Direct Order (2003) User Reviews

Effective and shocking..

[Dyaus · 7/10 · 26 September 2004]

The content of this film is horrifying during some moments and infuriating at others, causing one to sit on the edge of their seat and mutter constant profanities at the government under their breath. Miller uses traditional film technique, e.g. a series of interviews interlaced with footage of other video over lapped with narrative, to reinforce his points much as one might see in the latest Moore 'documentary'. This film doesn't represent a mark of evolution in the genre per say, but it delivers its shocking message effectively. This film only serves to document the lengths the U.S. government will strive towards in order to get results. The experiments purported in the film are along the same lines as that of the Tuskegee Airman experiments, they are destructive, deadly, and immoral. A must see for human rights/social advocates. Very enlightening - 7/10

Ditto

[scsmith2-839-687711 · 10/10 · 8 November 2013]

I have to agree with "yosemitelor" that this is an absolute MUST-SEE documentary. While the technical qualities may be lacking, the content and importance of the movie cannot be underestimated. What I find perhaps the most shocking is that it has been out for 10 years now, and yet nobody seems to have heard of this, much less performed a follow-up investigation of the allegations made in the movie. We are talking about 100,000 or more of this nation's best and most courageous being rendered into helpless cripples for life, if not even killed by the anthrax vaccine that was supposed to keep them healthy. How can this be? What is wrong with any government that would allow this to happen to its own military men and women? There must be accountability for this, or we are ALL in trouble.

Disappointing, but still a must-see.

[esstee55 · 18 June 2004]

A film that sounded much better than it turned out to be. This film is about many of the military folks who fought in the Gulf war of the early '90s, and how each of them was given a direct order to take an anthrax vaccine. Now, these people are all messed up physically, and some even mentally. It's a bizarre, scary and even sad story that happens to be true, and of course was never even reported on the televised, or print media, owned by Wall Street. But how this amateur filmmaker was able to talk actor Michael Douglas into reading copy in some studio closet for several minutes is beyond me. This film's main problem is that it isn't the least bit imaginative or clever in its execution. Sure, the subject is fascinating, even frightening. But this guy (Miller) makes it a snore! Better luck next time.

A Documentary all Americans should see

[yosemitelor · 10/10 · 31 May 2005]

I rated this movie a 10, not because of any technical reasons, but solely based on the content. This documentary reveals the lengths our government will go to in pursuing ill advised policies regardless of the level of detriment it will have on our citizens. These are not ordinary citizens our government subjected to death and disability due to the their mis-guided policies, but the very citizens who have dedicated their lives to protecting ours. To pursue such a course of action upon any citizen let alone our military personal, who have dedicated their lives to the protection of our country's ideals, is nothing short of criminal. To then cover it up and not take steps to aid and assist those whose lives they have destroyed is somewhere far beyond immoral. I applaud all involved in this movie for their courage and dedication in exposing this gross injustice. This movie was shown in one of my classes at U.C. Berkeley and I think it should be shown to all high school students. These youngsters are our military personnel of the future and they need to know where they stand and hopefully they will dedicate their memory of the film to seeing history of this type does not repeat itself.

On another note, I find it quite disturbing that it was impossible to find a copy of this movie to rent, be it a library, reel.com or netflix, as it is one that ALL Americans should see!