Product Details

• Actors: Various
• Directors: Adam Curtis
• Writers: Adam Curtis
• Producers: Adam Curtis
• Format: Dolby, Full Screen, NTSC
• Region: All Regions
• Number of discs: 1
• Studio: Triad Productions LLC
• DVD Release Date: March 31, 2008
• Run Time: 180 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001707D98
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #151,536 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Help yourself understand governments' War on Terror, July 8, 2006

By 

Andy (California, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Power of Nightmares [UMD for PSP] (UMD for PSP)

This is an important documentary film that covers the time period after WWII to the present, from the United States and Britain to Egypt, Afghanistan and Iraq. The detail and evidence is astonishing, shown far more vividly than can be found in most newspapers or even analytical news magazines. In places it's even surprisingly funny! It describes the rise of aggressive neoconservatism (most particularly in the US), in parallel with increasingly militant Islam in the Middle East. It shows how those political and religious ideologies are actually dependent upon each other to generate fear in the general population, of people trying to live their daily lives under conditions where those extremists have gained control. Also revealed is the likelihood that al-Qaeda does not exist, at least not as the international terrorist organization normally described in English-language news reporting. Although not for those with a short attention span, this film is recommended for everyone of voting age; four stars out of five because as long as this film is, it neglects to mention some actions in US foreign policy, despite the great significance of those events in historical context.

36 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Brief Synopsis, May 23, 2008

By 

Howard M. Kindel - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Power of Nightmares (DVD)

Here's a brief synopsis of this film: a nutcase is a nutcase is a nutcase. And both the neocons and jihadists fit the bill perfectly. There's a definition of insanity currently making the rounds: that it's doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. But that can also be a symptom of just plain stupidity. A much better definition is doing something totally outrageous and expecting a result completely at odds with common sense and historical precedent. Perfect case in point: one of the Islamic jihadists who helped plan the assassination of Egyptian president Anwar Sadat actually believed that seeing the president assassinated would make the people see how corrupt the political system was and they would rise up in rebellion; whereas a sane man would have known that it's precisely in times of national tragedy that people cling all the more tightly to the status quo. Needless to say, this nutcase came in time to see not just the politicians as corrupt but the people themselves. So, too, the neocons set out to destroy Bill Clinton, who they hated; they actually imagined that once the impeachment proceedings began the people would see how corrupt he was and rise up in support of his imeachment. And, of course, they were horrified when the exact opposite happened. Which leads to the most telling piece of both the jihadist and neocon ideology: both believe that personal liberty - individual freedom - is the major symptom of a society's moral decay. Just think about that a moment: these idealogues see an ordinary citizen's freedom to make choices about his or her life as the number one symptom of moral depravity, because it somehow destroys shared social values. At this point, you can simply rest your case; these are people who are about as removed from reality - especially the reality of humanity's continual struggle to gain and keep some measure of freedom - as any madman who ever lived. Both the jihadists and neocons constructed a fantasy world based on the same hyper-exagerated notion of good versus evil; and to make it work they both had to invent an enemy who represented absolute evil. Among the legion of parallels and ironies to be found in this film, perhaps the most ironic is that Osama bin Laden, who appears to be the most sane, most rational of the jihadists. became the very one the neocons demonized.

The only slight reservation I have about this film is its suggestion that ideas play a determining role in the sociopolitical world. Whereas, actually, for every apparent triumph, at least of the neocon ideology, you can plainly see that there are big monied interests who stood to gain from those ideas. And now that those ideas have become counter-productive, they're quickly falling out of favor. Professor Leo Strauss may have been the father of the neocon ideology, but rest assured it was the Rockefellers, Mellons, Astors, Vanderbilts, DuPonts and their business interests that allowed the neocon ideology to attain prominence. And it's those same interests that will relegate the neocons to the historical dustbin now that there's nothing left to be gained from them.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Poor video quality detracts from even most expensive version, July 8, 2009

By 

William B. Feidt (Kensington, MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Power of Nightmares (DVD)

My 5 star rating is for the content only. As others have already adequately reported, this Adam Curtis documentary is excellent and should be seen by all. However, the $22.99 version which I just purchased is the same low quality MPEG4 conversion as the lower-priced products. The video is very grainy and is not even close to the quality of the original BBC-TV production. My advice: Watch this on Google video or YouTube; if you must have the DVD, opt for the cheaper versions. Don't waste your money on the $22.99 edition.

It's criminal that there is no high quality version of this important documentary available at any price. Shame on the BBC for failing to create such a product. Amazon UK offers no version of The Power of Nightmares whatsoever. One really has to wonder if someone doesn't feel threatened by what Curtis has to say.