[.ca] Men Who Killed Kennedy

From Amazon.com:
This artfully constructed five-part series offers chilling evidence that American democracy has become a convenient lie; that a conspiratorial coup d'état removed a sitting president and then hid that fact from the American people. This sounds like the stuff of wild-eyed paranoia, but these filmmakers did their homework well--interviews include levelheaded witnesses, suspicious government agents, and Dallas cops present in Dealey Plaza on November 22, 1963. Some of the "proof" (especially in Episode 2, "The Forces of Darkness") seems a bit far-fetched, but the sheer number of unexplained facts is riveting. An autopsy attendant describes a procedure botched by meddling Secret Service agents. A deaf-mute eyewitness shares his recollection of uniformed men hiding a rifle and leaving the site of the assassination unchallenged. Eisenhower's security chief, present at the shooting, discusses fatal safety lapses--as well as mysterious shots coming from the opposite direction of the Texas School Book Depository. District Attorney Jim Garrison points out that Lee Harvey Oswald, a Marine assigned to Russian reconnaissance, operated a "Communist" organization out of a government intelligence office. Senator Ralph Yarbrough, present in the motorcade, tells of Kennedy's order to recall the troops from Vietnam--an order rescinded by the Pentagon three days after his death. But the most powerful elements of this documentary are the most personal, as hardened cops confess to lasting nightmares, as senatorial investigators tearfully recall the moment they realized the official story did not match the facts, and as simple bystanders share their lasting grief at having witnessed the gory death of America's innocence. --Grant Balfour

provocative viewing:
This series was excellent. It is well worth the time and money. As a registered nurse, I once worked at Parkland. I found the revelations about falsified documents and autopsy records, altered post mortem photographs, illegal removal of the body from Parkland for an autopsy at Bethesda, missing forensic evidence, and information from the funeral home and Bethesda autopsy personnel very disturbing. Dr. Wecht is more than justified in calling for a 21st century forensic investigation of whatever evidence remains. The lack of Secret Service protection of the president is appalling. The lack of documentation or "lost logs" is egregious at best. Why hasn't the Secret Service been held accountable? The only plausible explanation is that a conspiracy existed in which the organization was duplicitous on some level. If you are not familiar with the assassination or this series, buy it! I have viewed it several times. Each time I become more outraged that something of this magnitude could have occurred. The medical and Secret Service information was enough for me to conclude a conspiracy existed. The newest tapes "The Final Chapter" were equally amazing. Information from Judy Baker regarding her affair with Oswald was very interesting. Her knowledge of New Orleans, cancer research, and Jackson State Hospital appeared credible. The information about alleged human subject cancer tests performed on Angola inmates at Jackson State Hos\oital was sickening. I have never seen this information presented anywhere other than this series. Information about LBJ wasn't that shocking to me. As a native of Louisiana, I can remember discussions that occurred at the time of the assassination and Shaw trial regarding LBJ. He wasn't perceived as an "honest broker", and many thought that he was involved on a deep level. Great tapes!! If you are a history buff don't miss them.

Very Provacative:
What's there to say about TMWKK that hasn't been said so many times before? This is one of the most ground-breaking documentaries of our time. By the way, if anyone reading this can tell me where I can get a copy of "TMWKK: The Final Chapter" (which includes "The Smoking Guns", "The Love Affair", and "The Guilty Men"), I would greatly appreciate it. I don't care if it's DVD, VHS, or Bootleg. E-mail me at Quarryman88@yahoo.com Thanks.

Too muddled, too out-of-focus, but still intriguing:
When you get down to it, sadly, the objective investigations (whether in video or on paper) into the JFK murder are few and far between. Too many of them have one bias or another, and the results are usually a collection of half-truths and tantalizing but ultimately unusable evidence. These types of slanted investigations hold true for the Oswald-did-it-alone camp, as well as for the everybody-except-for-Walter-Cronkite-did-it school. The Men Who Killed Kennedy is no exception. To the newly arrived investigator into the events of 11/22/63, there is a lot of intriguing speculation here, some of which has not been disputed. Still, there is a lot of shaky goings-on here. The "computer enhancement" that proves that David Ferrie was one of the shooters is an embarrassing case of "computer manipulation". And the guy shooting from the sewer? How did I ever miss that!?!?! Of course! That explains everything! (Shheeeesh!) I suppose my frustration stems from my belief that there is enough evidence to prove that Oswald didn't do it alone, if he did it at all. Videos like this just make us all look bad.

