Once Upon a Time in Iraq

The 2-hour condensation (broadcast on Frontline in America, maybe elsewhere) of the original 5-hour BBC Two series. It's not a bad abridgement, it's fine, gets a lot of the feel of the original but having watched the 5-parter first (and checking this out out of curiosity) the 5-parter really let the interviews breath better, allowing different strands of various interviews to weave together better, this is lost in cutting out 3 hours of interviews. The organization of the 5-parter is also better (1 hour each organized into "War," "Insurgency," "Fallujah," "Saddam," and "Legacy") than the 11 sections that sort of forces a stricter chronological template on this to its detriment. Most of the original interviewees are present here though it cuts out at least 2 journalists (who added _a lot_ of useful background and context to the country, society, and politics of Iraq) and a very interesting, colorful soldier. I think it added a minute or two of additional home footage of one of the Iraqis visiting his family after living abroad. It's not bad, but it's missing depth that made the original 5-parter so impactful.