The Republican National Convention‘s dominant theme of John McCain as war hero was reinforced with a documentary-style film shown to convention delegates before the senator came to the stage to accept his party’s presidential nomination.

The narration and pictures summed up arguments people had made throughout the week, describing McCain as a “common-sense conservative : and a voracious opponent of pork-barrel spending.”

It traced family roots, including service time in top Navy command positions by McCain’s father and grandfather and described his time as a prisoner of war held in a North Vietnamese facility known in wartime as “Hanoi Hilton.”

“What a life!” the narrator intoned.