ABC News Presents The Kennedy Assassination - Beyond Conspiracy (2004) Review

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(More customer reviews)I watched and taped this program when it was first broadcast in 2004 and was so impressed by it, I've kept the tape. I am glad it is still available on DVD because "Beyond Conspiracy" is a well-done and convincing documentary on the Kennedy assassination that defends the Warren Commission's findings that Lee Harvey Oswald was the only shooter and acted alone. Ironically, he simplest answer is hard to believe sometimes and many who support one conspiracy theory or another will probably not be swayed by this DVD, but the evidence shown in this report is strong and would need to be dealt with to defend any theories involving magic bullets, second gunman, Oswald's connections with the CIA or KGB, Jack Ruby's ties with the Mafia, etc.
The most eye-opening part of this program are the findings of computer animator Dale Myers. He designed a computerized 3D replica of Dealey Plaza which utilized the movements of JFK and Governor Connally in the Zapruder film to recreate the shooting. The computer imagery shows the precise positions in the limousine and how a single bullet passed straight through both men causing their simultaneous reactions. The bullet is then traced to its exact source--the sixth floor window of the Texas school book depository. I was very impressed by this footage and think anyone interested in the assassination should see it.
The program also gives a biography of Lee Harvey Oswald with interview clips of his older brother, Robert, a journalist who knew Oswald when he defected to the Soviet Union, and a woman who knew Oswald and his wife in Dallas. It covers Oswald's troubled childhood, his attraction to Marxist philosophy, in large part, (according to his brother) to stand out from the crowd. He had a flair for the dramatics (slitting his wrist in Russia so the Soviet authorities would allow him to stay in the country) and an obsessive need to be something more than he was. When the motorcade route for JFK's visit was published in the paper and was revealed to pass right by the book depository where Oswald was a clerk, he seized the opportunity. Even more important as evidence of Oswald's sole guilt is information on his plot to assassinate retired general and anti-Communist Edwin Walker. Also, there is compelling evidence in this program revealing that Oswald was a superb marksman who was more than capable of shooting off the shots in the time allotted.
The program does not ignore the conspiracy theories. It covers the Warren Commission's failure to address the issue of Cuba and Castro's possible involvement (this area is probably not covered enough to refute conspiracy theorists). The Mafia ties are examined as well and Jack Ruby is painted as a braggart and loose cannon who would make a poor candidate for a co-conspirator. The fourth shot on the grassy knoll that scientists, in a 1976 re-examination of the Warren Report, claim can be heard from an open-microphone recording on a police motorcycle is refuted by Myers' computerized time-line of the motorcade that reveals officer McLain (who had always said he was not in position to pick up such a shot) was not in position the scientists claimed (Vince Bugliosi further dispels the fourth shot theory in his book "Reclaiming History").
Finally, the program pokes many holes in Oliver Stone's motion picture "JFK." It is very unfortunate that many people get their history from Hollywood. THIS DVD is one that needs to be watched on the Kennedy assassination, not a movie with actors and a script that takes artistic license. One area that is not covered is the simulated trial of Lee Harvey Oswald in London, but, again, Bugliosi (the prosecutor in that trial) will cover this topic in his book. Again, this program won't turn around everyone's opinion, but any discussion on the subject that does not at least address the compelling evidence revealed in "Beyond Conspiracy" is insufficient.


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KENNEDY ASSASSINATION:BEYOND CONSPIRA - DVD Movie

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Ruby and Oswald (2007) Review

