War Game

I almost didn't watch it because of one 4-star review but wanted to see for myself and I did my own research. I don't think we watched the same documentary. I thought it was compelling to watch. It wasn't a scripted film, but the filming of an actual exercise with a lot more bells and whistles than such an exercise would have had in real life. What's telling about this is that the insurrectionist team can lie with impunity and create all kinds of chaos and the government team has to abide by the rule of law and stick to the truth - just like one hopes the government would do in real life. So it isn't as gripping as it would be if Aaron Sorkin wrote the dialogue because these folks were behaving as best they could given the circumstances, trying to win a war game that - thank goodness - wasn't for real.

I have a lot of faith in our military, but it IS important to know that 1 in 5 insurrectionists were military, and many of our service men and women have been ill-treated, and could fall under the sway of someone like Michael Flynn. After watching The Brainwashing of My Dad, it's clear many people (military or not) are indoctrinated with false information and think they are being patriots but are just being manipulated, and the scenario portrayed in this movie is not that far-fetched. Mr. Goldsmith speaks to his own disillusionment eloquently and I don't think his concerns are overblown (and he actually testified before Congress so I think another reviewer protests too much).

Is this scenario scary? Sure. Is it possible? Yes. Being an American comes with rights and responsibilities. We must understand how government works, and what our responsibility is to uphold the Constitution. To be educated and informed, to fact-check stories and not rely on only one news source. To vote and to help ensure the safe secure transfer of power. It's an important, thought-provoking movie.

When I say bad subject, I mean focusing on a theoretical repeat of January 6th insurrection. Americans may need to be burned before they learn not to grab the pan... but when they do, best be sure they'll overcompensate with the mittens.

That said, January 6th was a shocking moment that reverberated around the world and left me, a non US citizen, absolutely stunned. A lot of documentaries have been made about the day, what went wrong and why. Charges were brought up, courts did their thing and in the end... well, you know what happened.

What this exercise attempts to do is recreate the same event but with a bit more spicing to the mix, and therein lies the problem. Everyone who has participated in this exercise has been in politics in one way, shape or form. These people have, without a doubt, studied the events of that day and by default went in this exercise, albeit somewhat in the dark, still aware of possible consequences to their decisions. They're essentially fighting a battle that has already been won... despite the monkey wrenches the game master throws at them.

The documentary touches of militias, radicalized current and former members of armed forces, high ranking members of the armed forces taking political stances and the risk that comes with that, being able to order their troops to take a side in an event like the one on January 6th when a close election happened. It's all a bit too farfetched, but then again so was the attack on the Capitol... until it happened.

My gripe is that this concept has the potential to be brilliant, if for no other reason than to inform the public, to give them insight on how decision making takes place behind closed doors. A while ago a TV show named the West Wing did just that, with the exception of adding drama to spice things up, but it gave the audience an inside look into politics... and itch I don't think any other program has satisfied since.

War Game scenario has that potential. Picture a random group of politicians brought together having a random crisis thrown their way and watching them trying to navigate it. Picture two groups, unaware of each other, playing off each other by trying to achieve their respective goal. I mean, I know there would be some level of "censorship" of the process... but it would still be an incredible watch.

Either way, I initially gave this a 5, but I did so having only watched until the half way point. The second half of the documentary sees things pick up the pace and become quite tense... for an exercise.

It's a fascinating watch. And also, that was one hell of a presidential speech.

An undeniably entertaining and alarming documentary detailing a war game about a repeat of the January 6th 2021 insurrection in Washington. What it reveals is, to a certain extent, both reassuring and alarming. There are clearly aspects of American - and this will be mirrored in governments across the world - civil leadership that are not as grounded in the real concerns and practices of people who could potentially pose a real threat. I wasn't fully convinced that some of the failures of leadership in the game were shown to have convincingly serious enough ramifications. And whilst a report on the exercise has been shared at the highest level of the American government, the film ends with a sort of misty-eyed patriotism which suggests to me that there's a real danger of this being another exercise in liberal elites talking to themselves.

The documentary filmed the tabletop red/blue exercise about what might have happened if Jan 6 rioters had enlisted higher ups in the military--and the national guard sent to protect the Capital had turned on the police and sided with the rioters.

The people involved are all solid government and ex-gov officials with excellent reputations and solid experience. The production crew are all ex-military with good reasons to be concerned about the infiltration of extremists in the military.

There are a lot of bad-faith review writers commenting. Ignore them and watch for yourself. It plays out in a realistic manner and the ending is thought provoking.

With the potential for another "Jan 6" looming next year we all need to think about what might happen and be prepared to be on the side of our government and the non-violent transfer of power.

There are clearly people throwing 1s at this who haven't actually watched it. Even the longer written reviews with low ratings are not motivated by the quality of the documentary or the importance of the subject, but by partisan defensiveness.

The presence of retired service members and serious former government officials who served under administrations of both parties adds weight to the simulation. The documentary, while not perfect, is generally well done and offers a good look at how it progressed.

Obviously this is framed in relation to January 6, and how you feel about that is going to color your perspective on the doc. But if you take the subject seriously, don't let the bad faith review bombing and conspiracy theorists scare you away. Watch and judge for yourself.