Customer Reviews

Century of Self [2 DVD Set]

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

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!

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.

I'm seriously considering a lawsuite against Amazon. I bought this copy to make sure I own a legitimate copy of an excellent documentary, and what I received is a cheap illegal copy manufactured and promoted by the largest US online retailer.
I work for a Intellectual Property Protection agency, spending most of my time protecting large US corporations interest in Europe, and here I am, Amazon made me pay $50+$25 for illegal copies (Power of Nighmare, Century of the Self).
Although the documentary is a must see, I would recommend it to everybody, I will make sure that Amazon's illegal busines practices will be noticed and have legal consequences.


Deeply disappointed by this practice. How convinced can I be now, that intellectual property is a property that deserves protection, when the a large US company is doing the same?

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.

This is a great documentary series that was shown on BBC. I ordered two copies from Amazon and both were defective. Amazon refunded my money, but I believe it is because of copyright laws that this DVD does not function properly. If anyone knows another place to find this series, let me know because this very much worth it to own.

We need to get this film in every library and school in the country. Every student should be required to watch this film as part of History.

We can request this film at public libraries, and what might even be cool, is promote public screenings of the film. This film is so important. I just can't stress it enough.

Some of the film clips are very old. Film quality wasn't good back then, but that does not in any way detract from the content of this film.

You may also want to check out "The Power of Nightmares by Adam Curtis", "Propaganda", John Pilger's "War on Democracy" (really important), "Why We Fight", and "Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers"

I like the documentary very much, and have seen it from many sources on the web (YouTube is one of them). The quality of these online versions is of course pretty poor. So I bought the DVDs in hope for a better quality. It turned out that they took it straight from the internet and burnt to DVDs, and sell it for $50. Not worth the price! You can certainly burn on DVDs yourself.

I have watched this BBC series a couple of times online (go to google, search for "The Century of the Self"). I will order the DVD set and invite my friends over to watch it with them again. I am astounded by how well this documentary is made. It starts with Freud, shows how his nephew Edward Bernays used Freud's model of human behavior to create the art and science of Public Relations in the U.S., how PR was used to sell products and advance political causes. Then how the rise of the Nazi's was viewed as supporting Freud's model of human nature, which led to the creation of an altruistic elite who believed that they knew how they could fix humanity's inherent ills through methods derived from psychoanalysis. The excesses of this selfrighteous elite gave birth to a new generation of rebels, ultimately feeding the rise of counterculture and the anti-war movement in the 60s. By the time you are finished watching the last of the four parts (which ends at how the science of PR was used to bring about the victory of Bill Clinton over Bush senior) you will be simply awed at the sophistication with which politicians, mass-media, and businesses use techniques to advance their agendas - almost always without us realizing it. If you are alive, watch this series!

As others have pointed out, this is a clone of the video that's been circulating online for years, burned to DVD-R. It's the same 320x240 captured from a home VHS of the broadcast, exactly the same as the files you can download a couple of clicks away. Even the title's incomplete on the home-PC printed liner, the correct title is Century of the Self, not Century of Self. An annoying rip-off - watch this essential documentary some other way. One star because you can't post a review without rating the item, in reality, less than zero. Unconscionable that Amazon is selling this.

Though modern technology can be used for great things, we must recognize that it also negatively affects many people, allowing it to direct their lives rather then simply assisting them.
We need to be more aware of the trickle down effect of the controlled and manipulated evolution of the technology boom. The question is not in regards to the ubiquitous force that distracts us from whatever we're doing but rather how we arrived at our current predicament.
Finding a solution to the problems brought forth by our own manifestations may not require a historical overview of how we got here, but if one wants to better prepare for future distractions, it would behoove them to learn the source or sources of their quandary. Education is the key to freedom and all of its fruits; not just basic education, but philosophical and moral education as well. We also need to understand the psychology of marketing so we are capable of combating the indoctrination of implanted ideas and the manipulation of our inner desires. [...]