The Front Lines of Vietnam

More than two dozen fictional movies on the Vietnam War include some of the most spectacular films made by American directors in the 1980s. But no matter how artistic or moving these fictional epics are, none match three major documentary accounts when it comes to showing the impact of the war and its political, social, military, political, physical, mental and emotional ramifications.

These video histories are extraordinary in their breadth and depth, providing perfect introductions to new generations of the tragedy of Vietnam. It’s the best way possible to educate a new generation nervous over U.S. involvement in the Mideast:

“Vietnam: A Television History,” the 13-hour epic PBS documentary series, is available on Sony videocassettes (seven tapes). Stanley Karnow, a former Indochina correspondent for Time and Life who helped prepare the series, has written a companion book, “Vietnam: A History,” that beautifully complements the unforgettable images and sounds of the documentary. Sony has also released five more titles in a “Vietnam Video Collection” that supplements, but does not add much, to this collection. (KCET is repeating “A Television History” beginning this week, Thursday at 10 p.m.)

“Vietnam: The 10,000 Day War” (Nelson, 13 tapes, 49 minutes apiece; six laser video discs, 110 minutes-plus on each disc) is even more detailed and impressive. It was produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. Richard Basehart provides the clear narration. Volume One offers a sweeping historical survey of the war from 1945 to 1975 and is the perfect introduction to the subject. If it whets your appetite, the rest of the series will not disappoint. The documentary footage is extraordinary and well-supplemented with interviews and a fact-filled narration.

“The Vietnam War With Walter Cronkite” (15 tapes produced by CBS News, CBS Video Library) and “Vietnam: Chronicle of a War,” (CBS/Fox Video)--CBS News uses its archive of TV stories to offer the first “television” history of a war, a situation unique in American history. Since the role of television in the Vietnam War was a much-debated one, this series offers the added dimension of watching the television coverage in detail--as it was seen by viewers in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Cronkite’s narration ties the stories together, giving the whole project a tidy overview.

One is left with a sense of awe at the courage of the reporters and camera crews who covered the war (the CBS and free-lance crews in the Cronkite series, the mostly anonymous American and foreign crews in the other series). No war had this kind of front-row center coverage before. It makes even a serious piece of fiction such as “Platoon” pale by comparison.

Will anyone want to sit through more than 40 hours of a video history of the Vietnam War? It only takes that first hour to persuade most viewers that these series, which emphasize the human stories as well as the battles and statistics, have an addictive quality. You end up wanting to see more, not less.

More is available.

Two documentaries produced without the benefit of historical hindsight are extremely powerful, if incomplete: Emile de Antonio’s “Vietnam . . . In the Year of the Pig” (MPI Home Video, under $40) and Peter Davis’ Academy Award-winning “Hearts and Minds” (Embassy Home Video, under $40).

De Antonio’s 1968 film documents the war up to 1968 using rare interviews and news clips to passionately delve into the roots of the war, to answer the question: Why are Americans fighting in Vietnam? Nearly 20 years later, the question is still relevant and the answers as searing as ever. This is an important document of the era.

Davis’ “Hearts and Minds” also shows the futility of the war and the heartbreaking series of events that brought the United States into Vietnam. It is a powerful piece of documentary filmmaking, albeit personal and reflective.

Other Vietnam-related videos include “The War at Home” (MPI), a history of anti-war activism at the University of Wisconsin; “Vietnam: Remember” (MPI), the story of the battle of Khe Sahn, one of the fiercest battles of the war, and “The Secret Agent,” (MPI) a history of Agent Orange and its effects on Vietnam War veterans.