Starring: Various Directed By: Adam Curtis Average Rating: Binding: DVD Format: Dolby, Full Screen, NTSC Label: Triad Productions LLC Number of Items: 1 Release Date: March 31, 2008 Running Time: 180 minutes
Amazon.com: The Power of Nightmares, subtitled The Rise of the Politics of Fear, is a BBC documentary film series, written and produced by Adam Curtis. The series consists of three one-hour films, consisting mostly of a montage of archive footage with Curtis's narration, which were first broadcast in the United Kingdom in late 2004 and have been subsequently aired in multiple countries and shown in several film festivals, including the 2005 Cannes Film Festival.
Part 1: Baby It's Cold Outside Part 2: The Phantom Victory Part 3: The Shaddows in the Cave
The films compare the rise of the American Neo-Conservative movement and the radical Islamist movement, making comparisons on their origins and noting strong similarities between the two. More controversially, it argues that the threat of radical Islamism as a massive, sinister organised force of destruction, specifically in the form of al-Qaeda, is in fact a myth perpetrated by politicians in many countries and particularly American Neo-Conservatives in an attempt to unite and inspire their people following the failure of earlier, more utopian ideologies.
The Power of Nightmares has been praised by film critics in both Britain and the United States. Its message and content have also been the subject of various critiques and criticisms from conservatives and progressives.
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Great Film - If You Don't Watch It Don't Give An Opinion I am a historian, as well as a novelist. I don't consider myself enlightened by any means but I do consider myself a step above many when it comes to seeing through the propaganda that is prevalent in any political system. I was a student in the middle-east and I could see how demonized many int he region were made by mainstream American politics/media/Hollywood and I understood in 1998 that eventually something was going to snap... This film does an excellent job of showing how even though the Neo-Conservative movement and the Islamic Fundamentalist movements are two completely different organizations, that they are in fact, based in a very similar belief first seen in 1950's America by two different men, a University Professor and an Egyptian Student in Colorado. The two ideologies are nearly identical, one stays in America and eventually lays the foundation for the Neo-Conservative movement, the other returns to Egypt and becomes part of the infamous Muslim Brotherhood. At this point, the two belief structures grow further apart, but their core belief remains the same. The liberalism that was becoming prevalent in post-war America was a decadent force on the strength of the nation... and both factions chose to fight against it in their own way... one through a return to Islamic Fundamentals, and the other through a return to Patriotic idealism. A very interesting look at a process from a very intellectual point of view, not a "chop" film that you would find from the likes of Michael Moore...
Highly recommended...
This is Great Propaganda If you don't know what propaganda is then just watch this movie and you will understand it fully.
This is as great a piece of historical propaganda as other films such as Battleship Potemkin and Haxan (both silent films from the early 1900's). Like those two films, The Power of Nightmares is revolutionary for its time and attacks a popular subject, The Bush Administration.
Everyone know was happened on September 11, 2001. Not many people know what happened before then with regards to Al Queda. Not many people even knew who Al Queda was before 9/11. These is a reason for that and this documentary gives that reason to you.
This is a must own for anyone with an interest in conspiracty theory or propaganda.
A Brief Synopsis Here's a brief synopsis of this film: a nutcase is a nutcase is a nutcase. And both the neocons and jihadists fit the bill perfectly. There's a definition of insanity currently making the rounds: that it's doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. But that can also be a symptom of just plain stupidity. A much better definition is doing something totally outrageous and expecting a result completely at odds with common sense and historical precedent. Perfect case in point: one of the Islamic jihadists who helped plan the assassination of Egyptian president Anwar Sadat actually believed that seeing the president assassinated would make the people see how corrupt the political system was and they would rise up in rebellion; whereas a sane man would have known that it's precisely in times of national tragedy that people cling all the more tightly to the status quo. Needless to say, this nutcase came in time to see not just the politicians as corrupt but the people themselves. So, too, the neocons set out to destroy Bill Clinton, who they hated; they actually imagined that once the impeachment proceedings began the people would see how corrupt he was and rise up in support of his imeachment. And, of course, they were horrified when the exact opposite happened. Which leads to the most telling piece of both the jihadist and neocon ideology: both believe that personal liberty - individual freedom - is the major symptom of a society's moral decay. Just think about that a moment: these idealogues see an ordinary citizen's freedom to make choices about his or her life as the number one symptom of moral depravity, because it somehow destroys shared social values. At this point, you can simply rest your case; these are people who are about as removed from reality - especially the reality of humanity's continual struggle to gain and keep some measure of freedom - as any madman who ever lived. Both the jihadists and neocons constructed a fantasy world based on the same hyper-exagerated notion of good versus evil; and to make it work they both had to invent an enemy who represented absolute evil. Among the legion of parallels and ironies to be found in this film, perhaps the most ironic is that Osama bin Laden, who appears to be the most sane, most rational of the jihadists. became the very one the neocons demonized.
The only slight reservation I have about this film is its suggestion that ideas play a determining role in the sociopolitical world. Whereas, actually, for every apparent triumph, at least of the neocon ideology, you can plainly see that there are big monied interests who stood to gain from those ideas. And now that those ideas have become counter-productive, they're quickly falling out of favor. Professor Leo Strauss may have been the father of the neocon ideology, but rest assured it was the Rockefellers, Mellons, Astors, Vanderbilts, DuPonts and their business interests that allowed the neocon ideology to attain prominence. And it's those same interests that will relegate the neocons to the historical dustbin now that there's nothing left to be gained from them.
YOU MUST OWN THIS DVD!!! This documentary gives you a view of the world from the eyes of BBC filmmaker Adam Curtis.
Curtis' view is expressed in a 3 part series that provides an in depth look into the current administration and it's links to terrorism.
If you believe or even suspect that its all connected, then you must buy this DVD and watch the lines and conclusions that Curtis draws.
Its absolutley fascinating from start to finish. I watched all three episodes back to back. You must own this DVD.
The Power of The Press Simply stated, this DVD is spectacular...
I recommend that you BUY DIRECT from Amazon as there are already poor quality rip offs being sold through resellers.
This DVD contains all three episodes of the three part series.
Anything Goes Trivia
Last Kiss
Megaton Man
Trevor
