Vietnam War With Walter Cronkite

Vietnam War With Walter Cronkite

Vietnam War With Walter Cronkite
List Price: $34.98
Our Price: $16.01
You Save: $18.97 (54%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $8.92 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD details


(Click here)
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada

DVD details

Brand: Timeless Media Group
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Format: Black & White, Color, Dolby, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 720 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-03-01
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: 1985 CBS News Video Library

DVD Reviews of Vietnam War With Walter Cronkite

DVD Review: Fascinating stuff...
Summary: 5 Stars

When deciding on a good Vietnam documentary I knew I wanted something extensive and with plenty of first hand accounts. This brought me to this DVD and the PBS Television History of Vietnam DVD. After reading the reviews of the PBS version I was dismayed to see that there were things left out from the original production and decided on the Cronkite set. With all that said, I'm not sure how much of the PBS series duplicates the footage on this series, nor do I know if this series includes parts that were left out of the PBS series. I never saw the PBS series so I cannot comment on a comparison between the PBS set and this one. It would certainly be something I'd like to know, so if anyone has seen both and would like to comment, please do.

So, in looking at this documentary on its own, I can say without hesitation that it was immensely entertaining and informative. What you are getting is about 12 hours of CBS news footage. Some of it has narration by Cronkite to bring the viewer into the scene and frame a specific topic or event, but the majority of footage is simply the news broadcasts of the day as they were shown back then. The set is divided into 11 different parts. These episodes follow a loose chronology beginning with The French falling at Dien Bien Phu and going all the way up to the fall of Saigon. However, the episodes are more thematic and therefore jump around in time.

The stories selected for the DVD are engrossing. I didn't find myself bored for one instant during the entire length of the documentary. I also appreciate the large amount of human interest stories included. Things might have gotten dull for me if they showed 12 hours of combat footage. This is especially true for a war like Vietnam where the combat footage consisted mostly of soldiers firing into the jungle at an unseen enemy. Don't get me wrong, there is plenty of great combat footage. It is some of the other types of stories I enjoyed most. For example, there is a story about an area in South Vietnam where the military brings its trash, basically a landfill in Vietnam. Vietnam peasants converge on the trash like vultures searching for any scrap they can find. One sergeant is responsible for chasing away the Vietnamese who descend on the daily trash disposals. Right away you can see the futility of this task. As soon as he chases away one group another is rummaging through another part of the trash pile. When interviewing the sergeant his disdain for the Vietnamese is clear as he refers to them as "less than human." He is obviously a man who is not happy with his current assignment. Things take a turn for the worse when some Vietnamese are wounded by a not quite spent concussion grenade which goes off in a pile of trash.

One entire segment of the documentary was devoted to the city of Saigon. It was quite interesting to see the strange dichotomy between the US forces and the native Vietnamese in the city of Saigon.

I'd also like to comment on the episode on Tet. I found it extremely well done. There was extensive coverage of Khe Sanh on this episode as well. The footage of soldiers at Khe Sanh playing guitar and singing amongst all the chaos around them is priceless.

I don't feel I can conclude my review without mentioning -for lack of a better term- the sheer balls that these reporters and crew had. You will see many familiar faces on the front lines including Cronkite himself, Dan Rather, and Morley Saefer, among others. Many of these TV crews were under fire just as the soldiers were and they seemed to brave any danger to get their story. At the end of the program Cronkite tells the viewers that in fact 8 colleagues at CBS were killed in Vietnam and 30 were injured while covering the war. Frankly, I'm surprised the numbers weren't higher. It's also interesting to watch how the reporters who spent a lot of time in Vietnam go from hawk to dove right in front of your eyes as the war drags on. Like the soldiers, these reporters were witnessing the quagmire of Vietnam first hand, and after a while they had no trouble expressing their disdain for the situation to the American public. This media coverage cannot be underestimated in the ultimate decision of Lyndon Johnson not to run for re-election. It is said that Johnson knew when he lost Cronkite he lost the American people as well. That's how powerful these stories were in shaping American opinion on the war.

Although it may be understood I feel I should mention that this documentary is not for the faint of heart. You see a lot of the horrors of The Vietnam War here. Yes, there are mangled and bloodied bodies including women and children. This was the reality of the war and this documentary pulls no punches in this regard.

