Selfmageob This was not a good film.

Wordiezett So much average

Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Nessieldwi Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

bruce-129 There are people who will love this documentary because it purports to simplify the arc of recent history to a happy conclusion that does not account for all the facts, and that leaves out facts so that it may become the opposite of what it intends to show that governments are ... IE. this movie wants to show us just how strong the power of rationalizations and the dream state is and how negative.It starts its history after WWII where it picks up with an Egyption character, Ktub, that visited the US and thought it decadent and wanted to make sure this decadence was not transferred to Egypt. This is a common theme in all governments or religion that seek to control people.This movie fails to mention that pre-WWII, during and after there was a group of Islamo-Nazis that worked right alongside Hitler having as its goal the murder of Jews to prevent them from moving to the Holy Land and challenging Islam. Islam for centuries has repressed its own people, but also repressed and kept down Christians and Jews in the Middle East. This is all unaccounted for, the reality of Islamic totalitarianism and brainwashing is ignored.Also not accounted for were the Madrid and London bombings. The separatist and insurgent efforts of Muslims all over the world. Their inability to blend with the cultures they decide to live in, and their inability to accept other cultures to live this Islamic dominated countries. It is against the law to practice a religion other than Islam in Saudi Arabia, and with its oil money Saudi Arabias are extending control of mosques worldwide by funding radical Wahabism.This movie sets up the choice ... either a meaningless war, or happiness. It even has the audacity to play "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" as its closing theme. Only the most ignorant in-denial person could accept this sugar-coated fantasy.While the documentary does not have points about how the west has over-reacted, it forces its own rosy explanation on that and uses it to propagandize instead of exploring and criticizing the over-reaction by government. I think it does this because any real rational discussion of the problem would interfere and ruin its simplistic and erroneous message of fairy tale happily ever after.

khuban This remarkable documentary, well written, researched, and articulate, traces the odd, parallel paths of the rise and failures of the Islamist movement and the movement of the American neoconservatives. What makes this documentary so outstanding is not just that it clearly exposes many of the myths of the so-called "War on Terror," but the fact that it places the power of these myths in a larger and very important context. This film's position is clearly that it is the failure of belief and of ideology in Western societies that has allowed neoconservative extremists to fill the gap with nightmares in order to assert power and influence. Fear works well when people do not believe in anything, since that lack of faith makes them quite vulnerable. For the Islamists, fear attempts to fill the gap in societies that have lost their Islamic faith and roots. The dirty little secret underlying all this is that both groups, the Islamists and the Neoconservatives, are, at the core, nihilists, in spite of their ideological rants and pretensions. One can only hope that a discerning public will eventually be exposed to the hollow, vain, and arrogant "men behind the curtain" in both societies, so that all can realize that these wizards of terror are just empty charlatans. The sooner that happens, the sooner we can all click our ruby slippers together and return to Kansas, and, hopefully, to some measure of sanity, and, perhaps to a genuine faith.

fedkad This BBC documentary together with "Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)" must be in the list of everyone trying to understand the 21st century, i.e., the days we are living. Even if you are in the "neo-conservative" camp, you should watch this documentary to realize what kind of harm their ideas have done: By making the "enemy" look larger and more important than what it is, they both make us fear of a not so organized enemy and also make the enemy more self-confident for launching suicide attacks on us.Starting from the 1950's, this documentary tries to explain the changes the western (Christian) and Islamic societies have undergone in the last 50 years. The startling thing is that so few people have influenced and manipulated us. And this is becoming easier and easier with the help of mass media today.Just a note: Recently, I watched "Joyeux Noël (2005)". Although it has nothing in common with this documentary, you can see in the end of the movie that the "politics of fear" was always an instrument for controlling and manipulating the masses and unfortunately religion is one of the helping tools.This documentary is highly recommended.

totalkhanage A wonderful piece of television. Thoughtful, focused and not afraid to lay bare a few truths with a well executed calm authority. It is such a shame that the pathetic US media is too scared to show such an informative and surprisingly informal piece of work. The government must have no way of fighting back against such candid and well researched material. I can not recommend this series enough for all Americans and fear not, even through it consists of considerably dark material there is a surprisingly optimistic ending and prediction of the future. Hopefully mankind still has enough decency and common value to stop dictators and unjust leaders from destroying the common good.