Going Upriver

October 8, 2004 9:25 AM

Going Upriver : The Long War of John Kerry, is the new documentary in theatres about Kerry's service in the Vietnam War and his subsequent protests against it. Somehow, I'd never even heard about this film until this morning. Reviews of the film seem to be mostly positive. Have any MeFi members seen it? Do you think this will have any affect on election day?
posted by Stuart_R (9 comments total)

Haven't seen it. Not going to see it right now, because I'm sick of hearing about the Vietnam War. It's not going to have any effect on the US elections, because it's not in wide release outside the parts of the US which are already Kerry strongholds.
posted by Sidhedevil at 9:47 AM on October 8, 2004

It seems director George Butler is allowing the film to be downloaded for free. (via)
posted by Stuart_R at 9:57 AM on October 8, 2004

I've seen this film, and thought it was quite good. The production values are excellent, and the archival footage is nothing short of amazing. Vietnam is probably the best-documented war in history, given that it happened after the explosion of mass media and before the Pentagon realized that giving reporters unfettered access might not be in its best interest.

I wonder how hard it was for Kerry to lose that Massachusetts accent.
posted by Slothrup at 10:19 AM on October 8, 2004

Do you think this will have any affect on election day?

No. For people that care about his record, they have already made up their minds, one way or the other. For people that don't care they, well, don't care.
posted by Ynoxas at 1:24 PM on October 8, 2004

I feel like it was an extended infomercial for Kerry. . .and scripted in a way. . .everytime he is mentioned, it's *JohnKerry* did this or *JohnKerry* did that.

That said, seeing it has also made me supremely confident that Kerry can/will be a great president. A lot of intergrity.

Although the bar is not very high, now.
posted by Danf at 1:30 PM on October 8, 2004

I downloaded it and wanted to do the standard 30 second "quality" check.

I ended up watching 25 minutes. Powerful, powerful stuff. The music in particular is excellently done.

I'll have to wait until later when I can watch it with my girlfriend.

Shame that I don't know any on-the-fence voters. It would be worth buying them the DVD.
posted by rafter at 4:05 PM on October 8, 2004

I wonder if the incident where Kerry kills the individual trying to explode their boat is the one that Faze refers to here?

Furthermore does this documentary accurately reflect what Faze refers to as Kerry's "conscience problems" and might it reinforce or clear up his vague prejudices about Kerry.

I enjoyed his perspective on the Swift Boat campaign and hope to enjoy his perspective on this documentary.
posted by juiceCake at 2:36 PM on October 9, 2004

Yeah, the Crazy Uncles In The Basement Against Kerry perspective...
posted by y2karl at 4:19 PM on October 9, 2004

the CUITBAK perspective...

I like that. I regard Faze as one of the leading practitioners of absurdist literature, in blog-form, and am sorely disappointed he hasn't brought that perspective to this film.
posted by juiceCake at 5:08 PM on October 10, 2004