The Vietnam War
The Vietnam War is a ten-part, 18-hour documentary film series directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. In an immersive 360-degree narrative, Burns and Novick tell the epic story of the Vietnam War as it has never before been told on film. The Vietnam War features testimony from nearly 100 witnesses.
- Metascore90
- 2017-2017
- 1 season
- PBS
- Documentary, Action & Adventure
- TV-MA
The Vietnam War is a ten-part, 18-hour documentary film series directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. In an immersive 360-degree narrative, Burns and Novick tell the epic story of the Vietnam War as it has never before been told on film. The Vietnam War features testimony from nearly 100 witnesses.
Season 1 Episode Guide
10 Episodes 2017
Episode 1
Déjà Vu (1858-1961)
Sun, Sep 17, 2017 82 mins
After centuries of domination by neighboring empires (Chinese, Khmer), Vietnam (Annam, Tonkin and Cochinchina) and its neighbors Laos and Cambodia) were for a century a French colony as Indochina, not enjoying any measure of Enlightenment for natives. In World War Two, the Japanese presented themselves as Asia's liberators, but proved a particularly cruel occupying power. Yet the Allied victory meant liberation only in the sense of resuming colonialism, which native nationalists started to rebel against, as part of a wave of largely communist-inspired independence movements. Their leader Ho-Chi-Minh, one of a hundred pseudonyms, started theirs, the Viet Minh, initially not communist, but I the Cold War ended up following the Korean example, welcoming Chinese backing. The new de facto leaders transformed it into the Viet Kong, a guerrilla army liberating the north and a resistance movement in the south, where the French remained in control. After their bloody surprise defeat in Dien Bien Phu in the last rush to the peace agreement, the US took their place, fearing the 'domino theory' all of Asia could fall next to the red danger.
Episode 2
Riding the Tiger (1961-1963)
Mon, Sep 18, 2017 83 mins
While the Chinese-supported communist regime firmly controls its 'liberated' population, Us president JFK and his staff consider how far they should engage, in the Cold War logic and fearing a domino effect, to support the corrupt, oppressive cheaters republic in the south, which plays them greedily. Its cleptocratic inner circle turns its own population -even the Buddhist monks- against them, hence against the US troops, who can't distinguish the communist insurgents from local farmers, hence each kill makes a dozen new enemies. Furthermore the Vietnamese are prepared to sacrifice far more. After Kennedy's Dallas murder, Lyndon B. Johnson inherits bleak prospects.
Episode 3
The River Styx (January 1964-December 1965)
Tue, Sep 19, 2017 115 mins
After the Gulf of Tonkin, the U.S. escalates the war with sustained bombing and its first combat troops, as Vietnamese on all sides brace for a wider, deadlier conflict.
Episode 4
Resolve (January 1966-June 1967)
Wed, Sep 20, 2017 114 mins
1966-67: With U.S. troop levels surging, Gen. Westmoreland's war of attrition drives search-and-destroy missions and heavy bombardment, while North Vietnam adapts and soldiers on both sides grapple with the mounting human cost.
Episode 5
This Is What We Do (July-December 1967)
Thu, Sep 21, 2017 85 mins
July-December 1967: As U.S. Marines endure deadly North Vietnamese ambushes and artillery near the DMZ, casualties and body counts soar while Washington insists victory in Vietnam is still within reach.
Episode 6
Things Fall Apart (January-June 1968)
Sun, Sep 24, 2017 85 mins
During the Tet Offensive, surprise attacks across South Vietnam shatter claims of imminent victory and fuel growing turmoil in both the war zone and the United States.
Episode 7
The Veneer of Civilization (June 1968-May 1969)
Mon, Sep 25, 2017 108 mins
From June 1968 to May 1969, public support for the war erodes as draft-age Americans face wrenching choices, turmoil grips U.S. politics, and the conflict's brutality deepens for soldiers and civilians on all sides.
Episode 8
The History of the World (April 1969-May 1970)
Tue, Sep 26, 2017 109 mins
With U.S. morale collapsing, Nixon begins "Vietnamization" and troop withdrawals while expanding the war into Cambodia, igniting campus protests and a deepening crisis on the American home front.
Episode 9
A Disrespectful Loyalty (May 1970-March 1973)
Wed, Sep 27, 2017 109 mins
From 1970 to 1973, as South Vietnam fights with shrinking U.S. support, Nixon and Kissinger search for an exit strategy while antiwar protests and bitter divisions test ideas of loyalty, patriotism, and sacrifice.
Episode 10
The Weight of Memory (March 1973-Onward)
Thu, Sep 28, 2017 108 mins
After the Paris Peace Accords, U.S. troops depart and South Vietnam fights on. As the conflict enters its final phase, Americans and Vietnamese confront homecomings, loss, and how the war will be remembered.
