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Originally Posted by berserk87
I am a huge military history buff. This has been an informative series and I've learned a few things.
I didn't realize that Nixon reached out to the South Vietnamese government, as a presidential candidate, to have them withdraw from the pending Paris peace talks that had been facilitated by the Johnson administration. The documentary says that he did so by promising them a better deal at the talks via his administration after he was elected. To double down on the looniness, the Johnson administration had learned of this via covert surveillance and could do nothing about it, lest they tip their hand that they got the info in an unethical manner.
The soundtrack to the series is OK but at times I feel like I am watching "Forrest Gump" again. Last night's episode had a Beatles tune playing during the first moments, and seemed like the music was competing for supremacy with the narrative. I wish that the music video aspect were a bit more subdued. The subject matter does not need to be augmented by music as much as it is, in my opinion.
I just read a great book called "Hue 1968" by Mark Bowden. It was a fascinating read. Bowden's thesis is that after Tet, and Hue, particularly, the American people ceased to trust their government in the same way.
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I was thinking just the opposite but I am not a military history fan at all.
Most of Ken Burn's other works included great music from the periods and I was just thinking that this film feels very heavy and maybe more music could make it more palatable.
It seems to me he went out of his way to restrain using music other than at the beginning and ends of each episode.