Overview: Pat Tillman gave up his professional football career to join the Army Rangers in 2002—and became an instant symbol of patriotic fervor and unflinching duty. But the truth about Pat Tillman is far more complex, and ultimately more heroic, than the caricature created by the media. And when the government tried to turn his death into war propaganda, they took on the wrong family.

DVD Verdict: 'The Tillman Story' is the sad tale of the Tillman family's quest to uncover the truth about the circumstances surrounding the death of Pat Tillman. The story is told in broad brush strokes and for those who already know something about the Tillman controversy, there is nothing really new in this documentary.

The strength of this film is the interviews conduced with Tillman's family and former army colleagues. Their words humanise the documentary's subject and give him a dimension that the US government, military and media stole from him.

Indeed, they cooked the books on this war and now they needed a martyr or two. Tillman knew this when he enlisted. Knew if he was killed in combat that they would use him and his likeness as if he was a toothpaste commercial for the war.

Opinions can vary about the quality of this documentary and one can question the accuracy of a hell of alot of "hearsay" testimony in this movie but one thing is for certain - The U.S. government and DOD look like gangsters in 3 pieces and fatigues as usual. My one true criticism of this movie is that the director let the NFL off the hook rather easy. They milked Pat Tillmans death almost as much as the Bush administration and gained financially from it to boot. This is a Widescreen Presentation (1.77:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs and comes with the Special Features of:

Audio Commentary by director Amir Bar-Lev.