Amoeba Music

We hear Robert S. McNamara's voice before we actually see him – then he tells the director, "I don't want to go back and introduce the sentence because I know exactly what I want to say." McNamara is candid, opinionated, and passionate – qualities appropriate and endearing from America's former Secretary of Defense, under President Kennedy and President Johnson.

Here Errol Morris offers us a former leader of America's military force's inside knowledge in our nation's war-driven period from the Cold War to the Vietnam War. Some of the information McNamara reveals is astounding. What moved me was that, in the film, he is emotional and intimate – I felt privileged to be able to hear what this historical figure had to say. He explained the results of our actions in several aspects – from the statistical numbers our position in war has had on our daily lives, the impact of our technological weapons, and his own position on being our Secretary of Defense.

He urges us, "The human race needs to think more about killing – about conflict. Is that what we want in our twenty-first century?" That is what this documentary does – we are forced to see our history in war-torn numbers, and to think about our consequences from our declaration and actions within war. What is "war"? What actions do we take within the context of war that creates the world's current situation? McNamara gets down to the bottom of this, and it is enthralling. For anyone who cares about history, America, the meaning of war, and the concept of today – this documentary should be a priority!

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The Fog of War won an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature.