Vince Horiuchi The Salt Lake Tribune

"… [The] brilliant 'Frontline' … examines the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre and how those bloody demonstrations for social and political reform led to an economic revolution in that country on a scale the world had never seen. …

"… This riveting documentary will make you feel angry, sad and guilty. We buy the goods made by cheap labor [in China] -- the clothes, the appliances and the cars. The least we can do is watch 'The Tank Man' to understand the price paid by the people who make them."

 

Tom Dorsey The Courier-Journal (KY)

"… Most Americans understand so little about China, which is having a huge impact on the United States. If people would take the time to watch programs like this, they might better understand the slippery slope we're sliding down too."

 

Alex Strachan The Gazette (Montreal)

"… PBS Frontline's The Tank Man … is a flawed but fascinating film, part mystery, part social documentary.

"The 90-minute film by Antony Thomas tries -- and largely fails -- to solve the mystery of 'the tank man' … Still, The Tank Man has moments in it that are unforgettable. … This is news documentary filmmaking at its finest."

 

Cragg Hines Houston Chronicle

"… In yet another of the series' often-brilliant expositions, the 90-minute film points out that no one is certain what has become of the man who, with what appeared to be ordinary shopping bags in hand, stepped in front of the tanks. …"

 

Ned Martel The New York Times

"Mr. Thomas's ambitious, sprawling take knows few bounds as it maps upheaval from Mongolia to Hong Kong and charts a rural-to-urban migration of hundreds of millions of job seekers. Along the way, the program hustles to explain dismal labor conditions, Internet privacy and rivalries among journalists. What is billed as a story of one man becomes a catchall format for every useful bit of information about China's commitment to economic modernization and resistance to political reform. …

"… Ultimately, 'The Tank Man' reintroduces a frustratingly faceless enigma and teases a viewer with the hope of a resolution that never arrives."