Vice (2013–2021) User Reviews (16)

Absolutely worth it.

[malicenbandarlnd · 10/10 · 7 April 2013]

If you don't think that seeing video of the decapitated head of a teenage suicide bomber doesn't alter your view of reality you should really give this a look. Yes, the graphic imagery not allowed on traditional news networks is...shattering...(that's the only word i can think of). However, the real reason to watch this show is that it's the new front of investigative journalism. Real people going into real situations instead of repeating, and re-repeating AP news-wire bullet points. Or worse, spending hours reading tweets on a channel that's supposed to be 24/7 news. No i don't care about CatLov3r69's opinion on the scientific applications of stem cell research.

In addition, if you have ever written for a newspaper, even a school newspaper or taken a journalism class or have common sense you know that the only good way to tell a story is to tell both sides. We don't see that in news much these days. Nobody is making an effort to track down lieutenants of Taliban for a non-pixlized interview. These people are. Granted i'm only one episode in but if the rest of them are as interesting/sad/involved as the first one, I'm really looking forward to it. It shows people as people; complicated and confused.

Unpolished view of the extremes in the world.

[gaboonviper-605-441518 · 9/10 · 4 May 2013]

There are two kinds of programs on T.V. at any given moment. Entertainment: which tends to either dumb down, or completely distort reality. And News: which is painted so objective and distant it gives no clues about the human motivation behind it all.

Vice is nothing like anything I've ever watched. It's a documentary of the extremes in the world as they are now, and they aren't pretty. It's not so much objective as it is honest.

You get a glimpse of how it's really like living in places and situations they make movies about. Suddenly Afghanistan, China, rebellious Europe, and small-town USA aren't mystical places where things are completely backwards. It's just people who live in circumstances that are impossible. Circumstances where you and I would do exactly the same things as they are, if we didn't know how things could be.

What I love most about this show, is the rawness. It's not trying to be a piece of art. It's not trying to spoon-feed you with their view. It's just trying to show you how it is.

It's refreshing.

Just wow

[peter-coulson-junk · 9/10 · 6 June 2013]

How do these reporters do this? It would be the hardest work ever. The places they go in the first episode about the children bombers is heart breaking.

This is news.

Not the rubbish that is shown on our televisions of an evening before the 43rd rerun of Simpsons starts.

Well done to all the crew and the people involved in making this show.

You are good people doing an extremely hard job.

Do not watch this show if you are easily upset. I found it like watching a car crash.

I hope we get to see this show in Australia on main stream television in the future. Sadly I don;t think any of them will have the guts to run it.

Spectacular

[nickdanzinger · 10/10 · 10 July 2013]

I have been a fan of Vice for a few years now and I've always enjoyed their online videos. If you have spare time, I would highly recommend checking out their website or youtube channel. The special on the North Korean work camps in Russia and their videos taken in Columbia are particularly interesting.

With that said, the Vice team really took it to another level with the HBO series. Just watching the show is invigorating, from the topics covered to the exotic locations to the people they managed to get interviews with. Everything just comes together perfectly. With all the amazing content found in these short 10 episodes, it saddens me that most of the Western world is more concerned with celebrity bulls---.

Do yourself a favour and enjoy the first season. You won't regret it!

Eye-Opening

[aerobell513 · 10/10 · 6 April 2014]

I'll start with the negative. Yes, there's some room for improvement: there is some bias (but I think understandable in almost all cases), hidden cameras are used which can be low-quality and even when high quality cameras are used they're often not in ideal filming conditions (but both of these are nearly impossible to rectify given the scenarios), also, I would enjoy longer episodes, often the 15 minutes per story just doesn't seem like enough. Eventually I'd like to see this show move up to an hour long slot with 20 minutes per story, but that may be too ambitious for now.

However, the positives of this show are simply overwhelming, there's absolutely nothing like this in existence when it comes to investigative journalism. I think it's revolutionary, personally, and hope it raises the bar for other television news outlets, which frankly are unwatchable. The world could be a better place because of the awareness this show brings to Americans, it's extremely ambitious and I have high hopes for its future. For now, after a season and a half (maybe this review is premature though), I feel like the sky is the limit for Vice. It deserves a watch from everyone, regardless of your viewpoint.

Info Minus the Fluff

[chazview · 10/10 · 15 May 2016]

Stumbled upon Vice during a free month trial of HBO. Wow... what a great concept -- info about current events presented without network TV fluff, and no ad breaks.

