Path to War

Starring:Michael Gambon, Donald Sutherland, Alec Baldwin, Bruce McGill, James Frain, Felicity Huffman, Frederic Forrest, John Aylward, Philip Baker Hall, Tom Skerritt, Cliff De Young, Chris Eigeman, John Valenti, Gerry Becker, Sarah Paulson, Diana Scarwid, Francis Guinan, Robert Cicchini, Curtis L. McClarin, Albert Hall
Director: John Frankenheimer
Studio: HBO Video
Product Type: DVD

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The quagmire that was the Vietnam War comes to vivid life in this HBO film--not in the jungles of Southeast Asia, but in the offices of the White House, where a disastrous U.S. policy was forged. From Lyndon Johnson's landslide 1964 victory to his weary withdrawal from the 1968 race, Path to War charts the disappearance of LBJ's "Great Society" domestic dreams into the bramble patch of war. The bungled decisions are forcefully directed by John Frankenheimer, whose expertise at political intrigue shines in his final film. Donald Sutherland and Alec Baldwin do some of their best work in years (as Clark Clifford and Robert McNamara), although the great actor Michael Gambon, while impressive, doesn't quite capture the honey lilt of LBJ's beguiling style. Among the many superb scenes: Johnson intimidating an outmatched George Wallace (an unbilled Gary Sinise, re-creating a role from another Frankenheimer HBO film) on civil rights. --Robert Horton

Description

PATH TO WAR tells the inside story of how "the best and the brightest" advisors in the Johnson administration, including Defense Secretary Robert McNamara and special advisor Clark Clifford, counsel the President in the decisions that will lead to America's deeper and deeper engagement in Vietnam. Torn between those who recommend increased bombing to win, and those who advise a path be found to peace, Johnson watches as his presidency and his nation are torn apart by the deaths of young Americans overseas and the protests of those who remain.

Customer Reviews:

A Valentine For LBJ.......2007-02-10

This movie is over-all a strong educational endeavor. However I believe this movie views LBJ in an undeserved favorable light. Alec Baldwin stands out as McNamara who is deservedly depicted as the war's driving influence. I think they underplayed the role of the 'Gulf of Tonkin' incident which was very controversal and critical to any Vietnam debate along with JFKs stated intentions and planned pull back of the 'military advisors'. Anyone who likes this movie should see, "Why We Fight", which is about IKEs farwell speach addressing the growing military-industrial complex which has proved prohetic when considering Viet Nam and Iraq.

Many posters have said that without VietNam LBJ would have been one of the best presidents ever, which in my opinion could not be farther from the truth. The inflationary spending on both the great society along with the war effort inflated the dollar to the point where the US subsequently could no longer honor gold in exchange for dollars and subsequently went off the gold standard in '71. This has allowed other governments (including our own) to have far too much control over the dollar and our economy. In the history of the world, every floating currency (one not supported by gold or limited in supply) has eventually become worthless.

Everyone SHOULD watch this film!.......2007-01-03

"Path to War" is an outstanding movie! I have purchased two DVDs of this film, one to loan, one to keep. The film does a surperb job of providing the viewer with insight into how decisions were made and how events unfolded regarding America's involvement in the Vietnam War. President Johnson is shown as a great politician with admirable intentions to build an American Great Society. But, he has this little (escalating) problem with a war in Southeast Asia. The key people who shaped US policy are seen as characters sugesting troop build ups and bombings. History tells the outcome. For me, the dynamics of "advisors", the Joint Chiefs, and ultimately President Johnson's decisions, are CHILLING! Maybe even the people who remember history are doomed to repeat it.

Lesson of Vietnam: Post Truman....Democrats lose wars.......2006-11-16

This is a very good film. Top notch acting by all of the cast. The film, based on all I've read, is also quite true to history. It's really revealing to see the degree which Johnson fought such a limited and overly-analyzed war. In the movie, he is portrayed as having a huge amount of guilt of any deaths, on either side. Look, this is war......either don't wage it......or wage it to win.

What is not known by many people is that militarily , The US was winning most battles and exacting a heavier toll than the VC was inflicting on us. However, due to Johnson's (and his administration's) guilt and reluctance to wage a war to WIN, the peace movement at home who was rooting for the vc, and the media who was against the war and constantly referred to it as "unwinnable".....the Viet Cong leaders acquired courage and took heart. These anti-war elements gave the Viet Cong the fortitude to keep fighting.

For example, after the Tet Offensive....which was a great military victory for the USA....our military having utterly repelled the offensive of the VC....the North Vietnamese leaders began to notice reports from the USA which were reporting the battle as different from what it was. One VC leader was quoted to have said that he felt they were defeated after their route at Tet.....yet upon seeing reports from the US, by the anti-war US media, that reported it was a defeat for the US.....his communist troops took heart and knew they must continue the fight.

