Dean2006@Hollywood:

What?s the difference between the war in Iraq and the war in Vietnam? For those who belong to the anti-war party, it seems, there is none. That?s why the relevance to this autumn?s presidential election of the re-release of Peter Davis?s passionate anti-Vietnam War documentary, Hearts and Minds, from 1974 can just be assumed. According to Michael Moore it is "not only the best documentary I?ve ever seen ? it may be the best movie ever. .as relevant today as ever." Well, you can see why he would say that. Davis pioneered the use of the propaganda techniques that Moore himself has since brought to such a striking degree of refinement in Fahrenheit 9/11. In particular, Davis is a master at setting up scenes of those he doesn?t like ? which is to say patriotic Americans and supporters of the war ? looking ridiculous, foolish or vicious and juxtaposing them with scenes of those he does like ? that is, the avowed enemies of the United States ? looking brave, noble and hard done-by. Having established this as the film?s basic technique, he uses it again and again, mechanically inflicting on us manufactured irony after manufactured irony in place of any genuine argument about or investigation into the rationale of the war.

Michael Iadarola:

I guess i'm here to provide another "breathless" review. I think this is one of the most powerful documentaries I've ever seen. I don't say that lightly - it's a hell of a thing to see Westmorland say "The oriental just doesn't respect life the way a Westerner does" right after footage of a Vietnamese soldier's funeral, complete with his little boy wailing uncontrollably. I guess that's just me falling for "communist propaganda" (OrcaRex). "Dirk" found Hearts & Minds to be "haphazard and without narration," which I could definitely see being a problem if you like your own worldview spoon-fed right back to you. Funny how the negative reviews of the film all fall into the same jingoistic, 'it's - just - not - evenhanded - enough,' twaddle camp. Judge for yourself and if you love this country, love it enough to be uncompromisingly critical of it when necessary.

ykf 483620:

Rarely is a film that was made almost twenty five years ago as prescient as Hearts & Minds is today. This is a film about the Vietnam war. It is a long reaching narrative of those who fought, those who suffered, those who protested and those who cheered. The doc is very classic style. There isn't any narration and the film uses a combination of verite and interview to tell its story. I know some other Flixers seem to be put off by this, but I think that the style of this film is solid. There isn't anything out of context... in fact, I think the cuts between "Hollywood" film and doc film works to great effect. The obvious point of that was to juxtapose the mythic qualities of war with its actual harsh realities. I also think this doc was pretty fair. I'll admit that there are a couple cheap shots... for instance, the cut shot from the devastating war victim to General Westmoreland talking about how "orientals don't respect life." Well, that's just a little unfair... but largely the film is very honest. I was struck by how articulate the interviewees were. The one pilot talking about how he just did his job, but now looking back realizes how wrong that was... wow. I mean, that is just so solid and couldn't be more relevant today. This film exemplifies why as the ability to both enact war and at the same time distance ourselves from it increases... so must our knowledge and comprehension of what we're doing. We can't be the blind bomb throwers. We must respect the atrocity of the war. If for no other reason that's what makes this film worth a watch. In a climate that allowed the Iraq war to happen, I can't imagine a better reminder of why we as a society should be much more cautious. I highly recommend this to all.

ykf 483620:

Rarely is a film that was made almost twenty five years ago as prescient as Hearts & Minds is today. This is a film about the Vietnam war. It is a long reaching narrative of those who fought, those who suffered, those who protested and those who cheered. The doc is very classic style. There isn't any narration and the film uses a combination of verite and interview to tell its story. I know some other Flixers seem to be put off by this, but I think that the style of this film is solid. There isn't anything out of context... in fact, I think the cuts between "Hollywood" film and doc film works to great effect. The obvious point of that was to juxtapose the mythic qualities of war with its actual harsh realities. I also think this doc was pretty fair. I'll admit that there are a couple cheap shots... for instance, the cut shot from the devastating war victim to General Westmoreland talking about how "orientals don't respect life." Well, that's just a little unfair... but largely the film is very honest. I was struck by how articulate the interviewees were. The one pilot talking about how he just did his job, but now looking back realizes how wrong that was... wow. I mean, that is just so solid and couldn't be more relevant today. This film exemplifies why as the ability to both enact war and at the same time distance ourselves from it increases... so must our knowledge and comprehension of what we're doing. We can't be the blind bomb throwers. We must respect the atrocity of the war. If for no other reason that's what makes this film worth a watch. In a climate that allowed the Iraq war to happen, I can't imagine a better reminder of why we as a society should be much more cautious. I highly recommend this to all.

BunnyKing:

This film is a gripping depiction of history that many would like us to forget. Time has a way of glossing things over until we either move on, or romanticize. Who could really know how devestating the Holacaust was unless they lived in those times? How could the younger generations know how brutal, and terrible, and wrong the Vietnam war was unless they lived through those times? This documentary is all the more haunting now that we're coming to the end of the Iraq war and the viewer can see the connections between the two. It would be interesting to watch this film again and replace the word "communism" with "terrorism" and "vietcong" with "al qaeda". Instead of jungles, there would be deserts; everything else would remain the same. On its own, this is a moving film. In context with the story it tells, it's even more powerful. But in context with today's current situations, it's a mountain of force that must be reckoned with.

ggr 1546907:

Too long to for space here. See detailed review at move-ez dot blogspot dot com.