Search - Declassified - Viet Cong (History Channel) on DVD

Informative documentary hobbled by grating mtv-style product

W.Kim | Los Angeles, California United States | 11/01/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I gave the History Channel documentary, "Viet Cong" three stars, though 2.5 would have been more accurate. The filmmakers present an interesting discussion of the VC tunnels networks (which often included kitchens, classrooms, communications, medical and military facilities, operating undetected in major strategic areas), horrific tactics used to keep American foces on edge, and the major supply operations in neighboring Cambodia, staged by the South Vietnamese guerillas in their long war to drive US ground forces from their country. As such the program has some real pluses, including: impressive, often fascinating footage taken by VC and North Vietnamese reporters, attempts at balancing their portrayal with fleeting acknowledgments of American operations like the flawed Phoenix assassination program, and that however horrific at times, VC tactics weren't as important as the VC and the NVA's willingness to absorb terrible punishment (the narrative points out that 20 vietnamese combatants fell for every American lost in the war) and keep on coming. However it's also marred by a loud, sensationalistic and grating mode of presentation, seeking to hype-up a discussion that's inherently dramatic. The result is a mildly unpleasant viewing experience, one that the viewer patiently endures to see the footage, and pick up what information one can, about this aspect of that ruinous, wasteful conflict."

It helps to understand that war.

Jeffery Mingo | Homewood, IL USA | 06/08/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I was born right after the US was leaving Vietnam, so the facts are cloudy to me and this helped to educate me. This work emphasizes that the Viet Cong were not the same as the Northern Vietnamese Army.



The makers of this work clearly anticipated a male audience. It uses heavy guitar strumming in the background. Almost all, if not all, of the interviewees were male. The work flashes "Declassified" on the screen several times in the same font and bright colors that wrestling programs do.



Foucault's name is never mentioned, but his ideas about conquering the mind come into play here greatly. The narrator said that when the Cong maimed one American soldier it psychologically wounded the others and thus was better than direct deaths. In the converse, the US would tell the Viet Cong their souls would not rest if they were buried with their ancestors. In the awesome film, "Dead Presidents," the VC spread leaflets saying, "Blackmen, this is not your war! Go home!" I wish this film would have brought that up. There is a concern that divisions between Black and white American soldiers may have weakend the military's efforts.



If I remember correctly, in "A Fish Called Wanda," an American character said the US has never lost a war and a British character retorted, "What about Vietnam!?" This documentary ends with someone saying, "Americans weren't willing to fight this war forever and the VC were." It never says who was the victor and who was the defeated. I really think this has to do with appeasing some American viewers who don't want to think of "losing" a war. There may have been some pandering here."