Product Details

• Actors: Tom Shadyac, Thom Hartmann
• Directors: Tom Shadyac
• Format: Color, NTSC, Widescreen
• Dubbed: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Gaiam - Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: January 3, 2012
• Run Time: 78 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (399 customer reviews)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B005U0ZP46
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #666 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
  • #4 in Movies & TV > DVD > Documentary

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Amazing...' --Ellen Degeneres

Everyone needs to see this film! --Bruce Cohen, Academy Award Winning Producer (American Beauty)

Entertaining and enlightening. The I AM Documentary is a spark of light and a work of love. --Marianne Williamson, New York Times Best Seller

Product Description

I AM is the story of a successful Hollywood director, Tom Shadyac (LIAR LIAR, NUTTY PROFESSOR, BRUCE ALMIGHTY), who experienced a life threatening head injury, and his ensuing journey to try and answer two very basic questions:

What s wrong with our world? and What can we do about it?

With a film crew of four, Tom visits some of today s great minds, including authors, poets, teachers, religious leaders, and scientists (Howard Zinn, Lynn McTaggart, Desmond Tutu, Thom Harmann, Coleman Barks) searching for the fundamental endemic problem that causes all of the other problems, while simultaneously reflecting on this own life choices of excess, greed and eventual healing.

We started by asking what s wrong wit the world, and ended up discovering what s right with it. Tom Shadyac

See all Editorial Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

328 of 343 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Message! February 5, 2012

By Mini Mini

Format:DVD

After reading the negative reviews on here I decided to write my own in case you are wondering what you'd get out of this movie.
If you are looking for proof that the ONLY way to survive in this planet is by killing eachother, stepping over people and ignoring social issues and calling those who don't crazy, then no, this movie is not for you.
If you have an open heart and know deep in your core that there is evidence all around that what we are doing is NOT working, that we are ALL suffering because we are living life like brainwashed robots, then this movie might be of interst to you... This movie is about the basics, about how we can all tap into our most effortless human instincts and feelings of love, compassion, co-operation etc, and how those are more powerful than you even realize.

What can possibly be wrong with that message???? And why do we need a discussion on who is a real scientist for this?? If someone treats you poorly your whole life and you are miserable, should I require scientific evidence that the other person's treamtment REALLY is the cause..?? Once we start going that road, then no, this movie is the least of your problems because your foundation itself is not all that solid.
If you are of the firm belief that abuse, oppression and unhealthy competition to be the best, to be better than every one else is the way the live life, then yes, you will hate this movie.
For every one else: I'm yet to meet someone who doesn't love this. We as a societly DESPERATLY need more products out there with these kind of messages, particularly for our youth since our adults are so bitter and jaded (as you can clearly see here..) :):)

151 of 161 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Everyone Must Watch October 24, 2011

By Rosa Sumpter

Format:DVD

I was honored to watch this movie for a company meeting. I was not informed previous to watching what the movie was about. It was kept a secret. But after watching I realized that it was great. Tom was able to get interviews with some very pertinent individuals in the neurology, science, religious, medical fields. This movie gives great examples on how "I am the problem, and I am the solution". Especially in this day there are so many people blaming other's. We can only change ourselves. It is a great movie and a must watch for everyone!

197 of 215 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I've seen I AM 5 times in theaters, now buying the DVD November 5, 2011

By greatfilms fan

Format:DVD

This film is chock-full of great thoughts, wisdom and facts that we probably won't see in one place any other way. It took so much courage for Tom to take a seering look at himself and his life. To learn that even though it looked to the outside world like he had done it "all right," in fact, he had it "all wrong."

But through his eyes, education and experience, he not only realized how the world can become a great place we actually feel good about, but provides a blue print showing how we can all create a fulfilling personal life.

What's wrong with the world? I AM

What's right with the world? I AM

Major kudos. Well, well done!

34 of 38 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring January 2, 2012

By Jan H.

