History

The Vietnam War

The Vietnam War is a ten-part, 18-hour documentary film series directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. In an immersive 360-degree narrative, Burns and Novick tell the epic story of the Vietnam War as it has never before been told on film. The Vietnam War features testimony from nearly 100 witnesses.

The Weight of Memory (Explicit Language Version)

1h 51m

While the Watergate scandal rivets Americans’ attention and forces President Nixon to resign, the Vietnamese continue to savage one another in a brutal civil war. When hundreds of thousands of North Vietnamese troops pour into the south, Saigon descends rapidly into chaos and collapses. For the next 40 years, Americans and Vietnamese from all sides search for healing and reconciliation.

Episodes

  • The Weight of Memory (Explicit Language Version): asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Weight of Memory (Explicit Language Version)

    S1 E30 - 1h 51m

    While the Watergate scandal rivets Americans’ attention and forces President Nixon to resign, the Vietnamese continue to savage one another in a brutal civil war. When hundreds of thousands of North Vietnamese troops pour into the south, Saigon descends rapidly into chaos and collapses. For the next 40 years, Americans and Vietnamese from all sides search for healing and reconciliation.

  • The Weight of Memory (Vietnamese Subtitles): asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Weight of Memory (Vietnamese Subtitles)

    S1 E20 - 1h 50m

    While the Watergate scandal rivets Americans’ attention and forces President Nixon to resign, the Vietnamese continue to savage one another in a brutal civil war. When hundreds of thousands of North Vietnamese troops pour into the south, Saigon descends rapidly into chaos and collapses. For the next 40 years, Americans and Vietnamese from all sides search for healing and reconciliation.

  • The Weight of Memory (March 1973-Onward): asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Weight of Memory (March 1973-Onward)

    S1 E10 - 1h 50m

    While the Watergate scandal rivets Americans’ attention and forces President Nixon to resign, the Vietnamese continue to savage one another in a brutal civil war. When hundreds of thousands of North Vietnamese troops pour into the south, Saigon descends rapidly into chaos and collapses. For the next 40 years, Americans and Vietnamese from all sides search for healing and reconciliation.

  • A Disrespectful Loyalty (Explicit Language Version): asset-mezzanine-16x9

    A Disrespectful Loyalty (Explicit Language Version)

    S1 E29 - 1h 53m

    South Vietnamese forces fighting on their own in Laos suffer a terrible defeat. Massive U.S. airpower makes the difference in halting an unprecedented North Vietnamese offensive. After being re-elected in a landslide, Nixon announces Hanoi has agreed to a peace deal. American prisoners of war will finally come home – to a bitterly divided country.

  • A Disrespectful Loyalty (Vietnamese Subtitles): asset-mezzanine-16x9

    A Disrespectful Loyalty (Vietnamese Subtitles)

    S1 E19 - 1h 52m

    South Vietnamese forces fighting on their own in Laos suffer a terrible defeat. Massive U.S. airpower makes the difference in halting an unprecedented North Vietnamese offensive. After being re-elected in a landslide, Nixon announces Hanoi has agreed to a peace deal. American prisoners of war will finally come home – to a bitterly divided country.

  • A Disrespectful Loyalty (May 1970-March 1973): asset-mezzanine-16x9

    A Disrespectful Loyalty (May 1970-March 1973)

    S1 E9 - 1h 52m

    South Vietnamese forces fighting on their own in Laos suffer a terrible defeat. Massive U.S. airpower makes the difference in halting an unprecedented North Vietnamese offensive. After being re-elected in a landslide, Nixon announces Hanoi has agreed to a peace deal. American prisoners of war will finally come home – to a bitterly divided country.

  • The History of the World (Explicit Language Version): asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The History of the World (Explicit Language Version)

    S1 E28 - 1h 52m

    With morale plummeting in Vietnam, President Nixon begins withdrawing American troops. As news breaks of an unthinkable massacre committed by American soldiers, the public debates the rectitude of the war, while an incursion into Cambodia reignites antiwar protests with tragic consequences.

  • The History of the World (Vietnamese Subtitles): asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The History of the World (Vietnamese Subtitles)

    S1 E18 - 1h 51m

    With morale plummeting in Vietnam, President Nixon begins withdrawing American troops. As news breaks of an unthinkable massacre committed by American soldiers, the public debates the rectitude of the war, while an incursion into Cambodia reignites antiwar protests with tragic consequences.

