scottshogs
Many on this site call this movie propaganda...obviously that is correct, but to be fair ever single book or movie or media in general is propaganda. We all have agendas and (hopefully researched) opinions for every single action of our lives. This movie is human nature and so clearly propaganda.The problem I have is that this movie pretends that imperialism & money only became connected with war since WWII. Lets not be naive...every single war in the history of the world has been motivated by power and money. From ancient Greece to the crusades to our current wars. EVERY SINGLE WAR EVER IS ABOUT $$$$$$$$$$$$$!
Claudio Carvalho
"Why We Fight" is a powerful documentary that discloses the ascension of the military power USA since Eisenhower; makes reference to recent American interventions in many nations since the 60's; and concentrates the greatest time in the invasion of Iraq, showing the lies of politicians; the power and arrogance of corporations; and the bloodshed of civilians in Iraq. The evolution of the statement of the retired officer that lost one son in the September, 11th and his later conclusion is probably the most touching and human part of this documentary, since it reflects the feelings of the average people that were deceived by false declarations of their leaders in a moment of emotion of the whole world with the September, 11th. The cynicism and amnesia of politicians is amazing considering that the state-of-art of image and sound permits to record their declarations. Last but not the least; "Why We Fight" is not a Michael Moore's feature. My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): "Razões Para a Guerra" ("Reasons for the War")
alicecbr
I had to watch this movie on the Internet yesterday from a site in England. That should give you some idea of how much censorship we now have in 'the land of the free and the home of the brave'. I'm in Boston and so far, there's no distributor for this movie, not even Landmark. We have to have meetings in our homes to show it.Ironic, that the Republican Eisenhower, a true conservative and brilliant mind who DIDN'T hide out in Alabama during the war, warns us in his understated way of the dangers from the 'military/industrial complex'. This complex has now grown to include our federal government in on the continuing cycle of war. And this point, the movie so aptly makes.I worked for Raytheon and we were sure to co-opt our military Program Manager by letting him know that he had a job with Raytheon after retirement from the military, a practise many 'defense'/war contractors follow. So, no wonder the Patriot missile didn't work at first. Our tests were then and are now programmed to succeed. Of course, they fail in the field, for which I used to be happy, not wanting more death for our enemy dujour. Now, however, as I see the thousands of innocents dying because of these dumb bombs so highly touted as 'smart', I regret my part in designing weapons for our 'defense'.We are now involved in Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace, a policy so well pointed out here, that will keep our defense/war-mongering corporations profitable until we reap the eventual consequences of national evil. The allusions made to the Roman empire are actually too few for my liking. And there are VERY few allusions to the Germany of the 30s, not even to indicate that Bush's grandaddy helped finance the Luftwaffe factories until shut down by a more virtuous federal government than we have now.We are indeed the arms merchants of the world, and it is not an accident, but a plan. We spend more on 'defense' than on anything else in our budget, and yet we are the mightiest in the world. This movie makes the point very well. As well as the hypocrisy that accompanies it, which of course is why you will have a hard problem seeing the movie.Better, get the original Capra movies and watch them in sequence with this one. Makes the point even better. Instead of fighting the nationalized evil of Germany as we did in the 40s, my country, the freedom-loving U.S.A., is now the epitome of nationalized evil. We lie to our children, as the Sullivan boy is lied to in this movie by the recruiters, and sacrifice them on the altar of greed. If you can stand it, watch 'Munich', 'Syriana' and 'Why We Fight' in sequence. Clear pattern of a degenerating republic at the national level and extremely Biblical in proving that "He who sews the wind reaps the whirlwind." The educational system dies, and with it, the sheeple's power to analyze the lies coming from the totalitarian corporate owners. I"ll be interested in observing whether this comment even makes it to the IMDb database. Viva Maria! (1965) This would be funny if we weren't being Bombed Ourselves, 13 July 2005(This comment was deleted by IMDb based on an abuse report filed by another user) Brigitte Bardot makes a very convincing bomber, political assassin as she learns about bomb-making and executing the blasts from her father all over Europe and Central America. It's a play on the Irish hatred of the British.They just blow some troops up, and melt into the surroundings, much as our modern terrorists do.......and with a child like innocence about them. Malle makes fun of a lot of old-time westerns with the hero (Hamilton) dramatically dying for his love. Jeanne Moreau is quite a dancer, which I never realized before, as she and Brigitte 'invent' the striptease.This was in glorious technicolor and the naivete and innocence of the time when this movie was made can't help but sadden you as you realize how low we have sunk in this oil-crazy world where the mad dictator (Bush, not Hitler this time) invades any oil-rich countries he wants to under the guise of 'bringing democracy' to the people (althouth we have to kill them to do it). If our time wasn't such a Keystone Cop melodrama in itself, I'd make more fun of this movie. But it's fairly realistic, if you judge by what goes for reality these days.
integrated-1
We fight because of differing ideologies -- be they political, social or the reigning champ of all conflict, religion. This was not addressed in the movie.Politicians, businesses, and the armed forces (even the media) are all just opportunists taking advantage of the man's inability to exist peacefully. That gains are had in waging war is prehistoric, and too much effort was spent trying to evidence it in recent times.Finally, with communism gone (at least for now) we are in the era of the new Crusades. But you'd never succeed in rallying support for a war to take out the Sunni leader in a country bordering Iran that's gone Noriega on us. The movie got close to this but missed the punch line.We live in a complicated, greedy world. If you were surprised by any of this work's revelations you should reread "The Prince".
