Customer Reviews

Nostradamus 2012

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I watched this when it aired on History Channel in January. It looks great - you can see where they spent your cable subscription and ad dollars - and they interviewed some interesting people, many of who certainly deserve to be heard ... but then the producers use narration and fast cut editing to prevent them from expressing themselves accurately!

The experts are denied the chance to really go into any depth and the editor chose soundbites that are as sensational as possible. These people have much more to say and they say it fully and clearly in "2012: Science or Superstition" (recommended alternative or supplemental viewing).2012: Science Or Superstition

This is a complete rip-off! I bought this thing only to find that right at the beginning, the author makes his one-and-only connection between Nostradamus and the Maya calendar, and it is wrong! He says that in a newly found group of drawings by Nostradamus there is one that shows a picture of the sun along with a lion. This, he says, links the sun with the constellation Leo. Since Leo lies in the direction of the center of the galaxy, this links Nostradamus with the Maya calendar because the calendar ends in 2012 when the sun, at the equinox, is in line with the center of the galaxy.

This is wonderful, except that the center of the galaxy is in the direction of the constellation Sagittarius! Sagittarius is a constellation of the Zodiac, but it is nowhere near Leo! The author says the Maya calendar follows the cycle of the precession of the earth's spin axis, which is about 26,000 years. This is wonderful, except that the Maya calendar has a period of 5125 years! 2012 is merely the end of one cycle and the beginning of the next, it does not say that the world is going to end. Nothing in the Maya culture predicts disaster at the end of the calendar cycle. This is like saying that we should expect doom at the end of every year instead of celebrating New Year's Eve!

There is nothing, anywhere in the book or the DVD that links the Maya calendar with anything that Nostradamus ever wrote! If he wants to write a book about Nostradamus, let him write a book about Nostradamus. Oh, that's right, he already did that! If you want to waste your money, go ahead, but don't do it on this piece of rehashed junk!

I will try to avoid repetition of past reviewers but I wanted to say that this was an interesting documentary. The issue that I have with it (as with other documentaries) is that it strongly favors a lot of superstitious, end-of-the-world scenarios. The meaning of the Nostradamus quatrains is still heavily debated, since it is all in code and cannot necessarily be taken at face value. I enjoyed the documentary but it definitely gets one stirred up a bit.

There's another documentary, 2012: Science Or Superstition, that gives a bit more about world enlightenment, etc, rather than just strictly different ways Earth can get blown up. When it comes to the Mayan calendar theory, no one can even translate the Mayan language 100%, too much of the material has been destroyed. If you watch this documentary, don't let yourself get riled up by it.

Never underestimate man's capacity for self-destruction. And, guess what? Unlike any other time in human history, man finally has the means of annihilating almost all life on this planet - which makes 2012 a quantum leap ahead of any other "End of Times" prediction. Not that I expect the world to end on December 21, 2012; but it wouldn't surprise me if 12/21/12 turned out to be a pivotal date in human history. Especially in light of global warming; or a shift in earth's magnetic field; or the involvement of too many nations in one or another of man's wars of choice; or the growing religious fervor sweeping the globe. Of all these possible forces of potential destruction, I'd put my money on religious fervor. I think there's far more to that kind of madness than meets the eye. I think people get drawn into a religious vortex for reasons having more to do with social evolution than religious belief per se. One of the things that struck me when I recently watched the PBS series "Cosmos" was Carl Sagan's observation that had the science of the Hellenistic period prevailed over the superstition of the Church during the Middle Ages, we would almost certainly have put a man on the moon a millenium ago. I disagree. I think, instead, we would almost certainly have put an end to human existence a millenium ago. Which makes me think that the evolutionary process itself contains the seeds of each species' survival as well as its destruction. As abhorrent as religious fervor is, I believe it may well serve the evolutionary purpose of short-circuiting man's self-destructive impulse by censuring his scientific genius. It took a thousand years for man to re-discover the science sent into hiding by religion. Nature, I believe, through some evolutionary mechanism, is once again trying to bottle up man's genius before it's too late to save the species. The problem is, it may already be too late. When the Church last gained ascendancy, man had not yet created "the Bomb." This time around he has. So, even though I won't be hiding under my desk come December 21, 2012; neither will I be out thumbing my nose at it.

Wow. That this is a scary film is undeniable. To say that is is compelling and worthy of our attention is an understatement.

