Blood Road

I was deeply moved by this documentary film about a daughter who went on soul searching, root finding trip on bike to trace back where her father's F4C fighter jet crashing site along the Ho Chi Ming Trail in 1972. This film is also a great journey for me to finally get the opportunity to witness the atrocity, cruelty, the absurdity and pointlessness of Viet-Nam war.

The daughter, Rebeca, is a tough mountain biker, who went to Viet Nam and Laos along the Trail to pay a tribute to her father. We saw through her own eyes, her heart and her soul to know why she needed to do this and she had proved that journey indeed was necessary for one of her later chapter of life.

Great cinematography, really realistic and beautiful through the production team's camera. A seamless, also perfect editing,

There's only one thing I like to point out here:

When visiting Huyen Nguyen's home, she should take off her hat when she said hello to Huyen's father; she should also take off her hat during the welcome dinner Huyen prepared for her. This is supposed to be the basic politeness she should learn especially when visiting an Asian family. Taking off the hat, showing respect to the elderly and needless to say, taking off hat at the dinner table should be a basic table manners, no matter in the West or in the East.

I really admire Rebecca Rusch determination , courage , love and physical endurance for embarking upon this long and tiring journey along Ho shi min trail to find out about the crash site of her late father in Loas . Had it not been for the love of her father she would not have been able to finish this journey . This should set an example for us that you do need to prove yourself that you can do anything you want if you believe in achieving it notwithstanding the perils and hardship you may run into .

Very few documentary can grab your soul like this one does. In the beginning it was simply a bike trip through Ho Chi Ming trail, and a daughter looking for her father's resting place, but when the story goes, it becomes much deeper. In this unforgettable trip you'll see humanity and evil, compassion and love, scar and the healing. You'll see yesterday's enemy becomes today's friend. You see how children are still suffering from the remnants of a senseless war, yet no matter who you are, east or west, rich or poor... we all have the same heart, all care about our families, and all feel the same pain of war.

The photography of this film is extraordinary. Many beautiful scenes of Vietnam and Lao interweave with historic stories, making you realize the connections between the pass and the present. Camera caught a lot of detail of Vietnamese daily lives as well.

The story is simple and straight forward. Don't expect any twists, but due to the good editing I didn't find it boring at all. In fact I couldn't stop watching it once Rebeca started her bike trip. In some points the experience was quite touching.

Highly recommended if you don't hate foreign people, hold no grudges against "commies" and ready for an emotional ride.

The story line, relationship of Rusch and her Vietnamese companion, interaction with the Vietnamese people today amidst the horrible legacy of our war there is fascinating and deeply disturbing. Rusch's naivete about the war, why it was fought is jarring. There was no South Vietnam created by the Geneva Treaty, it was a temporary division only two years until nationwide elections were to be held, elections that would have overwhelmingly elected Ho Chi Minh. The South was a US puppet created purely for political purposes. There was absolutely no justification for the US to be there. The millions of lives lost, destruction of the forests and villages were all for nothing. It was truly one of the great crimes against humanity of the 20th century. That the Vietnamese accept, forgive and move on is incomprehensible to me.

Rebecca Rusch and her partner, Huyen Nguyen, were inspirational in this emotional film that brought on tears of both sorrow for the devastation of war and pride for seeing two strong women conquer the Ho Chi Minh trail on their bicycles. Highly recommended for anyone interested in mountain biking, the Vietnam War, or any active girls or women who aspire to embark on great adventures!