A Bright Shining Lie
In war as in life, the difference between truth and deception is what a man allows himself to believe.
Vietnam was a devastating war. From the Communist North to the U.S. supported South, it was a nation brutally torn apart, and at the heart of it was one man.
Lt. Colonel John Paul Vann is one of the first U.S. senior military advisers sent to Vietnam. Vann is as complex as the war itself--a husband and father who takes lovers as casually as he takes control of every situation...except one. In Vietnam, Vann finds himself fighting a war he cannot win alongside a corrupt and demoralized South Vietnamese Army. But what leads a man to expose the truth and sacrifice his career? To fly from a loving home to a war-torn battlefield. To turn from a soldier of strategy to a general of ruthless bombing campaigns which can destroy what they cannot defeat.
Member Reviews
Excellent movie - Wentai
This movie is right on. Many north Vietnamese farmers had no desire to fight and refused to head south. Bombers attacked in an effort to deny North Vietnam access to military supplies. Hence many North Vietnamese farmers took up rifles and headed south, there to fight.
This movie explains why we chose the wrong tactics in vietnam. In the beginning the main character (Paxton) stresses the need to ground the bombers and use only infantry with carful tactics. In the end, he gives in and orders B-52 raids -- a perfect example of how US thinking changed during the war.
They went from merely helping the French, to helping the South Vietnamese, to patrols, to heavy bomber raids. It's fascinating to see the parallels with Iraq today. Amazing really.
Zip this movie and watch one man be seduced by the all-encompasing desire to win the Vietman war.
And see how it changed him as a man.
Highly recommended.A Bright Sining Lie - Katt
Excellent movie. If you want to understand what the Viet Name war was about, this movie is a must. As well as being historically acurate and informative, the acting is excellent and the story and characters kept my interest high.
Incidentally, the song that introduces the movie is not done by Gracie Slick, but by Janis Joplin.
Member Reviews
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Excellent movie - Wentai
This movie is right on. Many north Vietnamese farmers had no desire to fight and refused to head south. Bombers attacked in an effort to deny North Vietnam access to military supplies. Hence many North Vietnamese farmers took up rifles and headed south, ...A Bright Sining Lie - Katt
Excellent movie. If you want to understand what the Viet Name war was about, this movie is a must. As well as being historically acurate and informative, the acting is excellent and the story and characters kept my interest high.
Incidentally, the song ...