Product Details

• Actors: Stephen R.C. Hicks, John Barrett & Christopher Vaughan
• Format: Widescreen, Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: N2 Productions
• DVD Release Date: September 20, 2006
• Run Time: 165 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000JMJQGS
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #48,879 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

NIETZSCHE AND THE NAZIS - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dude, it's an ethos., September 21, 2010

By 

The Dilettante "Dilly!" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nietzsche and the Nazis (DVD)

This documentary is an unusually fine example of what philosophy can do when it's done properly. Stephen Hicks takes the viewer on a information rich tour of the intellectual history of 20th Century Germany. His presentation is scholarly, fastidious, and fair.

Hicks refuses to completely acquit Nietzsche of responsibility for Nazism, but he doesn't stoop to cheap caricatures, either. Nietzsche, no pale criminal, would likely accept responsibility for everything Hicks levels at him. After all, to call Nietzsche "dangerous" is merely to appreciate him in full.

But Hicks is not merely doing positive intellectual history. This video essay is also a normative philosophical endeavor. Hicks takes the unfashionable view that ideas have consequences, that they drive history. Hicks appreciates that Nazism was a highly sophisticated and fully-articulated philosophy. As Walter put it The Big Lebowski, "Say what you want about National Socialism dude - it's an ethos." Nazism was not a spasm of madness, but a coherent response to perennial questions. It is not enough that we dismiss Nazism, or simply forget it; in the long run it's certain to emerge once again. Instead, Hick holds, we have to engage it - and engage Nietzsche - to determine and then to prove where each goes wrong and why.

Hicks sees philosophy as a sort of ideological bomb squad, dispatched to dismantle rogue ideologies before they become catastrophes. As thrilling as I find this notion, my view is a bit more cynical. In 1930's Germany, Hicks has identified one of the few points in the last 2000 years when philosophy had some causal traction on the highway of world history - and in that instance the result was not pretty.

Still, if you're interested in these things you'll be hard-pressed to find a more engaging three hours of television anywhere.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nietzche and the Nazis... The best lecture I ever watched, March 20, 2011

By 

John Salisbury - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Nietzsche and the Nazis (DVD)

I had never seen a Lecture I liked before, now I have. Although there is very little about Friedrich Nietzche, Dr Hicks does a great job of showing how Nazi philosophy was influenced by Nietzche. This video is crammed full of facts about how the National Socialist of Germany gaine popular support and how their methods shaped a generation of followers. It is put in terms that will allow you to see that the very same methods are in place with in western culture today without a mention of modern times in the video. In this video you will discover the strategy behind who supported the National Socialists, how this strategy perpetuated National Socialist support, and even how college students were behind book burnings. Although there was not an obvious agenda, it leads to the feeling when watching this lecture that Dr. Hicks was warning us that this history could easily repeat itself if we become complacent. This Video should be required viewing for highschool students. After viewing this video I found Dr Hicks website and posted a thank you for such a great video, and he responded. Some people are a benefit to humanity, and Dr Stephen R.C. Hicks is one of those people.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant explanation of Nazi ideology, March 13, 2011

By 

Paul (Boxboro, Morocco) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Nietzsche and the Nazis (DVD)

I thought I knew a lot about World War II (and Nietzsche) until I saw this documentary on Netflix.

It was simply fantastic--most writing/documentaries on WWII strike me as a form of "pornography" in that they go on over and over about what happened and the evil things that were done, but almost none organize, explain, and make sense of the mass of detail/facts as Prof Hicks does here. Also, many either glorify Nietzsche or portray him as "evil" instead of taking the even handed approach that this documentary takes.

I hope Prof. Hicks does many more similar productions--I have become a big fan, and plan to buy his DVD and the accompanying book for my local library.

I also commend him for his initiative in the unusual (and inspiring) approach he took to produce this.