Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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67 of 74 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
One of the Greatest Documentaries Ever...Rip off DVD-R, November 20, 2007
This film was produced by the BBC for public television, and therefore the filmmakers were able to use "copyrighted materials" for a much reduced rate. The problem is, that in the event that the film ever gets a formal "release," that is, for profit, a much higher rate would be charged for the same footage. It is for this reason that this documentary may never get a theatrical release in the US, nor a "real" DVD release.
This is an utter shame, for this film is one of the best documentaries I've ever seen, and stands, in my opinion, alongside "The Architecture of Doom" as the best ever. It is rich, intriguing, thought provoking, and a powerful example of "film as literature," being as stimulating as a great book. It is also of a genre much under represented in documentaries: a work of critical theory, in this case a sort of Marxist Psychoanalytical approach to history. The movie is one that demands to be watched over and over again, and inspires one to do research outside of the text to discover more; it also encapsulates and maps our psychoscape and history in a radically fascinating way which may suprise many viewers. It gives a whole new perspective on history and where we are today- and does so in novel, subtle, brilliant ways.
That said, this product is utter garbage. It is a DVR recording, produced by "goodness knows who" (but was probably made in someone's basement). The second disk would not play on my DVD player, on my Playstation 2, or on my mothers DVD player, but, did play on my computer; however, about ten minutes into the fourth episode, the footage stuck and refused to play.
Pretty crummy for $50! This should be selling for about $6. It might be worth it for $6, but not for $50. You can easily find this film on the internet, and you can watch it there for free. I, however, wanted a DVD because I wanted to share this film with other people, namely, on their televisions, not on a computer, so I forked over the loot and got burned bigtime.
I returned the DVD to Amazon and they sent me a "new" copy. This one failed to work as well. I brought it over to a friend's house and watched the first episode on his DVD player, but by the time the second episode began, it stuck and would play no more. It also refused to play on his computer.
If you have massive cash to burn and don't mind gambling with half a C note, are desperate to see this film and don't like watching movies which appear in a box about the size of a postage stamp on your computer, then by all means order this rip off and take a big chance.
Oh, by the way, the quality of the picture is awful. It is blurry and washed out. I found myself at times just listening to the dialogue since the images gave me a headache. It is not just that some of the footage is stock, it is all the footage. The "titles" explaining who the "interviewees" are is also blurred, thus proving it is, overall, just a terrible duplication of the film.
Bottom line= best movie ever- hugest ripoff ever. Whoever is selling this for $50 should be sent to the 20th level of Dante's Inferno where they will be pelted with 10th rate DVR products for all eternity.
Just take a quick glance at some of the other "reviews" here, and you will find that they are mostly BS. Either the reviewer has only reviewed this one film (a real clue that what you are reading is just meant to "promote" this product) or they have a couple others but they are also of similar ripoff products from "successunlimitedpub" (the same people that produced this rippoff product)- meaning, that people are planting "reviews" here which are meant to inflate the "star" ratings on this product, but it is obvious they spent about 2 seconds on it, are reviewing the film and not the product, or they are just plain "faking" reviews, usually planted by employees of successunlimitedpub or their friends.
It is not just a matter of this being a poor, blurry copy of the film. It doesn't play. You have been warned.
For shame...for shame...Purchase at Own Risk!
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22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Really shoddy product from amazon, December 19, 2007
I bought this because I have wanted to watch more of this amazing Curtis documentary. When the "DVD" arrived I couldn't believe the rubbish quality of the video footage. IT is blurry, pixellated and well below DVD standard. In fact it looks like a downloaded MPEG4 file from the "Internet Archive" site converted into MPEG2/VOB format. Although Amazon have produced and marketed this version themselves it is nothing like the standard of the original BBC broadcast. This DVD set is a highly overpriced, disappointing and mediocre product. UK buyers will also get hit for £14 of duties! My advice would be to download the free version from various websites and save your money, or write to the controller of BBC4 and request that they rebroadcast it.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Startling Documentary About How Corporate Elites Reasserted Their Dominance Using Public Relations/Propaganda, August 12, 2008
Quality of the video is subpar (looks like someone videotaped the program when it aired on the BBC2 in England, and then burned it on a DVD). Why isn't there an official version? For 50 dollars, I expected better quality. But it is better than watching the streaming video online. Otherwise, it is a great documentary with insightful interviews and excellent commentary from Adam Curtis. If you are wondering why the U.S. and its people are in their current terrible condition, this documentary explains some of the important parts of how we got here. Along with the analyses of Manufacturing Consent, An Unreasonable Man, and The Corporation, one can more fully understand how and why Big Business and their allies have taken control and kept control of the political economy of the United States, and subordinated the American people through propaganda, consumerism, and oppression through law and the power of the state.
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