THE VIETNAM WAR, an immersive ten-part, eighteen hour documentary film series directed by acclaimed filmmakers Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, tells the epic story of one of the most divisive, consequential and misunderstood events in American history, as it has never before been told on film. Not edited for Television.
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User Reviews
AikBanda
2024-01-26
This documentary series helped me understand a very complex era of the past in a way that multiple books on the same topic could not. Very well done. I am a fan!
Gradywastaken
2023-01-13
I took a Vietnam War class in my school, we just finished the semester after watching the whole documentary from the class, this is one of the greatest documentaries I’ve ever seen. All the information given in the 10 episodes just makes me more interested and wanting to learn more about the war. I would highly recommend people to watch this.
(ツliluvʕ´•ᴥ•`ʔ
2022-06-16
Vietnam kicked America's butts lol 𝕒𝕞𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕔𝕒 𝕕𝕠𝕖𝕤 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕒 𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕒𝕘𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕤𝕥 𝕍𝕚𝕖𝕥𝕟𝕒𝕞 𝕙𝕒𝕙𝕒𝕙𝕒𝕙𝕙𝕒𝕙𝕒𝕙 ☻ 🇻🇳 𝕨𝕙𝕠𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕗𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕒𝕞𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕔𝕒 𝕦 𝕕𝕦𝕞𝕞𝕚𝕖𝕤 𝕀 𝕙𝕒𝕥𝕖 𝕦 𝕚𝕗 𝕦 𝕠𝕟 𝔸𝕞𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕤𝕚𝕕𝕖 𝕀 𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕗𝕖𝕣 𝕍𝕚𝕖𝕥𝕟𝕒𝕞 𝕤𝕚𝕕𝕖 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕀'𝕞 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕤𝕠 𝕤𝕒𝕕 𝕓𝕔 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕓𝕖𝕔𝕒𝕦𝕤𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕗***𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕞𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕔𝕒 𝕀 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕔𝕣𝕪𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕒𝕝𝕠𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕡𝕖𝕠𝕡𝕝𝕖 𝕚𝕟 𝕍𝕚𝕖𝕥𝕟𝕒𝕞 𝕕𝕚𝕖𝕕 𝕚𝕟 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕞𝕪 𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕕 :( 𝕀 ℍ𝔸𝕋𝔼 𝔸𝕄𝔼ℝ𝕀ℂ𝔸𝕊 𝕎𝔸ℝ𝕊 𝕀𝕋𝕊 𝕊𝕋𝕌ℙ𝕀𝔻
Thrillcekr
2021-10-08
If you want to learn about what happened in the Vietnam War and why this is the most thorough and complete history lesson you’ll ever find.
Ellagdhfhu
2019-12-05
This should be mandatory viewing for everyone in our country to learn the dishonesty and self-serving interests of politicians regardless of party, Democratic, Republican, they are all guilty of using and elongating wars for their own and their party’s interest. Most shocking, the similarities between the era of the Vietnam war and our government today, 2019
Ken Burns is a genius
nocrickets
2018-07-29
3.5 stars. I have rarely liked Ken Burns docs in the past, but I have to say this one is pretty good, and, I think, pretty accurate. Gung-ho types don't like it, because it's not gung-ho. They should just go back to watching the John Wayne version. This one makes a fair attempt, 50 years on, to show all sides and let all sides explain their actions, good and bad. Like all Burns docs there are way too many talking heads, and like all Burns docs it gets mawkish and sappy and snowflaky at times. Still, it's much better than many of his previous ones -- maybe his best.
Chuckles McGee
2017-11-14
Informative, shocking, tragic, eye-opening
JustpeachynDC
2017-10-03
After watching all ten episodes I must say that this documentary took extremely complicated diverse issues and made them into a tangible, thoughtfully produced piece.
Not only is this body of work powerful, intriguing and honest, it painstakingly places these incredibly complex events in a comprehensive chronological manner with views from all sides.
It truly is a work of art. A masterpiece.
It grips you and lingers in your mind long after you’ve watched its final minutes fade into credits.
Ednguido
2017-10-01
Disturbing to watch. The final episode is a wonderful effort to heal.
booblybop
2017-09-30
Halfway through it it is just absolutely phenomenal in content , quality and balance. amazing detail and video footage is never seen before plus clarity about why things happen the way they did and didn’t.
Chattanooga SnoCone
2017-09-29
Riveting and thought provoking. The music coincided perfectly with the era. I am deeply grateful for those that served and was drawn to tears several times through the program. I feel a deeper connection to that generation now.
mikegcbmw
2017-09-29
I'm an RVN vet . . . served with the 1st Infantry Division as a combat photographer. I watched the entire series and believe Ken Burns and Lynn Novice got it right. They seemed to concentrate on the experiences of ordinary people both at home and in Vietnam lending acredibility to the raw emotions that accompanied those events. It was more of a human story rather than a pictorial textbook. They compensated things they couldn't get, the smells, the heat, the fear, the rage, the joy, the sadness by allowing those people to tell their stories. The last episode revealed the emotions of those who fought and those who protested quite well and both the initiated and the uninitiated alike a look at the still-present anger and guilt. Paul McCartney's "Let It Be" was a fitting end.
