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Movies / On DVD / Hearts and Minds
Hearts and Minds

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Hearts and Minds (1975)

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Reviews Counted:29

Fresh:28

Rotten:1

Average Rating:8.3/10

Consensus: A powerful, unflinching exploration of the Vietnam War, with first-person stories from both sides of the conflict, Hearts and Minds still hits the mark decades after its release.

Rated: 15

Runtime: 1 hr 55 mins

Genre: Education/General Interest

Theatrical Release:11-11-2005

Synopsis: A landmark in documentary feature films, this Academy Award-winning documentary is an insightful critique of the US's cataclysmic involvement in Vietnam. The film exposes the duplicitous nature of... A landmark in documentary feature films, this Academy Award-winning documentary is an insightful critique of the US's cataclysmic involvement in Vietnam. The film exposes the duplicitous nature of the American government, obsessive in its quest to squelch Communism and advance its own imperialist agenda, documented here in a media-savvy trail of propaganda ranging from archival footage, excerpts from press conferences, newsreels, and clips from jingoistic Hollywood war pictures. Director Peter Davis also uses damaging interviews (including disturbingly racist comments from US soldiers and General William Westmoreland), pop music from the period, and material he shot himself in Vietnam to create an indelible visual essay against war. Eschewing narration, the film has a cinema verite style, which gains its power from juxtaposition and the severity of its images. Released only two short years after the January 1973 agreement that brought home U.S. troops, the film stands as one of the strongest films condemning the war and the America's involvement in it. HEARTS AND MINDS's title derives from a now-infamous speech given by former President Lyndon Johnson in which he stated, "The ultimate victory will depend on the hearts and minds of the people who actually live there." [More]

Starring: Clark Clifford, George Coker, Daniel Ellsberg, J.W. Fulbright

Starring: Clark Clifford, George Coker, Daniel Ellsberg, J.W. Fulbright, William Westmoreland, George S. Patton, Lyndon Baines Johnson, Richard Milhous Nixon, Brian Holden, Robert Muller

Director: Peter Davis

Director: Peter Davis
Producer: Bert Schneider, Peter Davis
Studio: Rainbow Films

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Hearts and Minds

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Derek Adams
Derek Adams
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Still shocking, still powerful, still prudent. What is it they say about the more things change?

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
04/01/06
Colin Kennedy
Colin Kennedy
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The urgency of Hearts and Minds, its anger and its articulation, its insistence that effects of war be visible, and its cogent analysis of connections among politics, media, and the military, all seem apt lessons for today.

Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
04/07/09
Michael Abernethy
Michael Abernethy
PopMatters

Davis’ visual argument overwhelms rationality.This was the beginning of Red/Blue antagonism -- turning benighted patriotism against an opponent’s humanity.

Full Review Source: New York Press | comment 1 Comment
03/25/09
Armond White
Armond White
New York Press

It's Michael Moore's favorite documentary. See it anyway.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
03/21/09
Dan Lybarger
Dan Lybarger
eFilmCritic.com

The definitive Vietnam War documentary and arguably the greatest political documentary ever made.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
03/20/09
Louis Proyect
Louis Proyect
rec.arts.movies.reviews

Quite simply, one of the greatest non-fiction films ever made.

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
03/20/09
Phil Hall
Phil Hall
Film Threat

Hearts and Minds is an essay told in a voice of thinly controlled moral outrage, which sometimes dribbles over into seething hate.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
03/19/09
Jeremiah Kipp
Jeremiah Kipp
Slant Magazine

Not only the definitive American documentary about the war in Vietnam but a landmark political action.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
03/17/09
Jim Ridley
Jim Ridley
Village Voice

A definitive anti-war documentary which won an Academy Award in 1974 and has been restored for release in theaters.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
03/12/09
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

Ahead of the pack, filmmaker Peter Davis illustrates the human toll on 'victor' and 'vanquished.'

Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews | comment Comment
03/11/09
Donald J. Levit
Donald J. Levit
ReelTalk Movie Reviews

Even after three and a half decades this film still will be controversial and still has a real impact.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
03/02/09
Mark R. Leeper
Mark R. Leeper
rec.arts.movies.reviews

If you were ultimately disappointed by the agitprop entertainment of Fahrenheit 9/11, then check out its older, wiser brother to see how a real documentary is made.

Full Review Source: Eye for Film | comment Comment
07/09/07
Anton Bitel
Anton Bitel
Eye for Film

No review available.

comment Comment
06/27/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

Hearts and Minds is a tough film but it is no mere rehash of sad events. It is always aware of the primacy of man when man's given even half a chance.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
05/09/05
Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No review available.

comment Comment
03/24/05
Daniel M. Kimmel
Daniel M. Kimmel
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Nation | comment Comment
03/03/05
Stuart Klawans
Stuart Klawans
Nation

Se na época de seu lançamento este importante filme serviu como denúncia das atrocidades norte-americanas no Vietnã, hoje funciona como triste constatação de que nada mudou.

comment Comment
02/09/05
Pablo Villaca
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena

It is a carefully structured yet highly emotional argument against the war in Vietnam.

Full Review Source: Rochester Democrat and Chronicle | comment Comment
12/03/04
Jack Garner
Jack Garner
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

A reminder of how the best documentaries can resonate years after their release.

Full Review Source: Denver Post | comment Comment
11/12/04
Lisa Kennedy
Lisa Kennedy
Denver Post
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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