Format:DVD

Why is it so hard for some people to listen to the reality of life and the situation we all face. I especially liked the part that showed the diagram of the ancient hunters who felt they should keep everything and all the others should suffer. Reminds me of all the Wall Street Guys who think they own the world. This movie is so good because the writer made the changes in his life to make the world a better place. As a retired Realtor of 30 years I too experienced the same feelings when I had my first closing that was bigger than I had ever had before. I worked so hard for it and everyone was happy but I felt so drained and empty. I had no one to go to dinner with but had a lot of money. I am so glad I learned the lesson in my early 30's. I am buying this for all my friends who will not turn the TV off Fox News.

302 of 371 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Missed the science mark January 6, 2012

By NancyR

Format:DVD

While I do agree wholeheartedly with the basic, positive message of this movie (we need to be more compassionate and loving toward eachother and nature), I feel Tom Shadyac could have made a much stronger case for his premise had he interviewed actual scientists to talk about the science. Instead he interviewed (for the most part) journalists, authors, and "science writers"...not scientists. BTW, I am actually a scientist (geology and oceanography degrees). Having a journalist try to explain the inner workings of quantum physics is like having a ballerina describe how a rocket is put into orbit.

The concerns I had while watching the movie really come back to promoting psuedo-science as real science and spouting half-truths and misleading ideas about science and nature:

-The notion that pre-contact Native Americans (or other pre-contact Native peoples) had some kind of Utopian, peace-filled, love-driven society is utter hogwash. Unfortunately this nonsense is mentioned a few times in the movie. Perhaps some of these Native societies were peaceful and love-filled, but by no means was this the norm across all groups. Territorial conflicts abounded. Check your history. Native Americans killed eachother in battle, some took war slaves and stole eachother's property. We have a few instances of cannibalism (backed by forensic evidence from an archaeological site). We know the Aztecs were anything but peaceful...just look at their murals of battles and human sacrifices.

-The yogurt "experiment" was a joke at best, more likely a fraud. At no point are we really told what units the little device was measuring.... To me it appeared that it might actually be measuring sound vibrations as it seemed to react in only one direction and only as someone spoke toward the petri dish of yogurt. If it was really reacting to emotional "energy" it should have been reacting to the energy of everyone in the room at all times. Curiously enough, though, it only reacted when Tom spoke. In no way did they prove that Tom's "emotional vibes" or "heart energy" were causing the needle to react.

-Science isn't out to "prove" that the nature is orderly and follows specific rules previously discovered (as the first journalist interviewed claimed)...modern science is devoted to figuring out the WHY and HOW of nature and natural processes...whatever those processes are. Perhaps pre-Newtonian "western science" was trying to do this but certainly not modern science (especially the last 150 years).

-We do this by questioning, investigating, experimenting, and publishing our results for others to review and tear apart. We also want other scientists to attempt to duplicate our experiments to either verify our results or refute them. This process is very rigorous but helps us to find out if we, as scientists, have introduced some kind of error or bias into the experiment, or if our experiment was done correctly and the results are reliable. Results that can be reproduced by other researchers are the only ones to truly withstand peer scrutiny.

-The explanations of quantum physics in the movie were very weak. He pulled a few parts of Quantum Theory out of context that appeared to prove his point but didn't give the viewer enough real information. In reality, it doesn't prove his point (nor does it disprove it). He really should have interviewed someone like Brian Greene (physicists at Cornell Univ) to beef up this part of the "documentary."

-Noetic "scientists" are not real scientists...this is actually a branch of metaphysical philosophy. Labeling these folks as scientists is a tad misleading. Once other, real experimental scientists are able to replicate noetic experiments and come up with the same results then perhaps we can start to consider them scientists. Right now they're a fringe element.

-Same goes for the Heartmath folks.

Parts of this movie seemed a tad bit self-congratulatory and some was full of outright ego-stroking. It's obviously Shadyac's movie and he can do whatever he wants, but these parts seemed strangely at-odds with the premise of the movie (love, compassion, cooperation, humility).

I do applaud Shadyac for (eventually) explaining that Darwin did not promote or popularize this "survival of the fittest" spiel that we tend to lay at his feet. Darwin didn't understand the underlying mechanisms of evolution back then, but he did see that it was influenced by nature and referred to it as "evolution by means of natural selection."

I think Shadyac's heart was in the right place, but the line of evidence he used to justify his point was weak and misleading. Read more ›