Critic Reviews
-
Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News
For those who know the story, Most Dangerous Man puts it in fresh perspective. If you don't, there's probably not a better way to discover it.
-
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune
This isn't a dusty chapter of ancient history, but a fresh, exciting story. Ellsberg, who worked as a defense analyst in the government-funded Rand Corp., emerges as a complex and contradictory character.
-
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
For those who lived through the turmoil of Vietnam, and for the generations that have come since, the film is an important document in its own right.
-
J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader
Ehrlich and Goldsmith carve out their own little place in the canon by focusing on the ethical journey of one man who refused to shrug off his own responsibility for the war and atoned for it with a seismic act of civil disobedience.
-
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
It is a skillful, well-made film, although, since Ellsberg is the narrator, it doesn't probe him very deeply. We see his version of himself.
-
John Hartl, Seattle Times
If you lived through it, you'll be fascinated. If not, it still does a skillful job of creating a convincing and even suspenseful narrative from this history.
-
Glenn Heath Jr., Slant Magazine
Conventional in almost every sense, the documentary only scratches the surface of a man immersed in social and moral guilt during one of the most turbulent times in American history.
-
Bill Gibron, PopMatters
Daniel Ellsberg was the first insider to take his concerns outside. The results changed the course of the conversation, and a country.
-
Rob Thomas, Capital Times (Madison, WI)
But because "Dangerous Man" sees the era through Ellsberg's eyes, and we hear the disgust in his voice as he describes his younger, gung-ho self, the film becomes a fascinating and clear-eyed self-portrait.
-
Sean Burns, Philadelphia Weekly
Stop me if you've heard this one, but sometimes politicians get us into wars that last forever and go nowhere under false pretenses.
-
Keith Cohen, Entertainment Spectrum
Much research went into compiling the archival black and white news footage and photos along with audio from the Nixon White House tapes. This compelling film takes a cloak-and-dagger approach and is full of landmark historical events
-
Robert W. Butler, Kansas City Star
This is such a gripping yarn it plays more like a thriller than a documentary.
-
Marjorie Baumgarten, Austin Chronicle
It's a bit surprising that a documentary with such an unwieldy title offers such a streamlined and resonant account of history.
-
Jeff Vice, Deseret News, Salt Lake City
The makers of the Oscar-nominated documentary feature simply set up their cameras, and then just let the subject tell his own story in his own words.
-
Frank Swietek, One Guy's Opinion
Revealing and exciting, even for those oldsters who know perfectly well how it will turn out.
-
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul), St. Paul Pioneer Press
As a biography, it's sketchy (the impression we are left with is that Ellsberg is a near-saint). But as a personal take on a crucial chunk of American history, Dangerous is riveting.
-
Corey Hall, Metro Times (Detroit, MI)
One man's journey to help end a war and topple Nixon
-
Josh Forward, FILMINK (Australia)
It's a surprise that such an incredible story hasn't been told before in cinema, and the film takes full advantage of the story imbuing it with all the suspense of a thriller and raises important moral questions for the audience to consider.
-
Shawn Levy, Oregonian
There's reality and depth here, but a chill, too, that the filmmaking never quite manages to melt.
-
Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The film is also an exciting cloak-and-dagger thriller.
Read all 20 critic reviews
Featured Audience Ratings
-
Daniel Ellsberg released confidential Pentagon documents that led to a shift in the public's opinion about the Vietnam War.
This is most interesting question this film presents: when one chooses to fight injustice, is it best to do so from inside the ranks of an unjust body, or… More
Daniel Ellsberg released confidential Pentagon documents that led to a shift in the public's opinion about the Vietnam War.
This is most interesting question this film presents: when one chooses to fight injustice, is it best to do so from inside the ranks of an unjust body, or should one buck the system completely, going outside the organization? Many people I've encountered throughout my life have made the first argument, that one does more good inside an organization, attempting to change its operations from the inside out. Ellsberg takes the opposite point because he admits that being a part of the military-industrial complex caused him alter his conception of justice so that he wasn't changing the organization but the organization was changing him. I find that fascinating.
The rest of the film chronicles the fallout from Ellsberg releasing the Pentagon Papers and the ensuing legal battles. Ellsberg is the film's narrator, so we don't get to see much about his character except for cherry picked interviews that re-affirm Ellsberg's conception of himself. I would have preferred a most objective take on the subject.
Overall, the thematic element is intriguing to me, and the film is a strong chronicle of a tumultuous time.
