Turning Point: The Vietnam War Review
Director: Brian Knappenberger
Date Created: 2025-04-30 21:00
4.5
Turning Point: The Vietnam War Review: This is a five-episode docuseries directed by Brian Knappenberger and produced by Luminant Media for Netflix. Known for his fearless storytelling, Knappenberger has once again delivered a bare-knuckle documentary that refuses to whitewash history. The show includes haunting footage from inside Vietnam, never-before-heard presidential recordings and compelling interviews, not just with American veterans but also with Vietnamese civilians. Utilising archival footage, CBS News reports and declassified government documents, this series provides an intense and truthful view of a rather painful chapter in modern world history.
The Turning Point: The Vietnam War docuseries may initially appear to be just another war documentary. But in its opening minutes, I discovered that it delves much deeper than that. It is not only about who fought or who won, it is about who suffered, who decided and who had to live with the consequences.
Turning Point: The Vietnam War Review
As an Indian who had grown up only hearing about the Vietnam War in textbooks and experiencing snippets of it in the movies, I wasn’t ready for the emotional jolt this docuseries gave me. It wasn’t just a history lesson, it was a punch in the gut. The way the docuseries portrays the real people, civilians, soldiers and politicians and their emotions came across, really made me think that war is hell, especially if you’re a common person.
Watching this series, I must say, I was uncomfortable in a good way. I think that’s what good documentaries are meant to do. They are supposed to defy what we believe we know. And Netflix’s Turning Point: The Vietnam War certainly did it for me.
The series is brutally honest, and that’s the strongest thing in this docuseries. It’s not shy about apportioning blame to the people in power, not just in Vietnam but especially the U.S. government. It demonstrates how political games and international rivalries metastasised into a war that ended millions of lives.
What really impressed me was how much the series had emphasised what was going on back in the White House. Hearing Secret recordings of American presidents talking about the strategy, knowing the war couldn’t be won, but deciding to forge ahead anyway, it was shocking. They were more interested in not embarrassing themselves than in saving lives. As an ordinary person, it’s painful to see so many lives were sacrificed just to save political images.
The aspect I most appreciated was how the series gave voice to Vietnamese people. Too often, documentaries focus only on the American side— the soldiers, the veterans, their families. But here, we get the perspective of former Viet Cong soldiers and Vietnamese civilians. It was a reminder to me that this war was waged in their country, not ours. Their homes were bombed, their families ripped apart, but they are almost always ignored by Western media.
In visual terms, at least, it feels intense. The black-and-white war photos, the disconcerting videos of ravaged villages, the faces of suffering people, it sticks with you. I had to stop the episode at times to take deep breaths. I was genuinely shaken, especially in the third episode, which dealt with the My Lai Massacre. That part is very heavy and difficult to watch.
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The docuseries doesn’t state it outright, but you can certainly see the outlines of the pattern. From where I am, here in India, and as an independent observer of the global stage, it is also exasperating to see the price that common people end up paying for the hubris of a few powerful leaders.
I believe that Turning Point: The Vietnam War series is one of the most significant docuseries. it seems to be timeless and very contemporary, that I’ve seen over the years. It is a necessary work that obliges us to confront uncomfortable truths, and it does the latter while resisting the temptation to turn the war into nothing more than a timeline of military engagements. Instead, it’s about people, their suffering, their choices, their regrets.
Summing Up
Turning Point: The Vietnam War is not a feel-good show. It’s not meant to be. But it is necessary. And to those of us who care about history, justice and learning from the past, this series is a must-watch. The pacing drags at some moments, and I wish they dedicated even more time to the Vietnamese civilian stories, but ultimately, it’s gut-wrenching, educational, and devastating. It’s a rare documentary that actually informs and changes the way that you think.
Turning Point: The Vietnam War 2025 is now streaming on Netflix.
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