Customer Reviews

Power and Terror - Noam Chomsky in Our Times

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I viewed this MOVIE at the time, at its western
hemispheric debut, in Palo Alto, CA and was
disappointed in its craftsmanship as a movie and
a documentary. It felt like almost a home movie
presentation of Chomsky lecturing.

I have to recommend "Manufacturing Consent" as a
superior effort, but as I say in the review title,
anything "Chomsky" gets a 100% in my book. I would
see him in lecture, or any movie that was made about
him.

Noam Chomsky reads and digests books at the rate most
of us go through oxygen. He wrote his first book when
he was a child, and developed a very egalitarian,
democratic uniquely American, and possibly as much
Anti-American (a term he says only has meaning in
extremely totalitarian societies, and has much fun
with as he toys with the idea of Anti-Italianism)
but Chomsky is a rugged idealist, individualist,
without the contempt for the average working folk
and the experience to know what he is talking about.

I am not a liberal or conservative, but I do like facts
and I like to listen to people who know them, understand
them and can enlighten me about their view of the facts.
Chomsky is one person who, whether or not you agree with
him, which I do on most things, but do not on some major
issues, will - if you are willing to listen with an open
mind give you the free benefit of his incredible moral and
encyclopaedic knowledge, and wisdom. Having won as Nobel
prize in Linguistics qualifies him in my mind as well as
one who can abstract ideas and meaning at least as well
and as validly and any human on our planet and qualifies
him as one all of us in the world owe a listen to at least
once.

This man is a national treasure. This is where Power and
Terror is meaningful to me, in just recording Chomsky's
words appearances this movie is important. Where it fails
in my view is that it is too choppy, does not go into
Chomsky's philosphy deeply on any one issue, and does not
challenge Chomsky. In this way it reminded me of a first
effort in cinemetography of hero worship.

If one really wants to see the brilliance and multi-
dimensionality of Chomsky, Manufacturing Consent is better
for that. Power and Terror whets one's appetite for more
Chomsky, more truth, and raw discussion, which to me is
very important and very missing in our national debate.
Personally, I feel any media attention Chomsky can get
is good, so I urge people to see or buy anything that

features his point of view. This man is mischaracterized,
villified, insulted and demeaned by the right-wing radio
host such as Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, etc, men who
name-call and attack the person. If you are even honest
and right wing, and you think you believe what the right
says about Chomsky, then you at least owe it to yourself
to hear what he says and consider it before you pass
judgement.

Since September 11 2001 there has been a seemingly endless amount of discussion about what might have led to the events of that day. Naturally, veteran linguist, political commentator and activist Noam Chomsky has become a prominent figure in this discussion, which seems to have raised his profile significantly. This is heartening to me - I cannot think of one person more knowledgeable on the history of US foreign policy than Chomsky and, while only a small selection of this is demonstrated in this DVD, the movie - excerpts from 2002 talks cut with interviews - is certainly a useful introduction to his thinking on global politics. The filmmakers use a well-known New York Times Book Review quote in the introduction - that Chomsky is "arguably the most important intellectual alive" but that "his political writings are maddeningly simple-minded". This last point is close to the truth: Chomsky believes that all countries, especially superpowers, should apply the same standards to themselves as they apply to others. This may seem obvious but to many it seems incomprehensible, a point noted by Chomsky. It forms the basis of a lot of Chomsky's work and is very much in keeping with the man's humanism. And that humanism (and humanity) is one thing those new to Chomsky could not fail to notice: the man is not intellectually pompous, basely emotive or beat-you-about-the-head moralistic. Rather, he comes across as an ordinary guy (ok, a very intelligent and immaculately-researched ordinary guy) speaking his mind and listening to others speak theirs. If you are very familiar with Chomsky's work you won't find much new information here - it's more like a collection of his thinking relevant to 9/11, with a few observations made since. If you're not familiar with Chomsky and are interested in expanding your horizons, this is a great way to start - be prepared for some eye-opening facts.

This film may not be for everyone, and maybe it's not for people just starting to read up on Chomsky or watch a documentary about him for the first time...

But it is classic Chomsky, and sometimes it's just pleasant to hear someone being consistent and making sense when they talk. More than anything else, that's what Chomsky means to me.

He's a walking encyclopedia -- knows his stuff. He knows the definition of words he uses. He has a consistent and passionate sense of humanity. He's not a politician, not a liar, and not a hypocrite. And because of this, we love him. Because of this, the world would be a better place with more Chomsky in it. So get this film, and enjoy the delightful sound of someone telling the truth.

Noam Chomsky as usual gives us a lot to think about, and does it by quoting or using easily verifiable sources, giving the viewer/reader a way to further his own quest for knowledge. However, I found this DVD to be someone repetitive and also limited in scope compared to some of his earlier works. In brief, recommended for chomsky fans, but newcomers to his work may like to get Manufacturing consent or some other of his work to start out with instead.