Not a hysterical piece... Serious material...:
This 1988 British documentary is loaded with important "real person" interviews that cannot be viewed and just dismissed lightly as "conspiracy hogwash"... Yes, there are flaws, naturally: Beverly Oliver may not be the essence of credibility, and the Corsican hitmen theory smelled a bit over-ripe even if the 2 surviving "hitmen" hadn't allegedly threatened to sue (and successfully had their names removed from the piece, although that's still a controversy in itself)... And much of the data (though not all) is circumstantial and mixed all around, it cant really be ignored upon viewing. And the 1995 "sequel" chapter ("The Truth Shall Make You Free"), though also worthwhile and very disturbing, seems in places to be infected with some of that latter-day media mindset of 'well-if-we-have-to-admit-that-maybe-there-was-a-conspiracy-then-let's-make-the-Kennedy-brothers-seem-like-they-essentially-brought-it-on-themsleves', which I don't appreciate. The recent "Final Chapter" was pulled from distribution and is not available for purchase because it implicates LBJ as complicit--- which caused an uproar and, in the mood of 2004, even very old information that would never raise the eyebrows of "students" of this subject, can get suppressed all too easily. (Until it's ever released, a seance with Madeliene Brown will have to suffice). Nevertheless, despite what you may have heard "TMWKK" is a very serious, chilling documentary, if an imperfect one.

Detailed Review:
This DVD is a good overview of the assassination of Kennedy. True, it does focus on the conspiracy theories and it is not an unbiased look at the evidence; however, the interviews with people who have a lot to say are engrossing and the "evidence" produced is thought provoking. There is no doubt that evidence exists to dispute the findings of the Warren Commission report on the assassination of President Kennedy. This DVD presents a lot of that evidence in a organized fashion. It is good to actually see the people interviewed who say the shots were coming from the grassy knoll. I liked looking at the photographic evidence that critics claim show a person (badge man) shooting from the knoll (I don't see anything). The DVD at least allows you to see the people and the evidence and make a lot of judgments for yourself. A lot of the witnesses are not convincing to me, and a lot of the so called evidence just looks like junk. I have a natural tendency to distrust testimony from strippers (or former strippers) and I don't see what others say is clearly present in certain photographs. I am a lawyer (not a trial lawyer) so I suppose I look at evidence a little differently than most and probably take a more skeptical view, but I still like to see it myself and not let someone else tell me what something shows or who to believe. I think the DVD does raise significant questions about the killing of the President as presented by the Warren Report on the assassination. I have read portions of the Warren Report and I have read a few books on this subject authored by both the critics and those who support the Commission's conclusions. While I would say this DVD does contain some speculation that is impossible for the viewer to make an independent decision on, and it contains a lot of language that is less than clinical, it does present a lot of solid evidence. Actual interviews with the Dallas police officers who were there and who talked with Oswald and Ruby are just invaluable. So are a lot of the other interviews. Just a list of those who have been sent to an early grave that had facts to support a shot being fired from the grassy knoll is unnerving. To see some of those same people on screen telling their story near in time to the killing of the President is compelling. If you believe what they have to say a lot of the Warren Commission's findings are not accurate. If you are not interested in mysteries this isn't for you. In the end there are a lot of theories that can be supported depending on which set of facts you find to be most important. The assassination of President Kennedy is a mystery because so much is left unexplained. For example, there is no doubt the evidence in the National Archives has been corrupted. The brain is missing and at least some other evidence has disappeared. Once evidence has been tampered with a person is allowed to believe it is all under suspicion. The evidence is the foundation of analysis, and when that is gone mystery remains. So the viewer will not get a solid "we have it all figured out" explanation at the end. No murderer jumps up to confess in the last scene and reveal all. The mystery remains and the uncomfortable feeling that comes with mystery - real mystery - is there. We will probably never figure it out because the list of "oops" or whatever is almost endless. Criminal incompetence on the part of the Secret Service, incompetent medical examiners, missing evidence, incompetent police procedures, consistent failures to follow even the most elemental criminal evidence protection steps, failures to tape or record critical interrogations, failure to follow up important information, investigators ignoring certain aspects of the case (who were the men who displayed Secret Service credentials to the police on the day of the murder), inconsistent statements from important witnesses etc. This is a real mystery. A lot of people are murdered every year without explanation. The real world can be a messy and inhospitable place. We tend to want to think that the murder of the President of the United States would be different. With some of the best police agencies in the world working on the case we could figure it out and close the file and be at least comfortable with the idea that we know what happened. This film will not allow you to think that way. This was a messy event with a lot going wrong - as it usually does - and this DVD lets you know that. No nice world tied up in a nice package with a bow on it. No...this is reality. And a lot of it. A very good DVD and well worth the price.