Chariots of the Gods

Rating:
Summary: very sad
Review: The blather you'll find about "a paradigm shift" in many of the reviews below shows just how dangerous Thomas Kuhn's "The Structure of Scientific Revolution" really is. Of course Kuhn's thesis is puerile and nonsensical (just as his book is very badly written). It has nevertheless enjoyed a great popularity among pseudo-intellectuals. We need to recognize and recognize clearly that pseudo-intellectualism is a form, a particularly virulent form, of ANTI-intellectualism.

Rating:
Summary: The most inspirational garbage ever filmed
Review: This film presents some pretty ridiculous interpretations and is extremely loose with its source evidence. With that being said, I must confess that when I first saw this film on TV around age five or so, it began a lifelong interest in ancient history for me that finally resulted in a PhD in the subject. At that tender age, my curious little noggin ate up the spectacular views of pyramids, statues, and monuments while Peter Thomas' eerie score wormed its way forever into my auditory memory bank. (So far I have been unable to find the soundtrack on CD although I have acquired a copy on vinyl. I agree with one of the other reviewers about the DVD- it looks and sounds a lot worse than most videotapes.) So, what can I say? Take with several metric tons of salt, but also take it in the spirit of fun and mysticism.

Rating:
Summary: Bad research; Erroneous conclusions
Review: I won't mince words here: this book represents a flight of fancy on the part of the author. If you have some background in the social sciences (in particular, archaeology), then you might read this book for laughs. But if you are seriously interested in ancient civilizations, where they came from, and what happened to them, I HIGHLY recommend you begin with a serious book, such as one written by Brian Fagan. Von Daniken's book is pseudo-science - it is tantalizing, inspiring, even bewitching, but so is a fantasy novel. The only difference is that good fantasy writers don't claim that their work is nonfiction. Von Daniken has made a lot of money cooking up this nonsense - don't send him any more. Borrow it from your public library. And most important of all: READ CRITICALLY!

Rating:
Summary: Changes your view
Review: I read this book as a teenager and it changed my view of the world. The more you see of the world the more you realise how right he is right. However, if you are religious or comfortable with the standard 'god' belief then do not read this book. Religion provides a foundation for many people and this book would upset that.

Rating:
Summary: Opened my mind to the possibilities
Review: Chariots of the Gods mentioned so many things that I'd never heard before, it was astounding! The book also got me thinking more about the great pyramids in egypt. How were they built more than 4,000 years ago when we can't even produce them today? Questions like that opened my mind to wonders I'd never imagined. That said, I still have doubts about his theory. What would advanced aliens need these things for? I can't imagine. Perhaps an ancient civilization existed before recorded history instead.

Rating:
Summary: Interestingly Hilarious
Review: As a movie that you might find yourself watching to gain some insight into the ways of the ancients and how they "may have" been influenced by Aliens, or some other sort of extra-terrestrial life-form, this one is probably a good bet to get a better laugh than gain knowledge. The group I watched it with thought it was hilarious, if you've seen it you can imagine the one-liners we came up with such as: "Look... you see that rock over there? Erik Von Daaniken thinks it is shaped like a lazer gun because they used to see the aliens wielding them..." Absolutely hilarious. In it's entirety this movie was a vast sea of rhetorical questions being sailed by the master himself. (daaniken). A good laugh, not much substantial info however.

Rating:
Summary: Great research, but erroneous conclusions
Review: Like Sitchin, Von Daniken does a great service to the academic and archeolgical fields by simply assembling wonderful collections of "ancient mysteries," which are quite worthy of investigation. But both also leap to the conclusion that the only possible explanation "must be" extra-terrstrial visitors. However, there is now a great body of work about the "Sons of God" and the Nephilim of Genesis 6 which affirm the biblical statements that angels (not ET's) co-habitated with "Earth girls" to produce superhuman hybrids - who were "the heroes of old, men of reknown" (Gen 6:4). Chariots of the Gods cannot be ignored by thinking people as the collection of information is astounding, but the extra-terrestrial hypothesis is actually much harder to show evidence for than the angelic interpretation (which is affirmed and retold by almost every major religion and ancient culture). Read COTG to get a grip on where people wind up when they eliminate a Biblical worldview from history, but compare Von Daniken's conclusions with what is said in books like The Book of Enoch, Nephilim (Marzulli), Alien Encounters (Missler), The Facade (Heiser) and Earth's Earliest Ages (Pember).

Rating:
Summary: Exciting & thought-provoking book!
Review: This book will really make you think! Science-fiction or science-fact, you decide!

Rating:
Summary: This is new show, not a re-release
Review: This is a new follow up video done for TV and is worth having if you have the original Chariots.

Rating:
Summary: Easy to ignore, but easier to believe...
Review: The Next time you see pyramids with steps, think of them as heading down not up and you'll see how much more sense they make...

While this is an old film, it has a great impact on an open mind.