Customer Reviews

Vietnam the Ten Thousand Day War 6 (Mini-Series) [VHS]

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

Produced at a time when the public's conception of the war was at an impass, Vietnam: The Ten Thousand Day War was not only a document of one of the darkest chapters in American History, but an indictment of war as a whole.

This unflinching documentary will take places you never thought you'd see. The jungles, the cities, the back roads, the fields, even the mountains of what was once an idyllic paradise, all are the backdrop for a journey of horror. Combining news, military, and independent documentary footage, we are transported through the entire spectrum of the conflict. We see it all, from the end of French Occupation, through the arrival of military "advosors", Tet, and the fall of Saigon. You'll even examine the war at home.

If you are still questioning why this tiny country in southeast asia was so crucial to our country's history, make this the first and last documentary you watch on the subject. You'll never be the same again.

Undeniably, the best single series about America's involvement in the Viet Nam war. From the meager beginnings in Communist China through the fall of Saigon, this wonderfully accurate and detailed series covers the Viet Nam war in a style that will fascinate any historian, and captivate every viewer. The production quality is top notch, underscored by superb narration from Richard Basehart. In short, this series is to the Viet Nam war what the "World at War" series was to World War II. Buy it and watch it, so that we may never forget how it all happened, and help us prevent it from reoccurring in the future.

I love this series. I teach at the college level and desperately want my students to see this! I was too broke to buy the DVD series the first time now I cannot find it anywhere. When is it going to be re-released? Does anyone know anything? Where to write the distribution company perhaps?

The folks at Image Entertainment own the rights to this series and have told me they have no plans to re-release it. If you want it re-released find their web-page (just put Image Entertainment in your search engine) and email them and let them hear from you! Its the only way to get them to understand how badly people want this re-released. Otherwise I fear it is lost to history.

I borrowed this video from a library and watched it with several Vietnamese from Hanoi who were studying overseas and had experienced the war in the North. They thought it gave a very balanced account of events even though it had been made by Americans. I later used the series when teaching Vietnamese History at Asmara University and at a South Korean university. I found it excellent.

I have had the chance to watch many episodes of this brilliant and IMHO indispensable and exhaustive historical documentary on the Vietnam war. As this is definitely a war which did suffer from constant disinformation in its coverage at the time, this presentation systematically discloses all the events in their proper perspective. Nothing else I have seen so far in a video format even comes close to the excellency and thoroughness of this realization. Plus the solid pace does keep your attention appropriately riveted. I think this series clearly demonstrates Washington's systematic blundering and inefficiency in the Vietnam era, which can help us draw parallels with the present Irak quagmire. It is a flawlessly critical documentary, which makes it indispensable. But it is now impossible to find since it appears to be out-of-print. Please bring this great DVD set back in print!

This is one of the most thorough, comprehensive video treatments of the long Vietnam War. The series begins with an overview of the set, which is helpful to those unfamiliar with the conflict. The next 11 chapters cover the post-World War II French occupation and the fall of Dien Bien Phu through the 1975 fall of Saigon (i.e., 30 years, or 10,000 days). Along the way, we see video footage from both sides of the Ho Chi Minh trail, the firepower used by both sides, the effects of the war on the American public, and the sad evacuation of Saigon. This is followed by a video giving the perspective of soldiers who fought in the war.

The set includes an impressive number of interviews from important actors like US Ambassador Ellsworth Bunker, Gen. William Westmoreland, South Vietnamese Presidents Thieu and Ky, North Vietnamese officials, many anti-war activists, and ordinary soldiers. The 13 chapters (on five tapes, at least in my Discovery channel version) provide a thorough overview of the conflict. The footage is often rare and always riveting. Richard Basehart narrates with the right amount of authority.

This is probably the most balanced of the video series out there, although that may be damning it with faint praise. The reason I deducted a star from what otherwise would be a five-star series is that like many discussions of this conflict, it is framed by the point of view that the Vietnam war was essentially a nationalistic struggle against imperialism and the North Vietnamese simply had more "will to fight." In this telling, the American government and the South Vietnamese (including ARVN) seem to be in a race to the bottom as to who would give up first.

What is not emphasized here is the enormous support given the North Vietnamese by the Soviets -- the only Russian we see is Kosygin, at Ho's funeral. We are not shown the many who fled south as Ho took power; the tens of thousands who crossed over from the Viet Cong to support the South Vietnamese government; and the horror inflicted on villagers who resisted attempts to force them to work for the North Vietnamese side. No footage is shown of the "re-education camps," where hundreds of thousands were sent, nor of the "boat people" who fled for their lives, even though this series was made in 1980, when these events were already known. The series does not adequately cover the difference in strategy and tactics when Westmoreland was replaced by Creighton Abrams or point out that the new strategy was actually working. This series was tailored to support a certain point of view.

Nevertheless, if balanced by books like "A Better War," by Lewis Sorley, this is an indispensable addition to anyone's collection of Vietnam War studies.

Anyone interested in the Vietnam saga has to watch this documentary. It is thorough - at times a tiny bit repetitive - and whilst understandably centered on the American experience there, it also describes the French debacle and puts the whole episode in context. Some of the choices can be disputed - the intrinsically totalitarian nature of Hanoi's regime is quite understaed for instance - but these are minor details in an otherwise admirable work.

UPDATE ON WHERE TO VIEW THIS SERIES

FYI It has been posted on (...) in it's typically user posted low resolution but it is watchable and
better then watching it full of TV commercials per episode. IMHO. This series is really hard to find even
a copied set, but if you Google it you will find sets for (...).


This is one of best war documentaries ever made (I place it tied or at least close to "The World At War"). I would seriously think of purchasing it because it's being shown in chopped up episodes full of commercials on TV now. Why do I think it's so good? It was made just 5 years after the end of the American involvement so all the major characters were still alive to be interviewed. The Vietnam War was the most filmed war ever to that time so the documentary is able to take advantage of all the film (mostly in color). Lastly, Richard Basehart's narrative voice is as distinguished as James Earl Jones. I never perceived a bias politically on the series, (I lean heavily to the right on foreign affairs), and I think although the war was a tactical loss, it helped win the cold war so it was a strategic win (the east could not provide the basic necessities of life while competing with the west's war machine output). Still, just reading now that Peter Arnett wrote this series makes me pause, but if any war deserved Peter Arnett's input I guess this one would. Maybe it's not being re-released because Arnett has "jumped the shark" and has been totally discredited as an objective journalist. It's a shame because there isn't anything on the Vietnam War that comes close to this series quality and historical reference. To all you American (and Allied) Vietnam Vets, God Bless You Brothers and Sisters, I salute you!

I've seen almost all Nam's TV documentaries because I bought them and this one is the most comprehensive. It states the facts and having owned the VHS tapes (that I offered to someone dear to me), I'm now expecting for the other documentaries (CBS, ABC) to be on DVD.