The DVD Review  

THE PENTAGON PAPERS 

Paramount Home Entertainment. Out now. 

A He Says She Says Review by Knowles and Knowles  

The Story Based on a true story the title refers to the 7,000-page report commissioned for the American government regarding the war in Vietnam .  Daniel Ellsberg (James Spader) is an analyst who had worked on parts of the aforementioned report whose views regarding the war change dramatically after spending six months with a marine platoon.  When he returns to old job as an analyst he gets his hands on a copy of the Pentagon Papers and he finds out the true extent of the lies that have been fed to the American people.  Shocked and horrified by what he has read he makes the treasonous decision to release the contents of the report. His decision to reveal the facts contained within these reports causes shock waves throughout the country.  

She Says I wish that I had realised that this was a true story when I started watching this movie, as I would have paid more attention to detail.  James Spader does a great job as Daniel Ellsberg and you don’t really realise this until you see the real person at the end of the movie.  The way the war scenes were shot were really effective and made them stand out apart from the rest of the movie.  This was a movie that I’m glad I saw it, however, it didn’t have that much of an impact on me because I don’t know that much about American History and the historical significance was lost on me.   

He Says Although the Vietnam War is a highly published topic in history, I didn’t know much of the story of Ellsberg and was surprised to find that it was based upon a true story. These events started by Ellsberg then led to the Watergate Scandal. The Pentagon Papers is the story about the government hiding the truth from the American people and the world, its refreshing to see the truth rise above government spindoctoring. I did enjoy the film, but like many made for TV movies, not one of those titles that you want to watch over and over again.