Customer Reviews

Transformation: The Life and Legacy of Werner Erhard

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

A brilliant documentary on an amazing guy whose work has made a huge difference in the lives of many many people. It was fascinating to hear about what went into what is now the Landmark Forum and other programmes put on by Landmark. The revelations about how members of the Scientology Church actively set out to damage the reputation of Mr Erhard are well worth watching, if only so you can be clear and complete about the guy who founded it all. Personal attacks from what appear to be more members of the Scientology Church continue, even in the reviews of this DVD, I see.

I gave 5 stars to acknowledge what Werner's humanity and commitment contributed to the world. When I think of him, I am moved to tears--not because of a fawning cult figure adoration. Like myself, I am aware of his many human flaws and failures. I am moved to tears because when I remember Werner Erhard, I remember who I am.

I remember how I hated my mother and father and had little contact with them for 12 years. After doing the est Training & The 6-Day Course, I began getting to know them for the first time. As a result, my father ended up being the "best man" at my wedding 25 years ago. How do you thank a person for something like that?

I enjoyed viewing this. I remembered participating in some of these seminars back in the late 80's and much of the thinking Erhard compiled into his seminar products had a powerful impact on the participants. This documentary sets straight in a good way some of the concepts that typically have been misunderstood and portrayed in a distorted way by media. Thanks for the extras footage from the Training. Clearly more footage from those early seminars showing Erhard and others in their prime days deserve to become available to the world. I thoroughly enjoyed the part where Erhard "makes the blow disappear". It's clear to realize how the issues dealt with 30 years ago in those trainings continue to be as valid for humans today although today more people are aware of how to handle them, and I think that's a legacy. The DVD is mostly an affair for those who have any experience of the work, but I guess also those totally new to the whole thing could find something to think about from watching it.

I would have preferred a video with more sensationalism. Robyn Symon reveals how The Church of Scientology systematically discredited Werner Earhard and how mass media only covered the scandal and didn't care when the accusation were proven false. I get off on those kind of stories which can be found in this hard hitting documentary.

Instead, this 77 minute documentary gives you the building block technology of transformation, the ideas and methods that have retooled modern western business and quantum learning.

The bonus material includes shockingly candid scenes straight from est. If you ever wondered what the big hoopla about Landmark Education's The Forum, you can now see the technology in action. You can watch how Werner separates a participant from their story, an identity that had been holding them prisoner. This video teaches you how to use your mind for a change that will give you completion of your past so that you are present and responsible for yourself in a new way.

Of course the video is not without its detractors. Critics of The Forum discuss how Werner is discussed as victimizing the victimized and compounding their pain. Others hold that this process is the key to letting go of the authentic benefits of being a victim.

This video is not for the intellectually squeamish.

Since I first participated in est in 1978, the seven times I got to attend events led by Mr. Erhard, the opportunity I had to assist his former organization, the four times I got to meet him personally, the time I had to work with members of his family, and the two times I got to break bread with his mother, Dorothy; I have been waiting for the day that the world could get to know this man, his work, and his family the way I had the privilege to get to know them all. This DVD is priceless. If you are an est graduate, a Forum Graduate, someone who is thinking about doing the Landmark Forum, or even if you are one of the detractors of his "work;" this video is a must see. Even one of his biggest critics is featured in this video. It is historic, it is a peek behind the curtain, and it is clear picture of what happened, and how it continues to this very day. Normally, the world first puts it's heroes on a pedestal, and then history tries to derail them by discussing their weaknesses and humanity. Werner Erhard is the opposite. His contemporaries tried to derail his work by discussing his weaknesses and humanity. History will reveal this human being for the true hero he was and is. Heroes are "ordinary people with extraordinary commitments." This DVD makes me proud to be an est graduate, and to have played a part in the work for the transformation of what it is to be a human being. (Note: I was able to see an early screening of the DVD in April 2008 before it's general release.)

This was a good documentary. We were able to watch it on demand in the Pacific Northwest, particularly if you have participated in transformational programs, you will likely enjoy this. If you have not, you may not be able to follow it as well. Werner is definitely an extraordinary human being, he lived his life on the forefront, in public and is committed to having his life matter. (It is always easy for us to sit on the side lines and comment about the game)

This is a fun doc for us aging est-heads (I'm afraid if I use the proper term my review will get bleeped by Amazon :-D) who've been wondering what the heck Werner has been up to all these years. But wouldn't it be nice to see some biographical material on Werner Erhard by someone who is sympathetic to Werner without being a fawning true believer who insists on making him look like a saint?

I lived in San Francisco, loved est as well as The Forum, and had friends who were in Werner's inner circle back in the day. He may or may not have abused his daughters -- I tend to believe he did not, at least not the way it was portrayed on "60 Minutes" -- but let's be real, the man has some skeletons in his closet (or his warehouse of designer clothes, as the case may be).

Along with Richard Nixon, Werner Erhard is one of the most interesting characters of the last half of the 20th century. He is also a serious and influential thinker who risks fading into obscurity as a caricature, a silly icon of the "me generation." For my money, a documentary about him would be far more captivating if it were to portray him as he really is: a three-dimensional human being, warts and all.

By not doing that, restricts its appeal to a relatively tiny audience of aging hippies nostalgic for the glory days of est. And that's a shame.

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." Einstein.
I liked this film, I am grateful it posed some of the tough questions about Werner and his work, and I would have liked more exploration and history. I have deeply valued the impact of the learning I gained from participating in est and Landmark over the years, and am grateful to the film for reconnecting Werner to the American public. He wasn't and isn't a cult leader. He is a guru in the plain and simple sense of extraordinary thinker and teacher, and he is inspirational in the sense of getting me and others off our behinds and out of our minds (joke), and active and effective in our commitments to a better working world, starting with ourselves in our families. The film is worth watching just to learn.
Another good quote: "Minds are like parachutes; they only function when open."

For those who remember or were a part of the '70s personal growth program "est," this intriguing documentary boasts two points of interest: the first interview with founder Werner Erhard since 1991 and rare, previously unreleased footage of est seminars. Transformation starts in the middle of the story, and doesn't completely explain what est actually involved and how it grew in popularity, but the film does provide adequate background information and a concise recap of Erhard's rise and fall from grace.

This film is a must see for anyone who wants to know about what the est training seminar was really like (vs. the rumors and lore that are out there), what results est delivered to participants and the man behind creating it. I found the excerpts of the actual est trainings (which I never took at the time) to be the most interesting part of the film. I would have liked to have seen a bit more focus on Werner's life story aside from his transformational work. I ask myself, why him? What in his past made him the one to create this world of transformation vs. someone else who might have? The film could have also been a little faster paced for my taste. Finally, I think the film would have been more well rounded if it had focused less in the last act on how Werner doesn't get the credit he deserves for the difference he made in the world. While this is almost certainly true, it is also not the point (I would suggest that the net result of the difference he made in the world is) and Werner strikes me as the kind of person who probably doesn't care too much about the credit. But, overall, it is totally worth buying this DVD.