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47 of 47 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Two Awesome Hours With the Best!, July 10, 2008
This review is from: Discussions with Richard Dawkins, Episode One: The Four Horseman (DVD)
If you are already an atheist or agnostic (which, according to Prof. Dawkins, is simply an atheist who doesn't want to admit to himself what he truly is) or are simply open minded, this is a fantastic dvd with the most out spoken, well informed, and controversial voices in the new atheist movement today. Prof. Dawkins of course brings the prespective of biology and hard science, Prof. Dennett is a philosopher and brings his own views from that angle, Sam Harris is a Ph.D. candidate in the field of neurology and has studied Buddhist meditation for over a decade and brings his experience in both of those fields, and of course, for wit, humour, and just mind blowing intellect, we have the immortal Mr. Hitchens who has travelled the world in his field of journalism (including Bosnia during the genocide) and has seen the horrors that men perpetrate against one another in the name of religion. I fully agree with the other reviewers: the only thing bad about this dvd is that it is simply too short. I could listen to these guys for another five hours without becoming even slightly bored! This is a great dvd and really helps to show just where each of the authors agrees and disagrees with the others as to dispute the claim by the religious that all atheists are mindless parrots (as if reiterating the same book for the past two thousand years makes one a freethinker). If you have read any of the authors or are simply curious about this subject, purchase this dvd today. You're in for some of the best hours of your life (you get a front row seat for a chat and smoke with Hitch! How can you refuse?).
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25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Get Ready for an Illuminating Ride!, May 15, 2008
This review is from: Discussions with Richard Dawkins, Episode One: The Four Horseman (DVD)
This DVD is anything but a dry, academic discussion... Dennett, Harris, Dawkins and Hitchens move seamlessly from topic to topic - a thoroughly enjoyable tour of many of the subjects addressed in their respective published works concerning religion. I also found the format very entertaining. My only complaint? This DVD ends too soon! Anyone who enjoys/respects/is challenged by these authors will appreciate installment #1 of the Four Horsemen series. Personally, I can't wait for the next "ride" - and feel privileged to live in a time when the intellectual honesty expressed by these authors is beginning to find its way to larger and more diverse audiences.
K. Schreiber
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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining, but..., December 7, 2009
This review is from: Discussions with Richard Dawkins, Episode One: The Four Horseman (DVD)
I certainly agree with the other reviewers that this is a bracing and enjoyable discussion among four very persuasive, erudite, and witty atheists, but I have a reservation. Dawkins, Dennett, and Harris are quite straightforward and respectful of one another, but Christopher Hitchens seems to be in love with his own corrosive sense of humor and facility in denigrating the faithful. As a result, the discussion, particularly in the second hour, takes tangents in which the self-important Hitchens holds forth at great length and does not really give the others enough space to make their points. He is, of course, an inveterate pot-stirrer, so I suppose this is to be expected, yet I was hoping to hear more from his colleagues, who could not fully explore ideas before they were hijacked by a boozy raconteur.
For this reason, I would like to insert a plug here for another video series by filmmaker Jonathan Miller entitled "The Atheism Tapes," made during the production of his television series "A Brief History of Disbelief" (later retitled "A Rough History of Disbelief"). "The Atheism Tapes" presents six half-hour interviews in which the director speaks in depth to six scientists, philosophers, and authors about their views on and personal experiences with religion and science. The DVD includes both Dawkins and Dennett, as well as playwright Arthur Miller, physicist Steven Weinberg, and others, and it makes an excellent complement to and a slightly more sober series of reflections than "The Four Horsemen."
By the way, all three of these videos are available as free streaming downloads on the web, so if you'd like to sample before buying, just Google them.
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