Customer Reviews

Going Upriver - The Long War of John Kerry

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I have not seen the DVD but caught this film in a theatre in my city. I was much more impressed with it than I expected to be. I had thought it would be little more than a testimonial to Kerry, and, while there is certainly that element in it, the film's focus actually goes well beyond that. It presents a compelling portrait of the veterans who returned home from the Vietnam War in the early 1970's, particularly those who felt they had to speak out against it. This is the first documentary treatment I've seen of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War movement, and it's a poignant reminder of the complexity of the issues and emotions that were current at the time. We have tended to forget and oversimplify what these men went through, both during their tours of duty in the war and upon their return to the States. Whatever your feelings about the issues, this film is a serious effort to present those issues in their historical context. Also, from a purely technical standpoint, it is a well-made film.

Last Friday I saw "Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry." I saw footage of things in Vietnam, including swiftboat battle footage, that I would have never understood. Same about the Vietnam vets first in the war and then against. I saw politicians delivering messages that have remained with us, and Nixon's "plumbers" watching the big Vietnam Vets Against the War demo from atop the White House. I heard entertaining excerpt's from Nixon's Watergate tapes, including the one where they retain Swift Boat Veterans for Lies leader John O'Neill to discredit Kerry. I heard Vietnam Vets describe how they lived the war, and heard Kerry wonder out loud in a letter about a Vietnamese fighter he had just shot. I saw Vets vote on whether to break the law by sleeping, and I heard them tell some of their stories. I saw some stunning photography in Vietnam, and some short, fuzzy, home movie clippings.

This is not an advertising film; it's a documentary - a personality study - by the man who wrote "Pumping Iron" about Arnold Schwarzeneggar. At the same time, it dispenses with the Swift Boat Veterans for Falsehood lies simply by talking to the folks who were in the boat with Kerry, whom he protected with personally painful and dangerous actions that really did earn him his medal. The mortality rate in those swift boats was 75% and up, but Kerry's crew members say his quick reactions kept them alive. You can't picture Kerry waiting dumbly 7 to 17 minutes while the Twin Towers are burning.

After going home, Young Kerry showed leadership and maturity as he organized Vietnam Vets Against the War, and helped fellow Vets overcome their trauma and anger to create a peaceful, articulate movement that helped bring the Vietnam War to an end.

I have never considered leadership qualities in choosing a candidate. That just changed.

I am a swing voter and I anticipated that this movie would help me better understand John Kerry as a person and as a leader. It did both and much much more. Clearly, he is a brave and heroic man for having volunteered to serve his country during war and then to oppose it after returning home and listening to many other vets, that something was dramatically wrong with the U.S.'s position. With our 20/20 hindsight, we now know many things were wrong with the US's involvement in Vietnam but he had the courage and insight to see it then!!! as a 27 year old!!! He knew standing against the war would be a potential problem with his political aspirations and he did it anyway because he felt it was the right thing to do. If this doesn't stand in stark contrast to the draft dodging of the so-called leaders in the White House now, you obviously are someone who cannot face the facts.

Although born to a certain level of status, he served with men from all backgrounds and won their respect. He has certainly won my respect and my vote and I highly encourage people to see this movie to learn the context of Kerry's background and to watch an excellent documentary of a very difficult time in American History.

I had some hesitation about seeing this movie. I thought it would be, as one reviewer here said (who probably hasn't even seen this movie), propaganda, meant to sway your vote. But it is nothing of the kind. If you go into this film with a deep hatred for Mr.Kerry, then you will probably still feel the same after having seen it. If you believe that he committed an act of treason when he came back from Vietnam and protested the war, then this will not convince you otherwise.

This film present you with first hand footage of the events that transpired from about '65 to '72. It tells of a generation of hopeful and idealistic men who went to Vietnam to fight a war of liberation. When they get there, they find out that this war is not as it was sold to them. They find themselves shooting and killing the very same people they were there to save. It shows that there were many who questioned the tactics of the war as it was happening on the battlefield, only to be summarily ruled out by their commanding officers. Then they finally leave the war and come home, expecting a hero's welcome. What they find is a country in turmoil, bitterly divided (as we are now) about the wisdom of that war.

What is not widely known is that both parties officially called for a withdrawal of troops and an end to the war in their platforms in 1968 (but the war would go on for another 5 years). So, for all intents and purposes, the war was coming to an end, but American boys were still dying, because of a few obstinate people who held out a fading hope that the war was winnable. When Mr.Kerry came home, he had a choice to make; would he take a stand for the immediate cessation of the war, and thereby save the lives of hundreds and thousands of US soldiers (and also Vietnamese civilians), or would he retreat into the shadows, and go on with his life. You will be surprised to learn that John Kerry played a pivotal role in the war protests, and was probably single handedly responsible in stopping the war when it did.

