The Fog of War - Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara (2003)
Average Rating: 8.4/10
Reviews Counted: 137
Fresh: 134 | Rotten: 3
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 8.4/10
Critic Reviews: 37
Fresh: 36 | Rotten: 1
No consensus yet.
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Average Rating: 4.1/5
User Ratings: 14,230
My Rating
Movie Info
Former Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara is the sole focus of documentarian Errol Morris' The Fog of War, a film that not only analyzes McNamara's controversial decisions during the first half of the Vietnam War, but also his childhood upbringing, his education at Berkeley and Harvard, his involvement in World War II, and his later years as president of the World Bank. Culling footage from almost 20 hours of interviews with the Secretary, Morris details key moments from McNamara's career,
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All Critics (146) | Top Critics (38) | Fresh (139) | Rotten (4) | DVD (26)
For those of my generation, the true resonance in the film may be in the constant juxtaposition between the then and the now of the McNamara life.
Top CriticMesmerizing documentary.
What's genuinely suspenseful about the movie is its journey into the heart and mind of McNamara.
A provocative case study in power and the powerful.
Fascinating documentary about Robert S. McNamara.
An insanely timely cautionary tale about American omniscience and the fallible belief that rationality will always win out.
It's difficult to imagine anyone from George W. Bush's administration coming forth with such awe-inspiring, agenda-free candor, contrition, insight and misgivings about America's foreign policy. A documentary about morals, respect and blind luck.
'The Fog of War' reveals McNamara to be an intelligent, insightful and sensitive man who was catastrophically wrong about the nature of the conflict that came to define him.
A great and disturbing film.
This is the most culturally significant documentary imaginable and should be mandatory for repeated viewing by all public officials the world over.
Even handed, but never to a fault, this critical and at times even touching examination of Robert McNamara's life and role in the Cold War is as brilliant as I hoped it would be.
[It] raise[s] complex questions about man's role in that most awful and inherent of human characteristics: our penchant for war.
When it comes to war, Robert S. McNamara wants us to know that our history with war has taught us plenty. Not that we've learned much from it.
A fascinating look into the mind of one of 20th century America's most controversial military figures
It is a well made, captivating film, with a rich historical content to give it narrative drive and McNamara's self-awareness to give it emotional depth and complexity.
McNamara makes a very human monster, a flawed man who regrets that "in order to do good you have to be willing to do evil."
Even when [McNamara] is openly defending what many would consider indefensible actions, his earnestness walks a line between psychopathic and somewhat commendable.
Audience Reviews for The Fog of War - Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara
Super Reviewer
For those of us who are students of history but didn't live during the times of the Vietnam War and WWII, this film doesn't have the resonance it might otherwise have. What I see is McNamara the apologist and McNamara the regretful soldier, personalities that he freely oscillates between almost at will. He wags his finger at the camera so many times that I felt like he was giving me, a small boy, a lecture on how to live. The film becomes a compilation of McNamara saying, "I did my best, but I fucked up, but damn it, I did my best!"
Overall, I think this film is a good introduction to people who know little about the wars, but it ultimately devolves into a talking head documentary.
Super Reviewer
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Latest News on The Fog of War - Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara
March 14, 2012:
Errol Morris Preparing Donald Rumsfeld DocumentaryHe has already conducted "a lengthy series of interviews" looking back at Rumsfeld's career.
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Foreign Titles
- The Fog of War (DE)
- The Fog Of War - Eleven Lessons From The Life Of Robert S. McNamara (UK)