Overall I don't hesitate in recommending this DVD for anyone interested in Vietnam. There are more highlights in these stories than I have space to recollect in this review, and besides, you should see them for yourself. Having been born the year before Saigon fell, I have no memory of these news casts as I was not alive of course. Seeing these stories brought me as close to Vietnam as I could hope to get without actually being there. This is no movie. It's the real thing, and these gutsy reporters did a great job of bringing the war into American living rooms. I'm glad I finally got to bring these broadcasts into my living room as well.
More Vietnam War With Walter Cronkite reviews:
1 2 3 4

Description of Vietnam War With Walter Cronkite

For decades, the war in Vietnam was the central drama on the stage of Southeast Asia. It was an intensely publicized war, the first television war that came roaring into the living rooms of America every night. Walter Cronkite tells the story of the long and divisive conflict as seen through the eyes of CBS News. Dan Rather, Morley Safer and Ed Bradley report the stories of American courage, failed programs, an elusive enemy and ultimately an end to a tragic war. It is all graphically shown in these superb CBS documentaries which tell the story of the most divisive war in American history and its effect on those who fought it.
Bestsellers in DVD
The Story of Jeremiah [VHS] ImageThe Story of Jeremiah [VHS]
Vision Video; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Wresting With God [VHS] ImageWresting With God [VHS]
by Vision Video
Vision Video; Published: 1990-10-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops: $19.99
Study Bible Video with Workbook [VHS] ImageStudy Bible Video with Workbook [VHS]
Spring Arbor Distributors; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops: $44.00
Tempo:Childrens TV Favourites Video [VHS] ImageTempo:Childrens TV Favourites Video [VHS]
HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $9.17
Price in other shops: $9.98
Tempo.Herbs:Parseley'Sb/Party Video [VHS] ImageTempo.Herbs:Parseley'Sb/ Party Video [VHS]
HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Strike the Original Match [VHS] ImageStrike the Original Match [VHS]
New Liberty Films; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops: $14.95
Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS] ImageMedjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS]
JPN Film Production; Release date: 1995-12-15; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.99
Mayo Clinic Echocardiography Review Course for Boards and Recertification DVD 2008 ImageMayo Clinic Echocardiography Review Course for Boards and Recertification DVD 2008
by Mayo
DVD
Price in other shops: $1,463.24
Pediatric Diagnostic Imaging DVD: Single User ImagePediatric Diagnostic Imaging DVD: Single User
by Oakstone
DVD
Price in other shops: $1,463.24
Cost Accounting [VHS] ImageCost Accounting [VHS]
by Charles T. Horngren, George Foster, Srikant M. Datar, Howard Teall
Pearson Canada, Toronto; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
Vietnam War Stories ImageVietnam War Stories
MILL CREEK ENT. (UNDER DIGITAL; Release date: 2010-09-14; DVD
Best price: $3.15
Price in other shops: $9.98
BATTLEFIELD - Vietnam TET ImageBATTLEFIELD - Vietnam TET
TIMELESS MEDIA GROUP; Release date: 2010-09-21; DVD
Best price: $11.00
Price in other shops: $24.98
That Was Nam Collection ImageThat Was Nam Collection
Digital1Stop; Release date: 2010-09-14; DVD
Best price: $10.99
Price in other shops: $29.98
BATTLEFIELD - Vietnam: from Dien Bien Phu to Peace with Honor! 3 DVD Set! ImageBATTLEFIELD - Vietnam: from Dien Bien Phu to Peace with Honor! 3 DVD Set!
TIMELESS MEDIA GROUP; Release date: 2010-09-21; DVD
Best price: $12.61
Price in other shops: $24.98
The Vietnam War (History Channel) ImageThe Vietnam War (History Channel)
A and E Home Video; Release date: 2008-01-15; DVD
Best price: $14.24
Price in other shops: $29.95
Vietnam - A Television History ImageVietnam - A Television History
Wgbh Wholesale; Release date: 2004-07-27; DVD
Best price: $31.49
Price in other shops: $79.95
Dear America - Letters Home from Vietnam ImageDear America - Letters Home from Vietnam
HBO Home Video; Release date: 2005-11-01; DVD
Best price: $12.12
Price in other shops: $19.98
Vietnam War: America's Conflict ImageVietnam War: America's Conflict
Digital1stop; Release date: 2008-05-06; DVD
Best price: $2.82
Price in other shops: $9.98
Vietnam in HD ImageVietnam in HD
A&E; Release date: 2011-11-29; DVD
Best price: $8.50
Price in other shops: $24.95
Inside the Vietnam War ImageArtist Not Provided - Inside the Vietnam War
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2008-06-03; DVD
Best price: $13.07
Price in other shops: $19.97
Compare prices and read customer reviews for more than one million DVD titles.
Oscar 2005 Winners