One thing that strikes me is that while the people here in the states had the luxury of casually debating this war, there were still hundreds of American soldiers dying and getting wounded. There are times when we don't have the luxury of time, when immediate action is required.

Saw this in an independent theater and realized a much more honorable and intelligent man that is seeking the highest office in the land. Mr. Kerry was raised believing in the equality and fairness for all Americans. He went to Vietnam to help his country but then realized what a waste it really was. Upon return, he fought for the lives of the youth who were being sent to fight an unjust war. Nixon used his dirty tricks against teh anti-war campaign and Kerry (in particular). We even get to see John O'Neill who recently wrote a book on Kerry which has been proven to be full of lies and general inaccurancies. In the long run, we see that Kerry is a man of his convictions and principles. Compare what Mr. Kerry achieved at age 27 to what our current president was doing (or more appropriately was NOT doing) at the time. I think the choice is clear in who is more fit to command.

I saw this movie yesterday, and certain scenes are still going through my head, in particular two of the films most wrenching and powerful moments: the first during the Winter Soldier meetings, when veterans came together and talked about their terrible experiences during the war, and the second the moment when the soldiers threw their medals over a fence. That moment had been touched on in the press ad the Republican campaign recently, as the moment where John Kerry "threw his medals away."

But you see here hundreds of soldiers, sometimes even family members and mothers of soldiers who had died, going through true agony as they made the choice to throw their medals, which they felt they had earned with their blood and lives, over the wall. The feeling of betrayal, of hurt and fury were made palpable in the film.

These moments alone, which I had never read about in any detail in high school history books, even in discussions of Vietnam War opposition and protest, made the film worth seeing to anyone curious about the war, Kerry's role in it, and the frightening parallels to the war today. But the rest of the movie is very quiet and measured. It didn't fall into blind praise of Kerry as I had expected it would, but really tried to depict how the war affected him, and his transformation from soldier to protester in a way I found compelling. His testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during these protests is eloquent and compelling evidence of the kind of man he was then and, one hopes, the kind of man he is today.

That testimony, combined with the scenes of the VWVAW protests, especially when you consider how they were in effect spit upon and forgotten in the years since the war, will make this movie an informative and measured antidote to the spewing forth of empty rhetoric and shrill accusations this election season.

This film shows that John Kerry is the right man, the right time, the right place!
At 27 yrs. of age he led, took risks, he stayed centered, he spoke with clarity and conviction .
Note the conversation between Nixon and Haldeman!
This is a must see film.

This movie really put into context how the twisted policies of "Attrition" and "Body Count" led to our killing of one and a half million Vietnamese civilians during the 10 year war. It's hard to understand how much worse this war was than the Iraq war is now but it foreshadows what could happen if we stay on our current course in Iraq.

The misguided assumption that the Vietnamese people would see the US as liberators despite the fact that we carelessly killed innocent civilians is an eerie parallel to the problems we are facing in Iraq. Bush stated in the first debate that it is time the people of Iraq begin to defend themselves. The irony is that that is exactly what they are doing and that is the problem.

The first I ever heard of John Kerry was on Iowa Public Television which aired a town hall meeting with Kerry before the caucus. I was impressed with how he listened to the questions directed to him and answered them knowledgably and thoroughly. Later I went to a Kerry rally out of curiousity and came away feeling good about him because he nailed every issue important to me. I feel that Bush has radically left the Republican party and no longer embodies conservative or christian values. I decided to support John Kerry after this rally because, if he keeps his word, he will be an intelligent President with an articulate plan of action.

Then I watched Going Upriver at the theater. I sobbed after this movie because I'm an activist and I hate needless war, loss of humanity for no desperate cause, destruction of life, family, home, country for politics. I was truely moved by the leadership and courage Kerry showed in his youth. He saw the futility of the Vietnam war first hand, and he had the integrity to speak out against it, even if it killed his political future to join a movement unpopular with the government.

You may say the commentary is biased, but I saw the video footage from the time, I heard the words that came out of Kerry's mouth 30 years ago after the war, and I made up my own mind. This is the kind of man I want leading my nation. I want a person with this kind of composure and conviction leading us out of Iraq, protecting me from the terrorist threat, and restoring our economy to prosperity.

See this movie and see where our next President has been and how he looks at the world. He doesn't see the world in simplistic black and white, the back slapping cowboy impersonation, reducing everything to the lowest common denominator.
Kerry sees wrong as try to right them, without feeling that it a sign of weekness to say this is the wrong path.
The movie's beautifully done, a thought provoking look at then and of now. It should be shown in schools all over the country to show our young that it is unnessary to go blind into the world and the voting booth.