Initially, I thought 15 minutes per topic wasn't enough to cover a topic. I was wrong. Without ads, and without producers needing to be concerned about advertiser repercussion for honest and unbiased presentation of controversial subject matter -- it's like the orange juice concentrate of TV -- just add viewers ;-)

If I'm being honest, having 4 seasons to choose from is ideal as not all the episodes contained something that sparked my interest. The show did however prompt me to keep my HBO Now subscription recurring and I definitely look at the summary of Vice each week to see if it's something I want to learn more about.

Vice won't give you 100% of the info on everything it covers, but I don't think it intends to. It's a springboard for motivation to learn more if that first 15 minutes wets your appetite for knowledge.

The real word!

[Noodles88 · 9/10 · 21 April 2015]

The world as it is. These people go to distance to show us how the world really works. Our planet is a very big and scary place, filled with dirty secrets, mayhem, destruction and what not. I get it how some might not like it, you might see some certain biased but it's clear that the guy does not work for any branch in the government and if he seems pro some people and against others, to me, it seems that those people he is rooting for probably deserve it. He does not make commercials, he does not go easy on anyone and sometimes, an innocent bystander could prove to be more of a use than a scientist or someone who has "official data", as we know the world is filled with official data and footage. I think this is one of the best shows out there.

"Justice without power is empty and power without justice in only violence."

The other side , of those who cant speak !

[k_28 · 9/10 · 27 January 2015]

This is rare gem of true journalism. What we see mostly on daily news is not news but propaganda of either govt or corporatist where every story has views of so called experts who has vested interests in giving the opinion they do. Some will accuse this series of being biased against big govt or big corporates but funnily they don't think anything biased in big corporate sponsored news shows as paid opinions. The journalism by definition involves showing two sides of story with neutral eye , but most news channels shows only one side of story, the story which they want us to see. This program speaks for those who cant speak themselves; the common people, oppressed ordinary folks who are victims and whose stories no one is interested in. As for big corporates and govt they always have a media to rest their case but for a change it is nice to have a show which shows other side of coin. You don't have to agree with it , you can still oppose it but how can you truly make your mind unless you see both sides of the story? Those who oppose this series as biased , i will say, see it and make your mind, its unpolished gem with mostly views of ordinary people and tats a big thing which is missing in today's TV media.

At another level watching this series is a humbling experience. It shows complexities , absurdities and sheer vastness of the the world we live in. Makes us empathize with them and helps comes out of this little bubble called as America. Its truly eye opening , in most literal sense coz most of the stories shown here are beyond our wildest imagination and if anyone has told that such things are happening in the same world , it would have been hard to believe . ( like Nigeria story or Kazakhstan story ) so thanks for an inspiring and humanizing experience.

Vice raises awareness and let you be emotional about NEWS again.

[rvdtempel · 9/10 · 3 June 2014]

This program is very good to watch. The most important things for me personal is that it gives me an understanding about what is happening in the world. I would miss out on so many things if it wasn't for vice. They go to places that are not covered by other news stations. They go to places where other news stations refuse to cover the news and they go back to places where they focus on the after effect of certain events. (Iraq, Afghanistan).

I see that some people are upset about the quality of some of the news reporters but in my opinion the reporters they have represent the normal household person. Most of the people doing the reporting are giving me a feeling that they care. Yes you can argue that they need to be objective but if I want objective news coverage I'll turn in to CNN. The only thing that they could work on is that they need to make more shows. But the content they provide on the internet takes a lot of time to create to so I understand that they are busy.

Also, It is awesome that season one is available on YouTube but it would be awesome if season two follows the same lead. But again I understand that there is a contract with HBO and that VICE is probably limited on what they can put on the internet when broadcasting on HBO. And Vice needs the money to send all these reporters to all the countries so they have to follow the contract.

In the end Vice is a network where you want to help out, where you get emotional, angry even. That is what news should do if you ask me. It is good that a station as VICE wants to raise public awareness for common problems. Thank you VICE, Roald van der Tempel, The Netherlands

Bringing you the truth

[Redds1324 · 10/10 · 23 February 2015]

And that's all that matters. If you like watching the news to see how crazy the next iPhone lines are, then watch fox news. If you want the truth, Vice will bring it to you. My only complaint is that vice isn't on TV every night, bringing us what we should know right here in our own country. Maybe the creators of vice can create a brand new "newsroom" type station instead of the local broadcrapping,I mean broadcasting that we are force fed every night. When America wakes up and starts feeding us the truth, more problems will inevitably be solved. Republicans are the worst at broadcasting, hence fox news, but even CNN and the local satin are full of crap. When will news stations start giving us what we truly want to watch?

