[4] One year later, the film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

[5][6][7] In 1990, Jonathan Rosenbaum characterized the film as "the first and best of the major documentaries about Vietnam".

[10] Those interviewed include Harry Ashmore, Daniel Berrigan, Philippe Devillers, David Halberstam, Roger Hilsman, Jean Lacouture, Kenneth P. Landon, Thruston B. Morton, Paul Mus, Charlton Osburn, Harrison Salisbury, Ilya Todd, John Toller, David K. Tuck, David Wurfel and John White.

[7][11] Produced during the Vietnam War, the film was greeted with hostility by many audiences, with bomb threats and vandalism directed at theaters that showed it.

[12][13] When confronted with the charge that In the Year of the Pig had a leftist perspective, de Antonio conceded the point, replying: “Only God is objective, and he doesn’t make films.”[14] In the Year of the Pig was released as a region 1 DVD in 2005.