F.T.A.

As a girl who had a brother in Vietnam, this was a very important film for me. I commend Jane and Donald and Co for there efforts and beliefs, the film made me smile

This documentary should be in all schools and libraries and streaming on the www! Historical truth is more important than ever and this film gives it to you with depth and eloquence, and while highly entertaining what you come away with goes way beyond that - a sense of country, a sense of we vs me - it is also radical for its time in dealing openly with racism and feminism, -with a diverse cast! A must see!

History never seen before . A must

Powerful & insightful. Heartbreaking & real.

Jane Fonda showed up!!!!!!!!!

An, until now, important missing part of the anti-Vietnam movement story. This documentary puts on film for the first time the efforts of a touring group of performers taking their message directly to the American soldiers and capturing the growing descent amongst those men AND women serving here and overseas. This film was suppressed by the Nixon administration fearing the general American learning of the futility of that war first hand from the soldiers fighting it.

Donald Sutherland and Jane Fonda go in tour with their anti-war show FTA (aka Fuck the Army), playing near military bases and spreading their anti-war message. The problem is that their show is mostly awful and so is the movie. The show's mix of comedy and music mostly plays like overly earnest amateur theory and is really kind of painful to watch. I'd say it could only play well to the converted, but I agree 100% with their cause and I still hate their show. In between acts, the film interviews soldiers who oppose the war. Although this is better than the show, it's very repetitive and no context is provided to give you a sense of who these men are and how well they represent the attitudes of the average soldier. Donald Sutherland is the one participant that comes of fairly well. There's a conviction and fiery intensity to what he has to say in the film, and he's the one person I found to be convincing.

There's nothing like standing up for what you believe in.

Donald Sutherland has some genuinely funny bits, with great comic timing. But most of the comedy and songs in this seem like poor vaudeville acts with an anti-Vietnam veneer. The interactions with both soldiers and activists speaking for themselves are pretty good, and Sutherland gives a great dramatic reading from Johny Got His Gun at the end. But aside from the opportunity to see Paul Mooney in a fur coat and fedora, (but unfortunately hear very little from him) there is not all that much to recommend this. The better comics are not given much real screen time, with weaker comics, celebrity spokespeople and unremarkable doc footage taking up the majority.

There's nothing like standing up for what you believe in.