-
A stunning documentary of the man who helped launch and then bring an end to the Vietnam War. Not to mention bringing down Nixon and his clutch of horrible henchmen. A true American hero, Daniel Ellsberg is someone everyone should know about. You watch films like this in the hopes… More
A stunning documentary of the man who helped launch and then bring an end to the Vietnam War. Not to mention bringing down Nixon and his clutch of horrible henchmen. A true American hero, Daniel Ellsberg is someone everyone should know about. You watch films like this in the hopes of preventing history from repeating itself. Sadly, it already has repeated itself in the form of BushCo, his gang of immoral entrepreneurs, and the lies that led America into Iraq. And so it goes . . . <p>Watch this and <i>All the President's Men</i> on a movie night when you want to be inspired to do the right thing.
-
This documentary is something of a mixed bag. Admittedly, I knew most of the facts surrounding the Pentagon Papers, having read Daniel Ellsberg's autobiography a few years before. While also paced like a fine spy thriller at times, the film also provides an outside perspective,… More
This documentary is something of a mixed bag. Admittedly, I knew most of the facts surrounding the Pentagon Papers, having read Daniel Ellsberg's autobiography a few years before. While also paced like a fine spy thriller at times, the film also provides an outside perspective, making it relevant in this time of war without end.(Sorry, if I just ruined anybody's buzz.) Recently , Ellsberg has gotten heavily involved in the Wikileaks case.
At first, the documentary also succeeds by placing the story of the Pentagon Papers in the context of the American success story in that most analysts saw the Vietnam War in terms of success(by following this company line, they would be promoted by approving bosses), not in lives lost or from a Vietnamese perspective which is how Ellsberg and many other protesters saw it.(Why anybody thought the President of the Ford Motor Company would make a competent Secretary of Defense is beyond me.) In a crisis of conscience, Ellsberg performed an extraoardinary act by leaking the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times, risking decades of jail. At which point, the documentary goes even beyond hagiography to beatification as the tone turns towards sanctimonious, attacking Senators Fulbright and McGovern for their more cautious approach in criticizing the war. Also, while it may make sense on the surface that the Pentagon Papers led directly to Watergate, the truth is probably more complex, as Hunter Thompson thought J. Edgar Hoover kicking the bucket in 1972 was also an important link in Nixon's downfall.
-
It explains the release of the Pentagon Papers well and the subsequent trials that occurred as a result, but I don't think we really get to know Ellsberg the man. Since he tells his own story here, it seems filtered. He did a great thing, I get it but you never really get a sense… More
It explains the release of the Pentagon Papers well and the subsequent trials that occurred as a result, but I don't think we really get to know Ellsberg the man. Since he tells his own story here, it seems filtered. He did a great thing, I get it but you never really get a sense of him as a complex individual.
-
Wow very enlightening, I had always taken Ellsberg for a California Flake. Not the ex-Marine Corps commander who traveled on the "Hot" missions as an observer just to find out what was really going on in Vietnam.
The papers that Ellsberg released although coupled with… More
Wow very enlightening, I had always taken Ellsberg for a California Flake. Not the ex-Marine Corps commander who traveled on the "Hot" missions as an observer just to find out what was really going on in Vietnam.
The papers that Ellsberg released although coupled with Watergate were damning of Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon. The reason the Ellsberg and Nixon are so tied together, is Nixon used the "Plumbers" to break into Ellsberg's psychiatrist office to get information on a smear campaign before they broke into the Watergate.
-
A fascinating story about a piece of history I knew little about. Daniel Ellsberg worked at the Pentagon as a strategist for the Vietnam War. He had access to quite a bit of Top Secret material. He slowly begins to reevaluate the war and his place in it, all while watching govt… More
A fascinating story about a piece of history I knew little about. Daniel Ellsberg worked at the Pentagon as a strategist for the Vietnam War. He had access to quite a bit of Top Secret material. He slowly begins to reevaluate the war and his place in it, all while watching govt officials saying one thing behind closed doors and repeating the opposite to the press. He eventually decides to leak a enormous amount of classified war material to the press. Basically showing the people what the govt didn't want them to know about Vietnam.
Having seen a lot of stuff on Vietnam, as well as Nixon, I was surprised that I knew very little about this very interesting chapter in history. And extra points because the man himself was able to tell his story almost 40 years later. Definitely worth checking out. (Currently on Netflix streaming)
Read all 6 featured audience ratings
Currently unavailable on Flixster
Also available on
Other Retailers
Subscription Services
