The Best Scene Fell to the Cutting Room Floor

Rating: 10/10 (29 January 2004)

I was shocked to view the DVD version of the film and see that the single most important event of the story had been cut from the film, but was presented to the DVD audience as an add-on.
The scene, a Saigon debriefing of Col. Hal Moore by a senior Johnson Administration official, amply demonstrated the chasm of willful ignorance that set official Washington into a state of gridlock.
The subject remains topical. A review of today's headlines will reveal similarities in thinking. Take, for example, the following loaded question from a political fundraising letter I recently tossed in the trash: "Should the U.S. have invaded Iraq alone or must we get U.N. permission to defend ourselves?". This question omits 1)did we need to invade Iraq to defend ourselves, 2)might someone who opposes war in general, oppose it regardless of whether the U.N. grants some nation a license to start a "police action", 3)would the invasion be justified to prevent a future attack upon us, 4)would the invasion be justified if it led to a free Iraq, without any threat against us, or 5)was the invasion justified to put one war criminal (Saddam) in custody, 12 years after his last war crime? By my count, there are 7 sides to the question and not just 2. (Hopefully readers will think of a few more!).
Vietnam was terribly polarizing to our country, precisely because the war demanded we choose one side or the other, shut down our brains, and ignore every possible subtopic that might alter the terms of the debate. This film abundantly demonstrates that the war's participants did not view any part of it as a 2-sided question...but then, official Washington wasn't there to participate, and had the luxury of simplicity.