SoTrumpBelieve Must See Movie...

Aubrey Hackett While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

metalrox_2000 There is a line in the movie from a former FBI agent. He said "If Lennon had just kept his mouth shut, and made his music, there never would have been a problem." And there is the fundamental issue. Here was John Lennon, who had fame and fortune as a member of the Beatles. Does he continue to write disposable pop tunes, or does he use song to uncover some of the injustice in the world? Thankfully for us, he chose the later.John Lennon used his platform for the greatest good. He gave a voice to those who were shunned. He allowed Bobby Seale of the Black Panthers to have his say, and refute how the news media had portrayed him. Lennon was a man of peace, which made him a threat to men like Richard Nixon, who dedicated their lives to war.The film goes into great depth Lennon and his views, as well as the infamous fight by the Nixon Administration to deport Lennon as an "undesirable alien" simply because he spoke out. The film features interviews with both Yoko and the attorney who fought the deportation and won.The documentary focuses heavily on his activism, and reveals many details not generally known, even to the most hard core fans. The film makes great use of home movies and news clips as well.One of the strongest uses of news clips comes at the end. The public display that went on for John Lennon was unmatched by anyone up to or since then. The raw emotions of the fans gathered for the tribute to him was grim, it was real, and it brought home how beloved John Lennon was to a people tired of war.John Lennon isn't simply portrayed as a musician turned social activist. He's not portrayed as a superhero either. He's portrayed as a man who looked upon the world, and asked why. Why must there be so much death and destruction? And looking at the state of affairs in the world now, we really could use John Lennon.

Michael O'Keefe War is over. Is it the people you "run with" or just the fact you have a conscious and the will to speak your mind? Filmmakers David Leaf and John Scheinfeld II present for our approval an evocative glimpse at the all-out efforts of Richard Nixon's administration and J. Edgar Hoover's gestapo-like minions to gag John Ono Lennon. Former Beatle and peace activist Lennon seemed to be an enemy of the United States government and the outspoken rock 'n' roller needed to be silenced. He and his wife Yoko Ono were wiretapped and kept under big brother's watchful eye as the Vietnam War raged on and TV nightly news told of massacred U.S. troops. Lennon's anti-war efforts led to threats of deportation. This documentary is well put together and sustained with some insightful comments in between archive footage. Featured are: Mario Cuomo, Angela Davis, Bobby Seale, Gore Vidal, George McGovern, G. Gordon Liddy, Geraldo Rivera, Ron Kovic, Walter Cronkite and John Dean just to mention a few. This 2006 film does not shy away from explicit language, violent images or drug references.

brainwave-2 For how revolutionary the subject matter is, there's little revolutionary about this bland doc (except maybe the cool graphics). Revelations about Nixon and Hoover's attempt to deport Lennon are very interesting and are heightened by his lawyer's appealing interviews, but that takes up only about a half hour of the film. The first 45 minutes is setting up ground work: who John was and what was going on at the time. While this would probably be appealing for a teenager, for those of us who lived through the era it's pretty simple stuff. Once everything is wrapped up pretty nicely the last 20 minutes are spent on his death, without fully describing the details of it. The teenagers who were educated by the first forty minutes are then left feeling that his death had some connection to the persecutions he received in his life – I assume this is done to intensify their argument. When in reality, the tragedy of his death was exactly that it was for no reason at all. Just like in the 60s and 70s, Lennon is still being used as a puppet.

karl_consiglio Check it out! The man, the legend pushed what he believed in and there was no stopping him. I wish he was still around today, in spirit he is, but I don't believe the message to be enough. One has to make a stand and not feel intimidated. Lennons message is ten forth more valuable today then it was back then. Peace and Love is the answer and you know that for sure. Bush is a symbol of death. War is over if you want it. The young need to rise even more so than in the past. Do not listen to this madness, don't buy what you are being told. Life is ten forth easier then they make it out to be and it is never thanks to politicians but a the righteous God to which they pretend to pray.