Body of War - The True Story of an Anti-War Hero | 
| Directors: Phil Donahue, Ellen Spiro
Actor: Tomas Young
Studio: DOCURAMA
Category: DVD
List Price: $26.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 11551
Format: Color, Dvd-video, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: G (General Audience)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 87
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.6
UPC: 767685136157
EAN: 0767685136157
ASIN: B001C4N5K0
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
Release Date: October 28, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Five Star Seller!!! New, factory sealed US Region 1 DVD. Item is 100% guaranteed not to be a bootleg or import. Item is shipped directly from our warehouse. Easy exchange if item defective or damaged in shipped.
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Amazon.com
At the center of Body of War is Tomas Young, a smart, determined guy who enlisted in the military the day after he saw President Bush stride through the ruins of the World Trade Center. He expected to be sent to Afghanistan to get the people who attacked his country; instead, he was shipped to Iraq, where he took a bullet through the collarbone a week after arriving and was paralyzed for life from the chest down. Young's subsequent struggle to be heard, by speaking out and questioning why U.S. soldiers went to Iraq, is chronicled in this film. Directors Phil Donahue (yes, talkshow host Phil Donahue) and Ellen Spiro cast a wider net, which is where the film begins to feel a little scattered, even if their cause is a fervent one. The Senate vote on authorizing the Bush plan for Iraq is a running theme, with the names of the voters emblazoned on the screen (this would be an even more effective drumbeat if it weren't drowning in overbearing music). Meanwhile, West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd, an old political hand with a checkered past, emerges as the voice of Constitutional sanity. His soaring speeches leading up to the crucial vote are excerpted at length, so it's no surprise that he and Tomas Young should eventually meet. But whatever the film's ambitions, its finest moments are in following Young and bluntly assessing (with considerable physical detail) his status. Original songs by Eddie Vedder are judiciously placed and passionately delivered. --Robert Horton
Product Description
Paralyzed from the chest down after serving in Iraq for just one week, 25-year-old Tomas Young is forced to deal with the realities of war each and every day. For Tomas, learning to cope with his disability meant finding his voice to speak out against the war in Iraq.
Directed by Phil Donahue and Ellen Spiro and set to the haunting vocals of Eddie Vedder, the multi award-winning BODY OF WAR splits its time between Tomas s arduous daily reality in Kansas City, MO, and the legislative processes that led up to the invasion of Iraq in 2002.
Senatorial speeches and a running tally of pro-war votes are interspliced with intimate footage of Tomas as he navigates through the acute physical and emotional impacts of his injury. A testament to the power of parallel images, the film adeptly juxtaposes the sanitized vantage point of Washington with raw personal experience. In the end, this contrast forces viewers to question the motives, methods, and ever-rising cost of the conflict in Iraq.
A deeply moving and bracingly honest film, BODY OF WAR narrates a story that must be heard a story of courage, conviction, and resistance.
DVD Features: Eddie Vedder Music Video No More; MSNBC interview with Phil Donahue; CSPAN coverage of the House and Senate debates; Deleted Scenes; Theatrical Trailer; Filmmaker Biographies
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| Customer Reviews:
 Body of War November 30, 2008
Very compelling. A must see, as some forget that a war is even going on. These types of documentaries will make a difference when widely viewed.
Not JUST an Anti War Film November 3, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I have seen this film three times and am dismayed that so few will have the chance to see it because some suit declared it not commercial. I took my children to see this film and it really affected them.
This is not just another anti-war film, it is the story of what happens to our veterans when they get home and about the unsung heroes in life. Everyone who supports veterans should feel an obligation to see this film. Everyone who believes that there are no more honest decent politicians owe it to themselves to allow Senator Robert Byrd to crush our callousness. Everyone who thinkss they would never sit idlely by while evil was done in their names, allow this film to make you think again. If you love America, PLEASE PLEASE SEE THIS FILM AND PASS IT ON TO SOMEONE ELSE.
Wonderful Documentary!!! October 31, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Body of War sent chills up my spine. The film shifts between the legislative process that resulted in the war in Iraq and intimate footage of Tomas Young's life after he was paralyzed from a gunshot through his collarbone. With the strength and support of his wife and mother, Tomas copes with his condition by speaking out against the war. This film is a real eye opener to the effects this war has on so many people.
Great Great Film!! October 29, 2008
This is an enlightening film everyone should watch. The documentary takes the audience inside the life of Tomas Young, a soldier who was left paralyzed after only five days in Iraq. This film is deeply moving and leaves the audience with a better understanding of the lives of the soldiers shipped overseas and their familes who anxiously wait for their return.
How many deaths will it take? August 8, 2008
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
As I write this in August 2008, the documentary BODY OF WAR has yet to find wide release in movie theaters. I saw the film at an independent screening that included an appearance by director Phil Donahue. According to Mr. Donahue, because of previously unsuccessful films dealing with the current Iraq war/occupation distributors passed on this story of Tomas Young, an American soldier a bullet paralyzes.
The fate of BODY OF WAR reflects the reason the failed Iraq conflict continues. Most Americans know there is no good explanation for invading and occupying Iraq. Yet too few protest and even fewer appear willing to even see a movie about it. Tens of thousands die and millions suffer but it does not seem to affect Americans enough for the tragedy to end.
America invaded Iraq because many in Congress and other positions of power turned blind eyes and deaf ears to the Bush administration's lies. Today almost everyone wants it to stop, yet those same men and women in authority let the violence carry on. As long as too many Americans seemingly do little more than wish the Iraq disaster would go away, it won't.
Thus it is no surprise to see BODY OF WAR passages depicting the poor health care Tomas Young and other Iraq veterans receive from the government. Just as George W. Bush doesn't want the public to see coffins with a return address "Iraq," Congress and he give the wounded soldiers as little attention as possible. Bush and Congress continue spending billions on death and destruction but Mr. Young receives such insufficient help from the country he served, it falls on his wife and mother to get him through the day. And while no force is stronger than a woman's love, BODY OF WAR shows us even that can't pick up the slack for an American government that won't take care of the individuals it sends to war.
At the June 25, 2008, BODY OF WAR screening I attended, Phil Donahue said Tomas Young was struggling with his health. Here's wishing Mr. Young the best and hoping it will not take one more death for BODY OF WAR to find the audience it deserves - and for American soldiers to finally come home.
See BODY OF WAR.
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