  • The History of the World (April 1969-May 1970): asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The History of the World (April 1969-May 1970)

    S1 E8 - 1h 52m

    With morale plummeting in Vietnam, President Nixon begins withdrawing American troops. As news breaks of an unthinkable massacre committed by American soldiers, the public debates the rectitude of the war, while an incursion into Cambodia reignites antiwar protests with tragic consequences.

  • The Veneer of Civilization (Explicit Language Version): asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Veneer of Civilization (Explicit Language Version)

    S1 E27 - 1h 51m

    Public support for the war declines, and American men of draft age face difficult decisions and wrenching moral choices. After police battle with demonstrators in the streets of Chicago, Richard Nixon wins the presidency, promising law and order at home and peace overseas. In Vietnam, the war goes on and soldiers on all sides witness terrible savagery and unflinching courage.

  • The Veneer of Civilization (Vietnamese Subtitles): asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Veneer of Civilization (Vietnamese Subtitles)

    S1 E17 - 1h 50m

    Public support for the war declines, and American men of draft age face difficult decisions and wrenching moral choices. After police battle with demonstrators in the streets of Chicago, Richard Nixon wins the presidency, promising law and order at home and peace overseas. In Vietnam, the war goes on and soldiers on all sides witness terrible savagery and unflinching courage.

  • The Veneer of Civilization (June 1968-May 1969): asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Veneer of Civilization (June 1968-May 1969)

    S1 E7 - 1h 50m

    Public support for the war declines, and American men of draft age face difficult decisions and wrenching moral choices. After police battle with demonstrators in the streets of Chicago, Richard Nixon wins the presidency, promising law and order at home and peace overseas. In Vietnam, the war goes on and soldiers on all sides witness terrible savagery and unflinching courage.

Extras + Features

  • A Marine Comes Home: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    A Marine Comes Home

    S1 E9 - 1m 50s

    A Marine describes his heartbreak at returning home to face angry protesters.

  • Quang Ngai: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Quang Ngai

    S1 E8 - 1m 15s

    A GI talks about the danger of landmines and the courage it took just to walk in Vietnam.

  • Men Like This: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Men Like This

    S1 E7 - 1m 14s

    A decorated Army veteran recalls the courage and loyalty he observed from young men serving in the Vietnam War.

  • Protests in Chicago, 1968: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Protests in Chicago, 1968

    S1 E7 - 1m 54s

    A journalist describes the scene of a violent clash between police and student protesters at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

  • LBJ Criticizes the Media: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    LBJ Criticizes the Media

    S1 E6 - 1m 25s

    In a taped conversation between President Johnson and Jack Horner of the Washington Star, the president criticizes the media.

  • Saigon During Tet: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Saigon During Tet

    S1 E6 - 46s

    During the Tet Offensive, Duong Van Mai Elliott visits her family in South Vietnam. She remembers their fear that Viet Cong forces could be hiding nearby.

  • Soldiers Adapt: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Soldiers Adapt

    S1 E5 - 1m 13s

    A Marine explains that soldiers have to adapt to the atrocities of war.

  • Ho Chi Minh Trail: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Ho Chi Minh Trail

    S1 E4 - 1m 20s

    A Vietnamese woman recalls her efforts as a youth volunteer with other women on the Ho Chi Minh trail to keep roads open, despite harsh conditions and constant bombings.

  • New York City March, 1967: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    New York City March, 1967

    S1 E4 - 1m 24s

    An antiwar activist recalls a large protest march in New York City, where Martin Luther King, Jr., called for an end to the bombing.

  • Losses in His Family: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Losses in His Family

    S1 E4 - 57s

    A Viet Cong soldier recalls losing several family members in the war. And yet many young people, even in his family, still joined the resistance.

  • Humanity: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Humanity

    S1 E4 - 55s

    A Viet Cong soldier realizes his American enemies, like his own countrymen, have a profound sense of humanity.

  • Understanding the Enemy: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Understanding the Enemy

    S1 E4 - 2m 56s

    Duong Van Mai Elliott recalls her experiences researching communists in Vietnam for the RAND corporation.

Schedule

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