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Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

Purely Joyful Movie!

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

When did they stop making period pieces? Judging by this little gem, they were still making them well into the 70's. It's not terrible, but it's not a movie (there is no plot), and it's not really a documentary -- more like an assemblage of footage taken during the tour of "F.T.A." -- a traveling stage show of vaudeville-esque anti-war songs and skits. You get to watch the rag-tag bunch of inspired then-hippies/now celebs (Michael Alaimo, Peter Boyle, Len Chandler, Pamela Donegan, Jane Fonda, Steve Jaffe, Rita Martinson, Paul Mooney, Holly Near, Donald Sutherland) as they travel around the war-torn regions entertaining the troops. Historically of some interest, as you see our then fighting boys and girls pretty much dissing the whole war effort (ie., they were over it at that point), yo get to see your Fearless Cavaliers shamelessly spin their anti-war message, and you get to see a bunch of then young people doing what young people do best -- including overacting, screwing around in-the-name-of-art and wearing their hearts on their sleeves, looking sloppy because they're too cool to care, and generally doing things more for effect than with any genuine intention of effecting change. Just my two cents.

In 1971,a troop of anti Vietnam war protesters,led by Jane Fonda & Donald Sutherland toured with an anti war review that they called 'F.T.A.',which could either mean free the Army (or even f**k the Army,depending). They traveled to military bases within the Pacific Rim,where they were welcomed by a then,rising tide of anti war activists in the Military. Hours of footage was filmed & assembled into the documentary film that was briefly released in 1972 as 'F.T.A.'. The week that the film was released by American International Films,Fonda made a controversial trip to South East Asia, and after one scant week,the film was pulled from distribution & was never heard from,again (rumour has it that the Nixon Administration had a lot to do with the film being yanked). Besides the afore mentioned Jane Fonda & Donald Sutherland (who just barely two years earlier acted in the penultimate anti war film,Robert Altman's 'M*A*S*H'),the performances also included the likes of folk singer,Holly Near,and even Peter Boyle (an unknown at the time who would gain fame a couple of years later in Mel Brooks''Young Frankenstein'). Besides the performance footage,we are also treated to interviews with members of the military who had their wits end of the senseless violence & destruction that was the American intervention in South East Asia,which in addition to Vietnam,also included Cambodia (some of the enlisted men would end up in the documentary film, 'Winter Soldiers'). All was not always rosy. We get to see a performance of F.T.A. being disrupted by a couple of pro war,right wing soldiers,voicing their disfavour of the whole production (they were peacefully shown the way out). Women's rights advocate,Francine Parker directs the film (she only directed one other project:an episode of 'Cagney & Lacey'). At times, the film's pacing starts to slack a bit,but doesn't manage to lessen the film's message at all. Well worth checking out if you're an advocate for peace,anti war activist,historical buff,or fancier of the documentary genre. Spoken (mostly)in English,and Okenowian,Tagalog & Japanese with English subtitles. Rated 'R' by the MPAA,this film has some outbursts of strong language & some disturbing images that the troupe got to see while visiting the Hiroshima/Nagasaki memorial sites,while on tour in Japan

I didn't realize until quite recently that I was lucky to have seen this movie backintheday--it supposedly only appeared in theaters for a week or so. Caught up as I was in the anti-war movement of the day, I remember being impressed with the soldiers' reception of the show's songs and skits, and surprised by their own anti-Vietnam war sentiments.Don't recall many details from the show, but as a 21-year-old 'hip-eye wieeerdo' I can remember revelling in the 'thumb-in-the-establishment's-eye' spirit and energy of the performances.Mostly I remember that Donald Sutherland gave a harrowing, incredibly impressive dramatic performance of the final paragraphs from "Johhny Got His Gun."

FTA is a time capsule that should only be opened by those who lived through it, and even then, maybe not...This is the story of a group of actors and actresses who toured around the world playing near US military bases with a show called FTA for "Free" The Army. The acting troop is lead by Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland. The film is a combination of performances and interviews with the GI's from the bases. Its nothing you probably haven't seen before in other ways, heart felt songs about how we love the soldiers but hate the war, general protest songs, skits about how absurd the war is and general silliness. Very little of it actually holds up as funny or touching, although some of the ideas work in structure if not execution, Donald Sutherland doing a play by play of a battle as a football game is very clever, but not very funny.I completely understand why this film hasn't been seen in 30 years, it simply is not very good. I doubt highly that this film would have ever played well to any group other than those near the army bases at the time. Its a starry eyed version of a college frolic.The naiveté of many of the actors is very hard to take. The "war is bad" attitude they have is nice and simple, but when mixed with the uncertainty expressed by the soldiers who are actually in harms way, the show comes off too sweet. The film shows clearly why Jane Fonda is hated by many people and still called "Hanoi Jane", since she comes off as a spoiled rich girl who doesn't really have a clue as to what is going on in reality. Donald Sutherland, for what ever reason, seems to carry a weight and understanding most of his fellow performers don't, and I felt he had a better grasp of what was going on.I wanted to like this film, especially owing to some of the parallels with the present war in Iraq. I was hoping to find some kernel of truth to take away, some insight into a country at war with another country and itself, and instead I found just a quaint period piece that was never in touch with anytime, even its own.I can't recommend anyone see this, unless you are a Fonda or Sutherland completest or if you are a student of the Viet Nam war and its effects on the home front.