A Bright Shining Lie with Bill Paxton: DVD Cover
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A Bright Shining Lie Director: Terry George Cast: Bill Paxton, Amy Madigan, Vivian Wu, Donal Logue

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  • DVD Release Date: 12/22/1998
  • Rating: Not Rated
  • Sales Rank: 8,754

Viewer Rating: (3 ratings)

Detailed Rating: "Visuals" See All

 
  • Overview
  • Editorial Reviews
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  • Customer Reviews
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Scenes

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Cast bios; Languages; Scene selections; Subtitles

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Scene Index

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Editorial Reviews

Adapted from Neil Sheehan's 1988 Pulitzer Prize-winning best-seller, this $14-million TV docudrama, re-creating the Vietnam War with convincing combat footage, was the most expensive two-hour movie ever produced by HBO Pictures. Lieutenant Colonel John Paul Vann (Bill Paxton) spends ten years (1962-72) in Vietnam. When Vann exposes falsified casualty figures, deceptive battle reports, and other lies about the war, journalist Steven Burnett (Donal Logue) relays the truth to American newspapers, and Vann takes heat from higher-ups. Meanwhile, he's involved with a Vietnamese teacher (Vivian Wu), and his wife (Amy Madigan) is forced to lie so he won't be court-martialed for sexual relations with an underage Vietnamese girl. Back for a second tour, he gets another young Vietnamese woman pregnant and is forced to marry her. Returning in 1968 as a civilian, he's decorated and eventually promoted to general for his contributions during the Tet offensive. The music track features Grace Slick singing "Somebody to Love" while peasant villages are bombed. Filmed in Lompburi, Thailand. Premiered May 30, 1998 on HBO. Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Customer Reviews

A BRIGHT SHINING LIE -- WHAT THE VIETNAM WAR WAS LIKE AND HOW IT COULD PERHAPS HAVE BEEN MANAGED RIGby valkyrieJZ

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April 28, 2009: this film is a very close reflection of the effect the Vietnam war had ob both america society and the vietnamese population as a whole. it highlights most of the corruption that went by and the military ineptitudes of the US top brass fighting a guerilla war with WWII tactics!

good viewing. had a problem initially as the DVD is not all region!

The Truth Will Set You Free ?by Anonymous

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January 04, 2002: A Bright Shining Lie: Rates as one of the most informative eye opening films I have ever seen on the inner workings of the War in Viet Nam. It takes you on a ride that brings you to the egde of the realization that we ( ? ) did not want to win the war in Southeast Asia. This film shows all too clearly, that one life means nothing if you try to turn the tide of truth against those that see truth in a very different light. John Paul Vann gave his life in pursuit of ideals that were not mainstream. A very gripping and frustrating film in the fact that it exposes lies that many hoped would remain lies.


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