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The Fog of War

Original title: The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara
  • 20032003
  • PG-13PG-13
  • 1h 47m
IMDb RATING
8.1/10
24K
YOUR RATING
The Fog of War (2003)
Home Video Trailer from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Play trailer2:07
2 Videos
10 Photos
  • Documentary
  • Biography
  • History
The story of America as seen through the eyes of the former Secretary of Defense under President John F. Kennedy and President Lyndon B. Johnson, Robert McNamara.The story of America as seen through the eyes of the former Secretary of Defense under President John F. Kennedy and President Lyndon B. Johnson, Robert McNamara.The story of America as seen through the eyes of the former Secretary of Defense under President John F. Kennedy and President Lyndon B. Johnson, Robert McNamara.
IMDb RATING
8.1/10
24K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Errol Morris
  • Stars
    • Robert McNamara
    • John F. Kennedy(archive footage)
    • Fidel Castro(archive footage)
Top credits
  • Director
    • Errol Morris
  • Stars
    • Robert McNamara
    • John F. Kennedy(archive footage)
    • Fidel Castro(archive footage)
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 166User reviews
    • 132Critic reviews
    • 87Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Won 1 Oscar
      • 14 wins & 16 nominations total

    Videos2

    The Fog of War
    Trailer 2:07
    The Fog of War
    The Fog of War
    Trailer 2:08
    The Fog of War

    Photos10

    Robert McNamara in The Fog of War (2003)
    Robert McNamara in The Fog of War (2003)
    Errol Morris in The Fog of War (2003)
    Robert McNamara in The Fog of War (2003)
    Errol Morris and Robert McNamara in The Fog of War (2003)
    Robert McNamara in The Fog of War (2003)
    The Fog of War (2003)
    The Fog of War (2003)
    The Fog of War (2003)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Robert McNamara
    Robert McNamara
    • Selfas Self
    John F. Kennedy
    John F. Kennedy
    • Selfas Self
    • (archive footage)
    • (uncredited)
    Fidel Castro
    Fidel Castro
    • Selfas Self
    • (archive footage)
    • (uncredited)
    Richard Nixon
    Richard Nixon
    • Selfas Self
    • (archive footage)
    • (uncredited)
    Barry Goldwater
    Barry Goldwater
    • Selfas Self
    • (archive footage)
    • (uncredited)
    Lyndon B. Johnson
    Lyndon B. Johnson
    • Selfas Self
    • (archive footage)
    • (uncredited)
    Nikita Khrushchev
    Nikita Khrushchev
    • Selfas Self
    • (archive footage)
    • (uncredited)
    Curtis LeMay
    Curtis LeMay
    • Selfas Self
    • (archive footage)
    • (uncredited)
    Errol Morris
    Errol Morris
    • Intervieweras Interviewer
    • (voice)
    • (uncredited)
    Harry Reasoner
    Harry Reasoner
    • Self - TV intervieweras Self - TV interviewer
    • (archive footage)
    • (uncredited)
    Franklin D. Roosevelt
    Franklin D. Roosevelt
    • Selfas Self
    • (archive footage)
    • (voice)
    • (uncredited)
    Woodrow Wilson
    Woodrow Wilson
    • Selfas Self
    • (archive footage)
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Errol Morris
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The "Eleven Lessons" listed in the film are as follows:
      • 1. Empathize with your enemy.
      • 2. Rationality will not save us.
      • 3. There's something beyond one's self.
      • 4. Maximize efficiency.
      • 5. Proportionality should be a guideline in war.
      • 6. Get the data.
      • 7. Belief and seeing are both often wrong.
      • 8. Be prepared to reexamine your reasoning.
      • 9. In order to do good, you may have to engage in evil.
      • 10. Never say never.
      • 11. You can't change human nature.
    • Quotes

      Robert McNamara: I'm not so naive or simplistic to believe we can eliminate war. We're not going to change human nature any time soon. It isn't that we aren't rational. We are rational. But reason has limits. There's a quote from T.S. Eliot that I just love: "We shall not cease from exploring, and at the end of our exploration, we will return to where we started, and know the place for the first time." Now that's in a sense where I'm beginning to be.

