Taken Hostage: Part Two

This was a wonderful documentary and I learned so much about a part of history that I didn't know a lot about. Because of that I really appreciated all of the original footage that was used...and the first person interviews, including that of a surviving hostage.

For me this documentary really explained a lot of the anti-American sentiment that still exists in the Middle East. It was really shocking to see the failed rescue attempt and hear about that thru a first hand retelling of not just what the plan was...but where it went wrong.

In part one of this documentary it details out how western Iran had become, how the British petroleum company was taking Iran's resources with very little compensation to the Iranian people...and then part two really shows the reversal of many things like women being allowed to attend college, it gets in to the nitty gritty of the actual hostage crisis that went on for over a year with an Iranian woman going by the name "Mary" as the hostage taker's spokes person...who lied about who she was and where she got her education. Long, grueling and very public, I cannot imagine how the spouses and family members of the hostages felt during this time.

It was interesting to see how the British petroleum company was really taking advantage of the natural resources of Iran and it is unfortunate that the American government didn't listen to the Iranian leader at the time. It seems like a much simpler and more reasonable solution could have been brokered...one that could potentially have prevented the entire hostage situation long before it ever came to pass.

This was wonderful and I highly recommend this two part documentary to both history buffs and fans of documentaries alike.