LemansFanUSA
2017-09-28
Another amazing series from Ken Burns. Do yourself a favor and watch every moment. Sad but sobering history of our nation.
Kam8888
2017-09-27
This is a great series!
Ryan866
2017-09-27
Every so called DREAMER, LEFT WINGER, and LIBERAL should watch this series. Its a profound look into the Vietnam era. It portays what our young patriotic men and women sacrificed willingly or unwillingly to protect the rignts we have today, which are being plucked away one bit at a time. An outstanding heart wrenching series!
BY THE WAY CODERED1980 all 10 episodes are available on the PBSS app!
tru3north
2017-09-24
I am soaking in, enjoying and learning from every second of this documentary. It is pure genius.
shanghai jack
2017-09-24
This is a superb telling of a story of deep divisions. Pro and anti war America, Vietnam itself- the the communist north and American backed south, and the divided hearts minds that led and fought the war. Hearing the story from the communist side was eye opening and learning how muddled the strategy for fighting the war was disturbing. For those complaining that only five episodes are available, they are released as they are broadcast. You will get the whole story.
Spuds Mothersbaugh
2017-09-23
...this is the best and most thorough documentary I've seen on The Vietnam War to date, and I've seen a lot of them. I was born in 1968, a turning point in the American war in Vietnam. My family background is more conservative and Republican. This project of course is done by PBS and Ken Burns. They no doubt lean the other way. However, I can say that after watching this I feel they have done their very best to be balanced and include all sides, fairly recording what really happened in Vietnam. If your background or frame of reference is like mine, please don't write this off as liberal revisionist history. That it is not. There is plenty of respect and tribute (as there should be) given to American soldiers who sacrificed everything, including their very lives (more than 58,000 of them). Sufficient attention is also given to both South and North Vietnamese perspectives and sacrifices.
As an American, I now teach English and live in Asia, having been to Vietnam multiple times in the last ten years. I think this documentary has the potential to shine a revealing light on this difficult chapter of our shared history with Vietnam. Maybe it could even help heal some of the lasting hurts, or open up new possibilities for the future. Some will say my thoughts are idealistic here. Whatever the case, no matter what your background or opinion on the war may be, this documentary offers something for anyone who cares about history.
8waxahachie
2017-09-21
Really!!!! It's more about Burns ego !!! Waste of 50 dollars.
You can buy the full set at major box stores and watch all episodes.
The “fact “ is he forgot about the rest of the war in Cambodia and Laos.
Why???? Would you call a North Vietnam pilot a hero.
What will you do with your profit from this collection of old tv clips?
Go to any VA hospital and see veterans of this war. Perhaps you will donate your money to the victims of millions of bombs and mines in Laos .
War is made by idiots in politics and few veterans will admit that the only combat in Vietnam was their VD shots.
Most reviews are from REMFs and have no clue to what it’s like to see a staff car drive up and some guys walk up and tell your mother your father is not coming home. Later in my military career I found out they sent the “Buffs” on same route same altitude same turn points night after night— even on the same departure heading.
We recruited children in Laos as young as 10 years old to kill and place mines — no MR Burns you put together some old clips but you never told the story of Vietnam. Sorta like John Wayne standing on a beach watching the sun go down with the ballad of green berets in background— there wasn’t a beach in Vietnam you could see the sun go down.
jbowman2112
2017-09-20
I can remember watching film of the war on the evening news as a boy. I have heard a lot of stories growing up from people with all kinds of opinions about what happened then. I watched this series remembering some of the things that I saw then (I was 13 when the war ended) and found out things I never knew. I haven't liked all of the Ken Burns Documentaries but I loved this one. It was done fairly, without taking sides and presented as well as could be in 18 hours the story of Viet Nam; the People, politics, mistakes, heroics and tragedies of the time , unvarnished and straight forward. Well worth the time spent.
Code Red1980
2017-09-19
So far, 15 jackasses took it upon themselves to rate a 10 part miniseries after just one episode. Watch the whole thing before rating it because a lot can happen in 10 episodes! Idiots! You’re the reason why iTunes reviews are a worthless influence.
gyropilot
2017-09-18
Another amazing work from Burns and associates.
Educational. Detailed. Thrilling. Thought provoking. Depressing.
Will we learn from our mistakes?
Bapu(MW)
2017-09-17
Just watched the first episode on PBS. Fantastic. Can't imagine what the next 9 will be! Should be seen by everyone who was affected by this war (I think that's all of us)
drrjv
2017-09-17
Every American should watch this series. Vietnam was a complex mess and an example of how the French and the United States attempted to decimate a group of people yearning for independence (just like we did when we fought the British!)
(PS: I’d suggest watching all the Ken Burns videos. What a wonderful contribution he has made for us)
cully1977
2017-09-17
Gave it a five stars to balance out the unfair negative reviews put out there prior to it even being released. I’m a huge fan of Ken Burns’ work and his style and the good that it does in popularizing good history. I’m also a huge Nine Inch Nails fan and I think the choice of Trent Reznor for the musical score is simply brilliant. I’ll give a followup review after seeing at least a few chapters but if it’s anything like his work on the Civil War or Roosevelts or the Congress or Huey Long we’re in for an incredible series.
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