got and present it as if America actually won the Vietnam war".There are no winners in war. war is nothing more than a military means to a political end. it suck. it's horrific. but this series don't deal with the political aspects around the Vietnam war, so winning has nothing to do with it. This series claim to cover the historical aspect, so what's with all the claims of "we've won" this and "we've won" that.Military is all about combat, tactics, weapons etc. but to understand war is to understand how we, as people, react to all the different aspects of it. If you're interested in the history of Vietnam war then I suggest you look elsewhere. Start by reading the "dull" history facts, then watch "china beach" to learn of the human aspects and the side-effects, and then try to get your hands on "secrets of war - Vietnam - hidden in plain site" (by the History channel) to understand how it looked from the VC side.Learn about war so if you ever forced into one, at least be aware of the true nature and ramifications of it, on both sides.

I'm giving this one a 5 for the footage. It's nice to see so much original footage and that's what I'm always looking for. I admire the people with the cameras in the field. So using their footage means giving them credit for what they did. They shot with cameras, not with guns. Too bad, however, that it's almost all US footage, almost no North VN footage was used.Other than that, this is yet another very one-sided documentary of the Vietnam war. From the first second to the last everything shouts "look at us heroes, we're so awesome, we did so good". Americans seem to be utterly incapable of objectively reporting on the subject of war. It seems to me that with every documentary on the subject they're doing all they can to cover up the fact that they got their asses kicked. By a much weaker force by the way. Just admit it and move on. Terrible things happened and those are the facts. That's what I want from a documentary, the facts! Not a deep-sounding voice telling me how difficult some General's decision was, how long he had to think about it just to portray him as a good guy. State the facts please, and leave it at that. Don't put the ever-American gloss over it to make it look more than it is.Conclusion : If you want a 50/50 mix between some Band Of Brothers with some info put in and everything video and audio pointing out they were incredible heroes, than watch this. If you're looking for a good documentary stating the facts and looking at this war from both sides, keep looking, this is not it.