This film recounts the history and attitudes of the opposing sides of the Vietnam War using archival news footage as well as their own film and interviews. A key theme is how attitudes of American racism and self-righteousness militarism helped create and prolong this bloody conflict. The film also endeaveors to give voice to the Vietnamese people themselves as to how the war has affected them and their reasons why they fight the United States and other western powers while showing the basic humanity of the people that US propaganda tried to dismiss.

After the movie won its Academy Award, the next Oscar presenter, Frank Sinatra, denounced it.

Daniel Ellsberg:
We weren't on the wrong side. We were the wrong side.