Through a series of interviews and lectures, this movie provides a coherent framework for interpreting historical and contemporary events related to use of power and fear of terror by states. While the U.S. is used as a "case study", the analysis provided here remains sufficiently general and applicable to other powerful nations. The DvD commences with the basic and unambigiously clear definition of terrorism as stated in the U.S. army manual and works its way up to vague interpretations employed by powerful governments and news-hungry media. Chomsky's contribution in this DvD is to examine what happens if this unambigious definition of terrorism offered by the U.S. army manual was applied to the action of the U.S. government; or if the rationale used by the U.S. to justify a particular action were actually applied by less powerful nations. The Chomsky framework for exploring this topic goes well beyond a single nation or government, or a particular time period in history. Much of the ideas in this DvD have already been discussed in other Chomsky books; but this DvD weaves them well together. Highly recommended.

Gabriel Katul,

The companion book for this DVD is excellent, one of the best places I could recommend one to look if they were interested in a brief but detailed account of what Chomsky's political analysis is all about. This DVD has much of that content, but there are numerous flaws.
The first flaw you will notice is the bizarre music which starts the film and recurs several times. Secondly, the editing just seems to have been done rather hastily... beyond that there is a sequence in which some random people are seemingly forced into responding to what they thought of a talk, which is kind of off putting... and there is a strange montage (interlude?) of footage of people walking around NYC, which makes little sense.

Content-wise, there are some great lines of thought offered from Chomsky himself, though the editing job sometimes doesn't allow those threads to be developed, and the jumping from one thing to another can leave an uninitiated viewer probably a bit perplexed.

The footage of Chomsky dealing with a barrage of questions and autograph requests after talks is interesting to see and the interview sections taken from his office (or some classroom) are very insightful.
A lot of what ends up in the video seems a bit focused around some quicker summarial nuggets of wisdom that Chomsky most likely elaborated on further, but the editing again seems to cut much out.

I like this of course, and there is a lot here. Still, this could have been done a lot better. It seems very rushed. And with DVDs being what they are, why not include full footage of some of the talks or interviews as extras, so that people could learn more?

It's good, but I would recommend Manufacturing Consent first, or the Distorted Morality dvd (which is one continuous talk, with bonus question and answer footage which is also insightful). The Rebel Without a Pause dvd is quite similar to this one in some respects, though I find the content of Chomsky's talks included in Power and Terror to be a bit more useful.

All are good though of course and in spite of the above criticisms, I thank the filmmakers for the opportunity to view the portions of these talks which they have collected.

If you want more info though, read the book (and his other books as well, then follow his sources and recommendations!)

The information is outstanding and should be required viewing by ALL military personnel, especially the young and ignorant who sincerely sacrifice their lives for a trumped up war that has NOTHING to do with 9/11, Osam Ben Ladin, or Saddam Hussein, but instead it has to do with one thing: oil, oil, and then more oil and the Anglo-American need to dominate that oil.

The production is poor! It reminded me of the first attempts at recording that a highschool audiovisual club would make. The editing is worse. (And what is with the Japanese folk songs in the background????) Please!!!! (No, I am not xenophobic; I love the study of foreign languages and have an interesting collection of Asian folk music, but such music has no place in this film. I would write the same if it were Arlo Guthrie playing in the background.)

Get by the hideous production and editing goofs and pay close attention to the MESSAGE. If you are an instructor, you MUST show this to your students. If your institution bans it, tell your students to watch it through the library system.

I think the title is the best way to explain this DVD. I think reviewers have some justification in saying that as a film it is disjointed. The film is almost like a reality TV show, with the camera crew following him around on various assignments. He speaks a little on a multitude of topics, but the DVD does not really focus on any one particular point.

Of more use, in fact, are the extras on the DVD which consist of 15 minute exerpts of Chomsky speaking on single issues, such as terrorism, globalisation etc.

If you have seen/read 99% of Chomsky's stuff then I would advise you to avoid this stuff. If like me you have only been introduced to Chomksy recently (and I am most grateful for this) then consider purchasing this DVD. If you have never heard of Chomksy, you should get this DVD. Chomsky is a man of great intelligence and integrity. He is able to cut through the falsehoods of much of todays standard discourse ('terror', Israel Palestine etc) with clarity and truth.

one doesn't need a nobel prize to be considered great, or correct, or even simply thought provoking, the last of which can certainly be said by those who are sharp enough to understand what Noam Chomsky says.

for the record... 'Chomsky has received numerous honours in several fields, including the 1988 Kyoto Prize (a Japanese equivalent to the Nobel) for work in the basic sciences' -Robert F. Barsky, 'Noam Chomsky: A Life of Dissent'

the veiwpoints of mr. chomsky's no doubt will anger some. probably for not being able to hear an "opposing" view to what he says, something like the wwf/e "smackdown" style news shows nowadays that help dumb america down more (if that's possible). this format kills the messenger, and never digests the things being said.

that said, his views on the history of this country in relation to our foreign policies are important now more than ever. being spoonfed from "traditional" media has gotten us nowhere fast as a public. what with the news owned by and filtered by people richer than we will ever know, or can imagine.

that is something concerning the news "business" that is very unknown to those that choose not to know.

we are the largest, most brutal terrorist organization in history, period. until this fact can be digested, and acknowledged by our "leaders/rulers", we will continue to live in a fog of propaganda.

i wouldn't even call news one sided, it is something like one-third sided, or something for it's lack of backstory, and coverage from any side other than us "good old boys".

sad world we live in, european colonization has brought us here, i am frightened to see where it will all end.