In several parts of the film.....Johnson and members of his adminstration expound upon how tough and unbeatable the Viet Cong were. They seem to almost be fawning over the fact of the invincibility of the foe. This coupled with the limited war.....over-analysis by washington bureaucrats on actually picking targets.....not letting the military sweep into the North.....lead to our eventual demise there.

After Johnson was voted out...because of his squeamishness in fighting the war....Nixon was elected. He did his best to end the war nobly....scaling back troops while escalating the bombimg. At the Paris Peace Accords, he created a truce between the North and the South which was backed up by the threat of U.S. military action should the North reneg and invade the South.

But, alas, the congressional democrats, using the cover of watergate, frantically went after Nixon causing him to resign, thus in effect closing the door on the South. Gerald Ford subsequently pleaded with the democratic congress not to turn our backs on the South....but they did.

The legacy that followed was one of death and blood. The North swept into the south. Laos and Cambodia were invaded by the commies. Hundreds of thousands were thrown into conmmunist concentration and reeducation camps and in Cambodia....the killing fields ensued. Children watched as their parents were murdered ( often beheaded or garroted )by the red regime.

In all, a good film that accurately gets across the mindset of the Johnson administration. Recommended.

great movie, just very long.......2006-04-09

i saw Path to War on HBO once, and wow, it's awesome, but it is also a very long movie, about 3 hours.

Path to war covers LBJ's time from the start of his presidency to the decisions and influences made surrounding the events that lead to the Vietnam War.

the story covers Robert McNamara (Secretary of Defense), George Ball (Undersecretary of State), and Clark Clifford, who is good friends with LBJ and works for him.

all three men give their side on the situation in Vietnam and from there, LBJ makes his decisions.

it's really an awesome movie cause you really see two very different points of views, how one side saw Communism as a real threat and Vietnam as the battleground for it and how the other saw that fighting in Vietnam would never end and there would be no loser or winner.

Johnson goes from a loved and admired president after the fall of President Kennedy to a hated and despised man by millions of people. his Great Society is gone in exchange for the war, and all the politics and stress surrounding the times eventualy lead to him announcing that he would not run again in 68.

the movie, much like Thirteen Days (Cuban Missile Crisis) explores more the human thinking, moral side of leaders running the country and how and why they make the decisions they make.

great movie that i highly recommend, especially for History Class concerning the Vietnam War.

Brought me to tears.......2006-03-23

When LBJ ran for president, I was 12 and had little real conception of politics. By the time he made his "will not run" speech, I hated him with all the fury of an adolescent of the late '60s. Today, I think he could have been in a handful of this country's greatest presidents but for his tragic flaw.

This film re-rang all those changes for me. Michael Gambon is truly superb--people complain that his accent isn't right, but they miss that his passion is exactly on. You believe with him that there are wrongs in the world that must be righted, you see his vision, and you suffer his agonies about trying to squeeze between the pre-digested mythology of JFK and his fear that he will be remembered as the forgotted president who came between the Kennedys.

The powerful debate between Clark Clifford (Donald Sutherland) and Robert McNamara (Alex Balwin) over whether Johnson should withdraw from Vietnam or commit more troops may never have happened the way it's portrayed in the film, but I've never seen a better depiction of the moral issues of the time. And with Johnson's decision to stay in Vietnam, you can't help but wonder, what would the world have been like had be gone with what Clifford called his natural inclinations.

From that moment, LBJ and the country are committed. At one point, Johnson says, let's just get out of here, and Clifford tells him that it's too late. And it was too late for all of us.

Another reviewer said this film was like a Greek tragedy, and it is, but it is really an American tragedy. One set of options for the United States was forever eliminated by the decision to stay in Vietnam--we can't know whether that course would have been better for the country, but it surely could not have been worse. This is the true Camelot that was lost, and its loss brought me to tears.

This film is powerful and mostly highly recommended. The acting is superb, the scipt is riveting, the emotions are powerfully wrought, and the cinematography immediate and riveting. A political thriller made even more powerful by the knowledge that, at least in general impulse, it is absolutely true.

Average customer rating:

Path to War [Region 2]
Starring: Michael Gambon , Donald Sutherland , Alec Baldwin , Bruce McGill , and James Frain
Director: John Frankenheimer
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( P ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B00006LSH3

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Charlie Rose with Robert A. Caro; Michael Gambon (May 17, 2002)

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Charlie Rose with Robert A. Caro; Michael Gambon (May 17, 2002)

Manufacturer: Charlie Rose, Inc.
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

General | Educational | Genres | DVD | Video

Description

An interview with the historian Robert Caro, about the release of the third volume of his biography of Lyndon Johnson, Master of the Senate. Also, the British actor Michael Gambon talks about his portrayal of Lyndon Johnson in HBO's Path to War.

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Path to War
Director: Eugene Janecki
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Product Description

Inspired by Eisenhower's 1961 Farewell Address. Grand Jury Prize winner at 2005 Sundance Film Festival in which he warned about the dangers of war.

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