John Wayne hosts this video which was produced during the Vietnam War when the Communist threat was at its height.John Wayne hosts this video which was produced during the Vietnam War when the Communist threat was at its height.John Wayne hosts this video which was produced during the Vietnam War when the Communist threat was at its height.
Photos
Vladimir Lenin
- Self
- (archive footage)
Adolf Hitler
- Self
- (archive footage)
Neville Chamberlain
- Self
- (archive footage)
Joseph Stalin
- Self
- (archive footage)
- (as Iosif Stalin)
Mark W. Clark
- Narrator
- (as Mark Clark)
Douglas MacArthur
- Self
- (archive footage)
Zedong Mao
- Self
- (archive footage)
- (as Mao Zedong)
Enlai Zhou
- Self
- (archive footage)
Kai-Shek Chiang
- Self
- (archive footage)
Ho Chí Minh
- Self
- (archive footage)
Nikita Khrushchev
- Self
- (archive footage)
Nguyen Ngoc Tho
- Self
- (archive footage)
- Director
- Robert F. Slatzer(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAt the time of this film's release public support for the war was rapidly waning, even among the white working class types who were arguably Wayne's audience.
Featured review
Wartime propaganda
This film gets 5 out of 10 stars for accurately portraying the American point of view on the Vietnam War from a right wing, hawkish perspective. There is absolutely no counter argument made, and any and all contradictory facts (of which any historian worth his salt could find an overwhelming number) are deliberately omitted. If you're unfamiliar with the extreme right-wing take on Vietnam, then there is value in seeing this film. But don't expect to walk away from it knowing the truth of what happened, or what went wrong in Vietnam during America's campaign in Southeast Asia.
Sadly, the well worn points made in this film about the military "having to fight with one hand, or both hands, tied behind its back", the fingers pointed at the traitorous liberal media and politicians inexplicably siding with communists, have been taken as articles of faith by vast numbers of people today. The actual facts are far more subtle.
In truth, America had many successes in Vietnam - both political and military, but failed to properly understand and capitalize on them or see the bigger picture until too late. Ironically, the positions taken in "No Substitute for Victory" in support of the war, are among the main reasons why the Communists prevailed. American impatience with the pace of victory and frustration in coping with an enemy using asymmetrical battle tactics led to a widening of the war, including carpet bombing and the resulting 'collateral damage', which in turn lost us the very 'hearts and minds' that we needed to win in order to take popular support away from the Communists. At the same time, propaganda (like this film) and outright lies by the military (inflated body counts, deliberately under reporting enemy numbers) led to wide scale disillusionment and loss of credibility with the American people.
Rather than own up to America's tactical and political blunders - which would make American a more powerful and effective champion of the freedoms it stands for and hopes to spread around the world, movies like this put the blame on easy targets (hippies, traitors in the media and government) and in doing so, miss the point of history entirely and, worse of all, perpetuate a culture war that continues to divide us as a people.
Sadly, the well worn points made in this film about the military "having to fight with one hand, or both hands, tied behind its back", the fingers pointed at the traitorous liberal media and politicians inexplicably siding with communists, have been taken as articles of faith by vast numbers of people today. The actual facts are far more subtle.
In truth, America had many successes in Vietnam - both political and military, but failed to properly understand and capitalize on them or see the bigger picture until too late. Ironically, the positions taken in "No Substitute for Victory" in support of the war, are among the main reasons why the Communists prevailed. American impatience with the pace of victory and frustration in coping with an enemy using asymmetrical battle tactics led to a widening of the war, including carpet bombing and the resulting 'collateral damage', which in turn lost us the very 'hearts and minds' that we needed to win in order to take popular support away from the Communists. At the same time, propaganda (like this film) and outright lies by the military (inflated body counts, deliberately under reporting enemy numbers) led to wide scale disillusionment and loss of credibility with the American people.
Rather than own up to America's tactical and political blunders - which would make American a more powerful and effective champion of the freedoms it stands for and hopes to spread around the world, movies like this put the blame on easy targets (hippies, traitors in the media and government) and in doing so, miss the point of history entirely and, worse of all, perpetuate a culture war that continues to divide us as a people.
helpful•24
- rlippman-2
- Jun 14, 2011
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Top Gap
By what name was No Substitute for Victory (1971) officially released in Canada in English?
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