War Made Easy: How Presidents & Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death (2007)

War Made Easy reaches into the Orwellian memory hole to expose a 50-year pattern of government deception and media spin that has dragged the United States into one war after another from ... See full summary »

Directors:

Loretta Alper, Jeremy Earp

Writers:

Loretta Alper, Jeremy Earp

Stars:

Spiro Agnew, Christiane Amanpour, Peter Arnett

Cast

Credited cast:
Spiro Agnew	...	Himself (archive footage)
Christiane Amanpour	...	Herself (archive footage)
Peter Arnett	...	Himself (archive footage)
Wolf Blitzer	...	Himself (archive footage)
George Bush	...	Himself (archive footage)
George W. Bush	...	Himself (archive footage)
Dick Cheney	...	Himself (archive footage)
Bill Clinton	...	Himself (archive footage)
Walter Cronkite	...	Himself (archive footage)
Phil Donahue	...	Himself (archive footage)
J. William Fulbright	...	Himself (archive footage)
Sean Hannity	...	Himself (archive footage)
Brit Hume	...	Himself (archive footage)
Lyndon Johnson	...	Himself (archive footage)
Henry Kissinger	...	Himself (archive footage)

Storyline

War Made Easy reaches into the Orwellian memory hole to expose a 50-year pattern of government deception and media spin that has dragged the United States into one war after another from Vietnam to Iraq. Narrated by actor and activist Sean Penn, the film exhumes remarkable archival footage of official distortion and exaggeration from LBJ to George W. Bush, revealing in stunning detail how the American news media have uncritically disseminated the pro-war messages of successive presidential administrations.

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Plot Keywords:

media | deception | spin | propaganda | 

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Taglines:

How Presidents & Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death

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Genres:

Documentary | History | War

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 May 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

War Made Easy

Box Office

Budget:

$100,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Media Education Foundation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

73 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Color (NTSC Color)

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Features Triumph of the Will (1935)

User Reviews

Well done documentary; And the Wars continue

Although I am a big supporter of Barack Obama and find him to be a great leader and inspirational person, as President he is continuing to war. He may have not started a war, and is winding down Iraq (troop pullout from Iraqi cities last month) -- but our involvement in Afghanistan was increased greatly, and we are bombing Pakistan (with drones, near the border).

I guess being President requires exercising military might -- but I hope that Pres. Obama can help wind down the war machine. Interestingly enough, he has stated that he wants to rid the world of nuclear weapons and is at work on reducing the amount of stockpiles in the U.S., Russia, and elsewhere.

Perhaps it is hard after a century of war, and only 7 years after 9/11, to not fight some battles. Change is not overnight...

Terrific doc here.