He’s on the wrong side. The Empire is the United States as a whole. Specifically, the US empire during Vietnam era.

This Black Myths Pod episode in turn does a great job of deconstructing that documentary, acknowledging its strengths, and pointing out where it misleads or leaves out information.

In through the nose, out through the mouth. Expand your diaphragm on exhales, meaning your belly should extend, and compress it on inhales, meaning your belly should contract. Deep, long breaths, with each one, return your focus to your form. When you drift, and find your breathing is automatic again, and your mind has wandered, acknowledge the thought, and return your awareness to your breathing. In through then nose, belly contracting and chest expanding, hold, out through the mouth, belly expanding and chest contracting.

All that to say, manual breathing is something I think everyone should practice regularly.

One of my favorites. Check my post history for another good one along the same lines.

One must imagine Sisyphus happy.

Would it have ever made it through the ideological state apparatus without the cop out ending, though? I could see as the artist reaching that point, so close to your vision being public, and being told to change the end or risk losing control of the direction entirely when they bring in a new person. Might have felt like damage control, in the wrong hands, that movie could have been even more copagandistic than it was already.

Action movie bad guys are always the topical enemy of the state. Even satirical takes on the genre end up recuperated and reinforce the very tropes they were criticizing(Robocop is my favorite example).