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(More customer reviews)President Kennedy's murder occurred almost 50 years ago and most Americans were born after it happened or were too young to remember it (yes, I recall exactly where I was when I heard....my elementary school teacher told my class). Much nonsense has been drummed into the heads of Americans so that a majority now believes that some sort of bizarre conspiracy was responsible for the tragedy, some of which do have Oswald as the perpetrator, others claiming that he was a "patsy" and had nothing to do with it.
For those who have little knowledge of the actual events that occurred, viewing this film would be a good start in order to get a basic grip on the known facts of the case. The film focuses on Jack Ruby, who is portrayed in an excellent performance by Michael Lerner (the only really outstanding one in the film), but less so on Oswald, sheddling little light on his motivations and his strange relationship with his wife, her friends, Michael and Ruth Paine, and his mother, Marguerite (who was an interesting story in herself). Lerner shows how Ruby (a very complex man who alternated between a kind, generous personality and another, polar opposite being a hothead who went into tempestuous rages) went into a serious mental deterioration during the weekend following the assassination.
The film does give the sequence of events, showing the time each event occurred and many of the scenes were filmed at the actual location, including the Texas School Book Depository, Dealey Plaza, Oswald's rooming house, the Paine's home, etc. It is important to note the times because they make it VERY clear that Ruby could not have possibly left his home Sunday morning with the intention of shooting Oswald. Ruby went to the Western Union office in order to send a moneygram to one of the girls who worked at his nightclub and he waited in line, in no obvious hurry, and having the timestamp show 11:17 AM. He then wandered down to the police station where Oswald happened to be coming out of the elevator right towards Ruby four minutes later. We are also shown the fact that Ruby took one of his pet dogs with him whom he left in the car. Ruby was quite attached to his dogs (one he calls "his little wife") and he never would have taken the dog if he had known that he might not be coming back.
Regarding Oswald's guilt, it is quite clear that he had the means to shoot the President from the sixth floor of the Depository, he had brought a rifle to work with him when he hithced a ride with Wesley Frazier (claiming they were "curtain rods"), we see him flee the building, take a pistol, later encountering Patrolman J D Tippit and shooting him in front of numerous eyewitnesses. We see his use of multiple ID's for which he refuses to give any explanation, his resisting arrest at the theater, his arrogant attitude during questioning and his confronting the reporters.
It is time for the record to be set straight on this historical tragedy and to have people take an honest look at the evidence which can lead one only to the conclusion that Oswald and Ruby both acted alone and that the Warren Commission, for all its flaws, did get the basic facts right, and this film is not a bad place to start for the beginner.

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National Geographic: Lost JFK Tapes-Assassination (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)As someone who lived through the event, and has been collecting the news coverage of those four days in November 1963 ever since, I almost decided not to purchase yet another video. I thought I had seen everything that was possibly available, but I am so glad I changed my mind. There are news clips (some have partially been available for years) but seen in thier fuller context, they become extraordinarily moving. The clips are simply fascinating to see in a more in-depth viewing, especially inside and outside of Parkland as well as the Trade Mart. The horror is in plain view, and it is a fabulous collection of American broadcast history. My only (minor) issue with this film and others who insist on using it is the picture of the yellow roses laying in the back on the limo after the president has supposedly been removed from the back seat. That cannot be the President's limo -- Mrs. Kennedy was given red roses that day (not yellow ones#, and obviously the seat would have been covered in blood and not publicly shown. I believe that is the limo that the Johnsons were riding in, as earlier clips show Lady Bird holding yellow roses at Love Field.
The film also reveals an America of mid-20th century, which has a look of innocence and almost bewilderment. Massively incorrect information... smoking cigarettes on air...much opinion instead of facts... just fascinating and just as I remember it). There is an immaturity to the broadcasts that are especially touching in view of the state of the industry today. The clips are essentially Dallas news personnel, with some national network break-ins. It therefore has a very immediate and local reaction. It all seeems another world, another time. It was really not terribly long ago, yet so much happened in the decades that followed this cataclysmic event, that there is a multi-layered sadness to it. For anyone interested in either JFK, the early 60's, or the assassination itself, this DVD is mandatory viewing. Would love to see more as old films are released from files.

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To mark the anniversary of JFK's assassination on November 22,1963, hundreds of hours of news footage, radio reports, audio recordings and home movies have been released that captured history as it was chaotically unfolding. This unique eyewitness material was first stored by local news stations in Dallas/Fort Worth and then in the vault of The 6th Floor Museum—which is dedicated to helping others understand the day Kennedy was killed. Now, National Geographic reveals this rarely seen archival footage that has been digitally captured and assembled into a detailed timeline. Included is footage capturing the real-time horror of parade-goers who witnessed the killing, the out-of-breath local anchors reporting the breaking news bulletin, the priest who describes administering the president's last rites and the ongoing, on-air speculation over who fired the fatal shots.

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