Maybe people have their doubts about the predictions of Nostradamus, and this is understandable. I mean, how many of us really want to entertain the belief that the world, at least as we know it, is coming to an end in 2012? We would rather put our heads in the sand and tell ourselves that it could never happen -- at least in our lifetime. If we are in doubt about this particular prediction, we should examine the quatrains that he wrote predicting other world events. If none of them have occurred, then perhaps we can cease worrying. As Sherlock Holmes would say, let's look at the facts. Of course, we might also argue that his quatrains are so obscure at to be open to numerous interpretations, as are the many signs around the world which are subject to being decoded according to separate perspectives. Did he, as some have claimed, predict 9-11? Did he predict Hurricane Katrina and global warming?

As this film points out, however, we cannot put all of this into the lap of the famous seer who lived at a time when making such predictions could put one in danger of being burned at the stake as a heretic. One did not then go against the beliefs and teachings of the Church. The Lollards, for example, often were burned at the stake like William Tyndale for merely wanting a version of the Holy Word in English instead of Latin. The Church in Rome opposed this because they feared a loss of control over the semi-educated masses in England. This film, to its credit, draws our attention not only to Nostradamus and to The Revelations of St. John in the Bible but to other prophecies that have been made since early times by the underrated star-gazing Mayans, the Egyptians, and the Hopis as well.

Many people will have their own opinions about this program, so it is unlikely that anything I write will change their personal views. Some find it funny; some believe it is inaccurate. Many may even think it is foolish to look around to see what we are doing to our own planet. They will dismiss this, perhaps, as easily as they dismiss such films as THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW, based on Whitley Streiber's and Art Bell's book THE COMING SUPERSTORM, as being only fiction.

As my brother stated, this planet is a living entity and will, he believes, protect itself, even if it means disgorging itself of the beings that are inhabiting it and abusing it. My own suggestion would be to examine other books and DVDs on this topic now available through Amazon and to arrive at your own conclusions. If you can find a place to hide from our transgressions, then do so. Book a ticket to a flight away from here, or hope that some friendly aliens will rescue some of us, as is shown in the fictional film KNOWING. Some experts, if we wish to call them such, believe that this world will indeed undergo some dramatic changes, but that not all of us will necessarily perish. What we supposedly will see will be a new world, maybe one -- if the optimists are correct -- that will be occupied by people who don't feel the need to destroy each other and the very planet that has supported us for eons.

If I have any complaints about this program, it would be that it lacks subtitles. Because I teach students whose first language is not English, it is a small detriment. That said, I cannot help but wonder how many teachers would actually show this program to their students. I wonder if do so would put them in jeopardy with school boards and administrators, even at colleges. Might they be treated to a modern version of being burned at the stake -- i.e., terminated -- their teaching contracts, I mean?

There is going to be a Nuclear War on the United States! There is going to be a Nuclear Attack on NEW YORK! World War 3! Certain Mountain areas will be safest.

If you want to laugh until you cry over the abuse of logic, science and common sense. This is your program. If you want to be amazed at how some people are insane enough to actually believe that an eclipse can cause the end of the world or at least turn the earth upside down. This is your program. If you want to watch poser intellectuals explain how a set of 500 year old cartoons mean that there won't be a December 22, 2012. This is the program to buy. If you want to know 50 ways to leave your planet wrecked beyond recognition as predicted by a bunch of dead civilizations. This is the program to buy.

I give it 5 stars for far-fetched comedy, 5 stars for abuse of logic and 5 stars for revealing a bunch of experts that should be locked up in institutions with wrap-around sleeves so they won't be able to make a sequel and scare all the sheep people who will believe this apocalyptical piece of crap.

Even if you don't believe that Nostradamus was a prophet, this DVD will make you think seriously about the End Times. Biblical predictions are swiftly being fulfilled in climate change, frequent wars, lack of food and water, serious increase in diseases etc etc and this DVD puts it very clearly that time, as we know it, is running out. It also sheds amazing light on what other cultures believed as well and they all tie in together to bring one to the conclusion that the Rapture and or the beginning of the Tribulation are very likely to happen in December 2012.

I felt that this program regarding Nostradamus & 2012 is very intresting, and Nostradamus is warning us all that something will happen around 2012 that will forever change our lives. Look around, and you will see that things are changing big time. Put the news on everyday, and all they talk about is how bad things are getting economically, businesses are shutting down left & right, global warming getting worse, and crops failing to produce enough food to feed us all. Look on the internet on the subject of 2012, Mayans, & the Hopi's. They all prophecy that there will be a big change around 2012 that will forever affect and change humanity. We should all prepare for this great shift that's coming. I recommend this DVD to everyone that wants to survive this change.