The Fog of War - Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. M...

< Previous Trailer  |   Add to My Scrapbook  |   Next Trailer >
The Fog of War - Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara

92% Liked It
liked it

The Fog of War - Eleven Lesson...

Barry Goldwater, Fidel Castro, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara

The story of America as seen through the eyes of Robert S. McNamara, the former Secretary of Defense. McNamara, one of the most controversial and influential figures in world politics, leads viewers o...( read more  read more... )n an insider's journey through many of the seminal events that shaped the 20th Century.

Id: 10895075

Do you want to see this movie?

My Friends Said...

The Fog of War - Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara Recent Reviews

Register or sign-in to see your friends' reviews !

Recent Reviews

The Fog of War - Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara Recent Reviews
  • mrgd291190
    October 28, 2007
    mrgd291190
    Far scarier than a horror movie.
  • mjgildea
    November 22, 2006
    mjgildea
    A very interesting history lesson.
  • flynnparadox
    September 14, 2006
    flynnparadox
    McNamara, at over 80, is still sharp and brilliant, with a lot to say. Great look into the way this man's mind works.
  • Drewbacca
    April 9, 2006
    Drewbacca
    I'm not really one for documentaries. But as they go, this is one of the best. Thought provoking, interesting and lesson learning.
  • dhetteix
    March 25, 2007
    dhetteix
    It's pro war! It's anti-war! It's pro-war... well, not really. It's just about McNamara, and his uncanny ability to avoid both of the previous questions.

    Some might find the neutral tone refreshing, regardless. Not about miltiary strategy, but the morally-neutral engineering of ...( read more)military PR and morale in the late 20th century.. the day-to-day business of an unpopular war.
  • jam233
    November 11, 2009
    jam233
    This is an absolutely fascinating documentary. It is a must see film, even for those not into documentaries. McNamara is such an amazing man. Excellent use of old footage, brilliantly edited together. The score is surprisingly very effective. Outstanding.
  • magnolia12883
    October 20, 2009
    magnolia12883
    "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it." - George Santayana

    Errol Morris' masterful documentary is a riveting, powerful, thought-provoking meditation on the kinds of considerations that must be made in order to go to war, the mistakes that often ensue, a...( read more)nd how to learn from those mistakes. Robert S. McNamara was the first non-family member to run the Ford Motor Company before being asked by President John F. Kennedy to be the Secretary of Defense. He worked for the Kennedy Administration through the Cuban Missle Crisis, the Bay of Pigs Fiasco, and into the Vietnam War, through Kennedy's assassination, and then was asked to stay on under Lyndon B. Johnson. He eventually left to be president of the World Bank. He was seen during his tenure in Washington as the architect of the Vietnam War, and is regretful, mournful, breaks down a few times remembering his part in the planning of the firebombing of Japan (Morris chillingly juxtaposes lists upon lists of casualties with imagery of numbers falling like bombs over stock footage of Tokyo and other cities). At 85, McNamara is a thoughtful, introspective elder who has garnered a lifetime of regrets, and of lessons learned. His excessive and almost unrelenting candor is perfect fodder for Morris' film, which employs a mechanism of his own invention: the "Interrotron" is a device which allows the camera to shoot the subject head-on while showing him his interviewer's face and vice-versa; the effect is to render the subject immovable and unable to evade questioning. McNamara has no desire to evade Morris' probing, except when it comes to an epilogue where further questions about Vietnam and his retrospective feelings on the subject leave McNamara cold and less than responsive; he doesn't want to say anything to get himself in more trouble now. Errol Morris is certainly the most polished and possibly the best documentarian alive today. He started in 1978 with "Gates of Heaven," about pet cemetaries in California, and has since made such films as "Vernon, Florida" (1982) about the personalities of the residents of a small retirement community; "The Thin Blue Line" (1988), which caused the dropping of charges and the release of a prisoner sentenced to life in a closed murder case; "A Brief History of Time" (1992), based on Stephen Hawking's scientific theories; "Fast, Cheap & Out of Control" (1997), about odd inventors on the fringe of society; and "Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr." (1999), about the man who brought various forms of the death penalty into the modern age before being ostracized for his Holocaust denial. If that is (arguably) Morris' best film, then this is certainly his most relevant and important work to date. Morris' film takes on the structure of "Eleven Lessons from the Life of" McNamara, sometimes heard openly posing questions to his subject, often quietly listening, sometimes driving his subject, sometimes allowing McNamara to dictate the structure ("I wanna go back to that..."). Morris' film is constructed like a thriller, aided and abetted by Philip Glass' eerie, haunting and urgent musical score, where his past as a private investigator comes in handy as he and McNamara turn a sharp, observant eye to a point of no return in American history. The effect is astonishing, moving and chilling. I only wish someone in the government would take a gander at this and do like McNamara does. NOTE: Morris followed his 2003 Oscar win for Best Documentary for this film with another probe into relatively recent American history with "Standard Operating Procedure" (2008), about the pictures from Abu Ghraib, their meaning and what they may actually be about.
  • azka2
    July 25, 2009
    azka2
    Robert S. McNamara was a great leader of our time and was shown in a very subtle and global storytelling. Every words of it is priceless and must cost the greatest director, Errol Morris
  • saminglis81
    July 9, 2009
    saminglis81
    Errol Morris' outstanding documentary simply sits us down with former US defence secretary Robert S McNamara and lets him talk. He's a riveting subject, with some shocking stories to tell and the kind of person you'll like a lot at one moment and have contempt for the next. Meanw...( read more)hile Morris keeps it from looking dull with clever use of archive material.
  • kmansell1
    July 8, 2009
    kmansell1
    what an interesting life this man has lead. it's good to hear it from the very people who lived it but it's a bit sick to hear how they justified murder and still do even now.
View All Reviews

Opening This Week

Top Box Office

Upcoming Movies

New on DVD