'Path to War' chronicles the slow slide and eventual downfall of President Lyndon Johnson's administration as they sink themselves deeper into the Vietnam war. The film follows the progression of the war, brilliantly played out in Cabinet meetings and Camp David pow-wows going from how to pay for the war and the 'Great Society' programs at the same time to how to escalate the war without bringing in the Soviets or Chinese and touching off World War III, to trying anything to break the resolve of North Vietnam, to how to get out without losing South Vietnam to the enemy.

At first the film seems to be an interesting if not overly compelling docudrama with a better than average historical feel and high production values. Then, about mid-way through the film it soars to marvelous heights with scenes of intense drama. One scene portrays a conversation between Johnson and speechwriter Dick Goodwin in which Johnson attempts to persuade, then threaten and finally shame Goodwin. It succeeds in being one of the best moments on film I've seen in years. It is closely followed by a succession of excellent moments including a scene in which Under-Secretary of State George Ball gets drunk at a cocktail party and abuses his colleagues, first questioning their veracity and then their morality. In another Secretary of Defense Bob McNamara, in a brilliant portrayal by Alec Baldwin, holds a phone to his ear trying to get an update on the status of an American bombing raid while at the same time trying to comfort his wife who writhes in pain on a bed with a bleeding ulcer.

Michael Gabon is solid as LBJ but it takes quite a while to get used to his attempt to wrap his European accent around a Texas drawl. In the supporting cast Frederic Forrest shines as Joint Chiefs Chair General Earl 'Bus' Wheeler and Gary Sinese makes an unexpected and much enjoyable appearance as George Wallace, reprising his role from the 1997 movie about the Alabama Governor. In another interesting turn slavish White House psychophant Jack Valenti is played by his own son John who bears a striking resemblance to his father.

THE PATH TO WAR is John Frankenheimer's biography of the Vietnam War, told through the prism of the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson. The movie, director Frankenheimer's last, was produced and released in 2002 as the United States was preparing to launch a war against Iraq. As such it serves as a cautionary tale with a strong political point of view - the message is simple and strong: Even the best and the brightest can be blinded by optimism, and a quagmire once entered is not easily left.
THE PATH TO WAR spends a great deal of time in cabinet meetings. This is a political drama pitting special advisor Clark Clifford (Donald Sutherland) against Defense Secretary Robert McNamara (Alec Baldwin) in battle for the heart and mind of President Johnson (Michael Gambon). Clifford is the Dove, the main player advocating restraint and caution viz. Vietnam, while McNamara Hawkishly counsels a steady buildup of American forces. At first English actor Gambon seemed an odd choice for the role of Texas-born Johnson. He fits the part physically, and he's the right age, but his west Texas accent is a bit off the mark. Not terribly off, but he doesn't nail it either. Johnson is a familiar television presence from my youth and his heavy drawl must have made a deep impression. In any event, it was distracting for a while, but Gambon is such a strong actor, and otherwise so right for the part that I stopped worrying about it after a while.
Frankenheimer was a personal friend of Johnson's arch-foe Robert Kennedy, and a generation ago Frankenheimer might have treated Johnson as a bit more of a political monster. Indeed, Johnson the politician could play rough. In one early scene, Johnson gives the mailed-fist-in-the-velvet-glove treatment to Alabama Governor George Wallace (Gary Sinise) when Wallace threatens Johnson's civil rights' initiatives. Later, when speech writer Dick Goodwin (James Frain), the man who `put the music' in Johnson's speeches, tells Johnson that he's leaving to accept a fellowship, Johnson, in the space of perhaps three minutes, bribes, cajoles, and ultimately threatens Goodwin into staying. Still, the ultimate impression of Johnson is of a man whose presidency was ruined because of a misplaced reliance on advisors rather than an innate blood lust. The villains in THE PATH TO WAR are arrogance, an overestimation of America's military capabilities, and a woeful underestimation of North Vietnam's willingness to engage in a prolonged and costly war. The worst player in this cast turns out to be McNamara, who is partly redeemed by his doubts at the end.
THE PATH TO WAR is a very good HBO movie. There aren't many extras on the disk. The making of and cast interviews are very short - three or four minutes per extra - and not terribly informative or insightful. Still, a very strong recommendation for this one.

The role of the insurgent is to affect change in the enemy by attacking the political will to fight. Understanding insurgency requires understanding the political leveraging it uses far behind enemy lines - where their enemy presumes strength. The insurgent attacks the political underpinnings of the enemy and therefore must be countered politically.

Path to War is a very good , very well researched movie . The movie shows Lyndon Johnson as a man who is torn between sending more and more troops into Vietnam while at the same time wondering if the war is winnable. I have read many books about LBJ and am glad a movie sticks with the facts. I am 24 yrs old and hope that the rest of my and the younger generation will take the time to see this movie. Even if you lived in the 60's and already have a opinion about LBJ and Vietnam, please do yourself a favor and watch this movie.

I hadn't seen this film before the DVD arrived in my letterbox - the name of the Director John Frankenheimer was what originally caught my attention plus it was about Vietnam and the war of my generation.
When the war broke out I remember my father saying it was "an unwinnable war" and of course I had no idea what he meant - he who had served in the AIF in New Guinea in WW11. And so it became obvious watching this brilliant HBO film that with the best will in the world President Johnson and his cohorts had no comprehension of what they were getting into either. It was only later when the reports came back describing how villagers cycled down to a stricken train to help unload it (the lines had been destroyed by US bombing) and painstakingly moved the items on board the train to handlebars of bicycles to be ferried to another train further down the line. How they built devices across rivers to replace blown up bridges, and how they determinedly went on with their lives as best they could that the White House staff realised with growing alarm that they could be in this war forever.
Johnson himself comes across as a man under enormous pressure, much of it caused by his insecurity and self doubts. The rest of course was brought upon him by the Vietnam, which eventually him destroyed as we all know.
This is an excellent, accurate portrayal of the machinations of Vietnam as I remember it, and it paints a picture of men trying to grapple with a war they don't understand, fearful of defeat (unthinkable) the escalating cost and Johnson's programmes to help the poor and Civil Rights in danger of being lost as the national budget is blown to smithereens.
Micahel Gambon was magnificent as LBJ, as was Donald Sutherland.
The film is engrossing from beginning to end, in fact the whole DVD package is a must have in my opinion.