Journalism at its ultimate form

[yasseenassar · 10/10 · 27 May 2020]

This show gives you a true awareness and understanding of the world we live in . There is no longer an excuse to be ignorant.

Decent show but tries to do too much in not enough time

[JMKenney514 · 7/10 · 6 June 2013]

Vice is a very interesting show that gives a brief introduction to some extreme behavior all over the world including the U.S. The problem however, as with any documentary, the perception of any situation can be slanted or only certain issues/groups will be focused on to get across the message that the creators want to get across. With Bill Maher as the executive producer, you know exactly which way that slant is going to lean. Nevertheless the guys to a good job telling their story and add a good bit of humor along the way. Another problem is that 2 huge issues are attempted to be covered in each 30 minute episode which leaves 15 minutes to try and give a fair covering of each topic. This seems impossible in itself. Overall I would say give it a watch as it does give some basic information about some very interesting issues in the world.

Big fan. Now disappointed with Biased Reporting

[ThomasJeff · 1/10 · 5 April 2014]

I was very much a big fan of this. And I watch a lot of Vice News stuff because of their brave journalists willing to go anywhere. Except that they aren't journalists. They're like stunt doubles who go anywhere and have no idea how to interpret anything or present it to the audience. It's like they signed a contract to risk their lives but not trained in any journalistic ethics or understanding of world events.

It's sad because it had a lot of potential.

But then it's become all about propaganda. Presenting only ONE side of every issue.

They just present the views of the owner: Shane Smith.

When he wants to do a propaganda piece he doesn't interview anyone from the opposing side. He won't interview any officials or experts.

He's more into interviewing random people "on the ground". He interviews non-experts but people whom he thinks "might be involved" and "on his side."

I used to love it!

[djp-77696 · 2/10 · 12 June 2019]

So disappointed with the political swing this series took as soon as they get a conservative President. They need to stop with the editorials and stick with just stating the facts. I just started watching season 6 and couldn't even make it through the 2nd episode. All it was was bashing Trump for his decision to make Jerusalem the capital of Israel even though American Presidents have been saying that for 50 years!! They blamed him for a war that's been going on for decades and said "Oh now there will never be peace and it's all Trumps fault!" So ridiculous.

I tried skimming through other episodes but unless you're a liberal you won't enjoy it. Not that it matters to anyone at HBO. Thank God it's still a choice!

Will this get posted? Well see.

[lindajobruton-63674 · 1/10 · 15 October 2017]

When Isobel interviewed the reporter for the right, she drilled and wouldn't let him explain any reason for his behavior. Just the opposite for the CNN reporter. She talked about the accusation that Trump was wire tapped. HE wasn't wired but top officials that Trump spoke to regularly were. They had pics of the crowd at Obama's inauguration at peak. Then they showed the crowd at Trump's when people were leaving. If HBO/Vice is following suit with Twitter, Facebook, Google, Amazon and the like, you'll just deleting the unfavorable reviews. The left has reached their lowest point so, it's completely possible and easily believable. The more the media and the left are unfair to the right, the stronger and madder we get. So keep up the blatant lies, the misinformation and moral-less accusations. The left will not investigate the lies but the right will. We're not perfect and we make mistakes, but we've got integrity, morals, and the truth on our side. Just take just a second and think about this, all the media except Fox is 98% Trump negative. Most of Hollywood is never- Trumpers. Billionaires galore gave to the DNC. And we still won.

8.6 Rating? Seriously?

[banzavag · 5/10 · 25 May 2014]

While VICE chooses controversial and dangerous subject matter to report on, the seriousness of their subject material is lessened by the shamefully ill-suited reporters they choose to broadcast the reports - an Asian who's more caught up in delivering invective-laced interviews than getting to the heart of the story, a wimpy guy no one in their wildest imaginations could place in the danger zones he reports from. If they were to improve this show with reporters worthy of their subjects then I might be able to take it a little more seriously. For now, it seems like a comedy skit gone bad. The 8.6 rating was obviously posted by a dyslexic.