Film

Sir! No Sir!

Name: Sir! No Sir!
Genre: Documentary, War
Released: 2005
Cast: Troy Garity, Donald Sutherland, Jane Fonda, Ed Asner

A 2005 documentary about the largely forgotten anti-war movement among American soldiers during Vietnam. Through interviews with veterans, deserters, and resisters, it reveals how dissent grew from isolated voices into something that unsettled the military itself. Essential history for understanding how even institutions can fracture under moral weight.

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you want the history of Vietnam told from inside the uniform, through soldiers who turned against the war and the GI coffeehouses and underground papers they built, with archival footage doing much of the talking.

Skip it if you came for battlefield action or a sweeping narrative of the war itself; this is a talking-heads record of dissent, and the political argument runs steady rather than building toward drama.

What it asks of you: Eighty-five minutes of mostly seated testimony and old footage, so it rewards patience with names, dates and organizing detail more than with visual momentum.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Hearts and Minds1974

The definitive Vietnam documentary that shaped how we see the war's costs. Combines combat footage, interviews, and devastating juxtapositions to ask who bears the real burden of conflict.

But At nearly three hours and deliberately paced, it demands patience. Some sequences are graphically disturbing.

The War at Home1979

Documents the anti-war movement on the American homefront with urgency and intimacy. Captures the generational split and moral fury that defined the era, using archival footage and interviews.

But Takes a clear political stance rather than pretending neutrality. Some may find it polemical rather than balanced.

Winter Soldier1972

Raw testimony from Vietnam vets about atrocities they witnessed or committed. Unvarnished and haunting, it's the soldier's voice unfiltered by military or government spin.

But The testimony is brutal and upsetting. No narrative cushion, no mediation—just men telling what they saw.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Sir! No Sir!

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Battle of Algiers1966

Both examine how soldiers and citizens within an occupying force begin to question their orders when they see the reality on the ground. The Algerian resistance and American soldier-dissenters were grappling with the same moral vertigo.

A Gillo Pontecorvo masterpiece about colonial warfare, urban insurgency, and the moral costs to both sides. It's structured like a tactical manual, forcing you to think rather than feel your way through.

But A foreign film in black and white, deliberately didactic in approach. Some find it austere rather than engaging.

We Were Soldiers2002

A major battle sequence filmed with technical precision. It shows why military training was so effective even as the war itself became unwinnable, offering context for why resistance had to be so determined.

But Ultimately a pro-military narrative. If you want critique rather than valor, this tips the wrong way.

Platoon1986

Oliver Stone's semi-autobiographical film captures the moral confusion soldiers actually felt: good men, bad orders, impossible choices. Essential for understanding why dissent grew from within.

But It's a famous film you may have seen already. Not a documentary, so it reshapes reality for drama.

The Deer Hunter1978

Examines how Vietnam fractured American communities and soldiers' sense of themselves. The friendships matter more than the war itself, which is exactly the point.

But Nearly three and a half hours. The Russian roulette sequence is horrifying and some find it exploitative.

Coming Home1978

A love story that uses Vietnam as the scar it actually was. Shows how veterans returned changed, angry, and sometimes unable to fit back into a country that sent them.

But It's romantic drama, not documentary. The personal story may feel small against the historical moment.

Alice's Restaurant1969

Arlo Guthrie's counterculture classic, based on his real song. Funny and angry about conscription, it captures how young Americans experienced the draft as an absurdity.

But The narrative wanders deliberately. If you want tight storytelling, this will frustrate you.

Jacob's Ladder1990

Where Sir! No Sir! documents soldiers who refused, Jacob's Ladder follows a soldier who complied and was destroyed. Two sides of the same wound.

A horror film that uses Vietnam trauma as its actual subject. Demons and hallucinations become the language for PTSD and moral injury—what happens to a man when he's asked to do something that breaks him.

But It's a genre film, sometimes campy. The twist ending divides people sharply, and some find it unsatisfying or cynical.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest1975

Both films are about what happens when people inside an institution realize the institution is wrong. The mechanics of control, the cost of dissent, and the small revolutionary act of saying no.

On its surface a story about an asylum, but it's really about institutional power crushing individual will and how small acts of rebellion matter. The system doesn't care if you're right—it cares that you obeyed.

But The portrayal of mental illness is dated and sometimes offensive. Treating it as metaphor can feel exploitative.