    • Crazy credits
      Director of Officeland Security: Jackpot Junior
    • Connections
      Featured in At the Movies: Cheaper by the Dozen/The Company/Calendar Girls/Big Fish/The Fog of War (2003)
    • Soundtracks
      100,000 People
      (uncredited)

      by Philip Glass

      Ocean Mountain Music

    User reviews166

    Review
    Top review
    8/10
    Here Comes Santayana.
    Where are you when we need you? A President from Texas acts upon faulty intelligence and gets the endorsement of Congress to use whatever force is necessary and then invades a country whose destiny is more or less irrelevant to the security of the United States. The war generates opposition at home and abroad. The President's domestic programs are cut in order to fund the war. Fifty thousand American lives are lost, and countless indigents die, despite the application of America's high tech weaponry. Having committed himself, not to mention the troops, the President is unable to back down because he doesn't want to lose. "Cut and run" is the expression he uses. In the end the country is united under an anti-American government and forgotten about.

    This really should be required viewing for voters who may not remember, or may not choose to remember, Vietnam. Those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it, to roughly quote George Santayana. It's easy to get into a war, and much harder to get out.

    And we should bear in mind that the subject of this interview, Robert Macnamara, didn't stand on the sidelines. He was at the center of the Vietnam conflict, which lasted about ten years. He was Secretary of Defense during eight of those years, until fired by Johnson for his increasingly public dissent. He organized the logistics of the war, gave JFK and Johnson advice. Sometimes the conflict was referred to as "MacNamara's War." So he's nobody's idea of an armchair analyst.

    The most telling and relevant moment comes at the beginning, during the Cuban missile crisis of October, 1962. President Kennedy has received a letter from Chairman Krushchov, saying, basically, that if the US promises not to invade Cuba, the Soviet missiles will be withdrawn. Then a second letter arrives, taking a much harder line than the first, implying a Soviet attack on America.

    What to do? Curtis LeMay, the Chief of Staff, thinks that since a war with the USSR is inevitable, let's begin it now while we have a 17 to one missile superiority. Another adviser suggests responding to the first, softer letter, while ignoring the second one. Kennedy demurs. What will that get us? He doesn't want to be seen as backing down. The adviser tells him, "Mister President, you're wrong about that." (MacNamara comments, "That took guts.") Kennedy finally gives in and agrees to follow the diplomatic route and responds to letter number one only. We wind up dismantling some obsolete missile bases in Turkey and in exchange the Soviets withdraw their missiles and war is averted. Who is the sage who would now tell the President, if a similar situation arose, that he was wrong? MacNamara comes across as a sympathetic and compassionate guy. He cusses a bit and his eyes tear up when he remembers picking out JFK's grave site in Arlington National Cemetery. He also describes -- without at all boasting about it -- his valuable contributions to the bombing campaigns of World War II.

    I don't see any bias in Errol Morris's editing, although who knows what wound up on the cutting room floor? It's MacNamara's show all the way and he's candid, keeps the secrets he feels necessary, and never loses dignity. He wrote a book about his period in office admitting that he'd made many mistakes in the run-up to and execution of the Vietnam War. The general reception by the liberal reviewers was that apologies weren't enough. Nothing was enough. The reviewers showed a lot less in the way of compassion than MacNamara shows here.

    The music is by Philip Glass, who is neat. It's hard to comment on the photography because so much of the footage is from newsreels or TV. It's a fine documentary and ought to be shown in political science classes. It should keep the students interested because it blends the human element with the political. The statistics that were so important to the President of the Ford Motor Company and the Secretary of Defense don't play much of a part in this documentary. What will keep the class attentive is the reenactment of all those human skulls bouncing down the staircase of a dormitory at Cornell University.
    helpful•44
    8
    • rmax304823
    • Dec 19, 2004

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • March 5, 2004 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official site
      • Sony Classics (United States)
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • The McNamara Project
    • Filming locations
      • California, USA
    • Production companies
      • Sony Pictures Classics
      • RadicalMedia
      • SenArt Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $4,198,566
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $41,449
      • Dec 21, 2003
    • Gross worldwide
      • $5,038,841
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 47 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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