suaheli Everything has been told here, very pointedly, about James Carville and George Stephanopoulos, the dream team - along with Paul Begala - which helped Clinton to win against the odds.I just rewatched the DVD after years and what really caught me this time was how awkward and downright embarrassing George H. W. Bush came across. Desperate to conceal his "patrecian" upbringing his juvenile verbal nasties were a hoot. In later years Junior was much more believable as a foulmouthed punk.Which pretty much sums up the ill advised campaign of Senior. Whipping H. W. into a fake frenzy and then present Mary Matalin as a voice of reason was a fatal choice against the Dem's candidate playing the emphatic considerate charm card accompanied by the fiery spinning of Carville and the quiet ruthlessness of boyish Stephanopoulos.And no, the filmmakers weren't biased in terms of Senior. The infamous "Govenor Taxes and the Ozone man/Halloween" weren't shown. As weren't lots of other gaffes.So as much as showing a winning campaign the 15 % of the Bush failing campaign on show are just as revealing.

peapulation Although Bill Clinton became president of the United States, it was James Carville and George Stephanopolous won the elections in 1992. That seems to be what Hegedus and Pennebaker are telling us in their documentary The War Room, and for what it looks like, it must have been true. The democrats hadn't won an election in a long time. They, as people in charge of the Bill Vlinton electoral campaign changed the way campaigns would be run and seen. Or did they? History tells us that presidents have aways liked being presidents! They always tried to reach the audiences, always tried to use all the media at their disposals in the best of ways, and there always were people that managed their image and wrote their scripts. The premise seems to be pretentious and wrong. It is true, however, that this is possibly the one and only documentary that gives us such an insight of the organizing committee of a presidential campaign, and it is very interesting to see how things are run, and how people think. They are the underrated heroes. Before Clinton does anything, they think of it. In fact, we hardly ever see Clinton ourselves, which further strengthens the fact that it was them who won the elections, not him.Pennebakes does what he does best: direct cinema. But in comparison to other direct cinema legendary films, this one is hard to get fully into. In fact, the scenes that we are allowed to get into through good editing and cinematography are great, but the rest is just annoying and confusing. Also, it's hard to keep track of all that goes on in the war room, and although that was never going to be easy to do, it should have been done better. Still, a lot of it is very good, and worth a look, because the concept, the most important thing in a direct cinema film, is very interesting, and now that we know how things ended, pleasant to watch (unless you're a republican...) WATCH FOR THE MOMENT - When Carville is asked by the media if Clinton went to Moscow. "Yes" answers Carville. He knows exactly what is doing.

Syl I was taking a course in American Government at Rutgers when I saw this film. I fell in love with George Stephanopoulos right away. James Carville is always a delight to watch with his Cajun tongue and enthusiasm. This film documentary chronicles the Clinton election in 1992. I can't believe I miss that period now. Of course, the War Room is not for those who don't care anything about politics. The boy from Hope gave us hope and a promise that was fulfilled. Sure there was the sex scandals, at least they were interesting, the economy was headed in the right direction and we had surplus budget. Now, we're in two wars with no end in sight. Still, the War Room reminds us of the promises and the hope around election day.

J.Bond As a student of Political Sciences, I believe this to be one of the most fascinating and introspective documentaries regarding the subject of campaigning. The first modern campaign, the 92 Clinton war is an amazing melodrama of quick rises to power, downfalls, villains, heroes, and the precursor to one of the most vicious political battles of our nation's history. In the film, if you look hard enough, you see the seeds of weakness being sown which would lead to an awesome political showdown which is more grand, more high-stakes, and more dark than the plotline of any film in this database. Note: If you like "The War Room," read Woodward's "The Agenda."