Rating: 
Summary: Fun, but horribly wrong
Review: Von Däniken claims that the myths, arts, social organizations, etc., of ancient cultures were introduced by astronauts from another world. He questions not just the capacity for memory, but the capacity for culture and civilization itself, in ancient peoples. Prehistoric humans did not develop their own arts and technologies, but rather were taught art and science by visitors from outer space.Where is the proof for von Däniken's claims? Some of it was fraudulent. For example, he produced photographs of pottery that he claimed had been found in an archaeological dig. The pottery depicts flying saucers and was said to have been dated from Biblical times. However, investigators from Nova (the fine public-television science program) found the potter who had made the allegedly ancient pots. They confronted von Däniken with evidence of his fraud. His reply was that his deception was justified because some people would only believe if they saw proof ("The Case of the Ancient Astronauts," first aired 3/8/78, done in conjunction with BBC's Horizon and Peter Spry-Leverton)! However, most of von Däniken's evidence is in the form of specious and fallacious arguments. His data consists mainly of archaeological sites and ancient myths. He begins with the ancient astronaut assumption and then forces all data to fit the idea. For example, in Nazca, Peru, he explains giant animal drawings in the desert as an ancient alien airport. The fact that the lines of the drawing would be useless as a runway for any real aircraft because of their narrowness is conveniently ignored by von Däniken. The likelihood that these drawings related to the natives' science or mythology is not considered. He also frequently reverts to false dilemma reasoning of the following type: "Either this data is to be explained by assuming these primitive idiots did this themselves or we must accept the more plausible notion that they got help from extremely advanced peoples who must have come from other planets where such technologies as anti-gravity devices had been invented." His devotion to this theory has not dwindled, despite contrary evidence, as is evidenced by still another book on the subject, Arrival of the Gods : Revealing the Alien Landing Sites at Nazca (1998). There have been many critics of von Däniken's notions, but Ronald Story stands out as the most thorough. Most critics of von Däniken's theory point out that prehistoric peoples were not the helpless, incompetent, forgetful savages he makes them out to be. (They must have at least been intelligent enough to understand the language and teachings of their celestial instructors--no small feat!) It is true that we still do not know how the ancients accomplished some of their more astounding physical and technological feats. We still wonder how the ancient Egyptians raised giant obelisks in the desert and how stone age men and women moved huge cut stones and placed them in position in dolmens and passage graves. We are amazed by the giant carved heads on Easter Island and wonder why they were done, who did them, and why they abandoned the place. We may someday have the answers to our questions, but they are most likely to come from scientific investigation not pseudoscientific speculation. For example, observing contemporary stone age peoples in Papua New Guinea, where huge stones are still found on top of tombs, has taught us how the ancients may have accomplished the same thing with little more than ropes of organic material, wooden levers and shovels, a little ingenuity and a good deal of human strength. We have no reason to believe our ancient ancestors' memories were so much worse than our own that they could not remember these alien visitations well enough to preserve an accurate account of them. There is little evidence to support the notion that ancient myths and religious stories are the distorted and imperfect recollection of ancient astronauts recorded by ancient priests. The evidence to the contrary--that prehistoric or 'primitive' peoples were (and are) quite intelligent and resourceful--is overwhelming. Of course, it is possible that visitors from outer space did land on earth a few thousand years ago and communicate with our ancestors. But it seems more likely that prehistoric peoples themselves were responsible for their own art, technology and culture. Why concoct such an explanation as von Däniken's? To do so may increase the mystery and romance of one's theory, but it also makes it less reasonable, especially when one's theory seems inconsistent with what we already know about the world. The ancient astronaut hypothesis is unnecessary. Occam's razor should be applied and the hypothesis rejected.
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Summary: A Review on the DVD release...
Review: Hi Ho from Melbourne (Aust)...Just a short note, I decided to buy this program on DVD mainly because of the Sound Track since I couldn't find it on CD. Well what can I say, the picture quality is acceptable but "boy oh boy" what happened to the sound!, the naration is ok, but I like to pay attention to the sound track in most films but the music in this DVD release was terrible to say the least, the Wow and Flutter is so horrible that my 15 year old video recording off TV is awhole lot better!! If any more copys are to be made, please replace your master copy. And one other thing, if you want to be enlightend by Science and facts then do yourselves a favour and get Carl Sagan's "COSMOS" you wont be sorry....Clint (VK3CSJ)
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Summary: Theoretical but tempting
Review: This is an author that you really need to read his earlier works to follow him. Not this this is a difficult read, it isn't- but because he expects the reader to make quantum leaps with him at times. In my opinion this is not one of his better works. None the less he is consistent in his style and topic. He is an absolute authority on this subject, even if he is one of the very few people who give academic weight to his theories. His reasearch, his facts and suppositions are all impressive. Read it to follow the Von Daniken trail but don't start with this one
Rating: 
Summary: History is an interpretation of the past... a reconstruction
Review: Like they said, the past is different from what we call 'history', since history is reconstructed by man through his research, logic, reasonings, and alnaysis. Therefore anyone who says von Daniken & other authors like his are full of crap are really sold by the norm who thinks that whatever is commonly accepted is the 'truth'. As we move into the new millennium, we human beings desperately need a paradign shift in their thinking. Evidences like those provided by Daniken should be taken seriously, studied and open a new possiblity to our interpretation of the past. Yes, HISTORY IS AN INTERPRETATION OF THE PAST, and we should be more open minded to the evidences presented. Archeologiests and anthropologist take the facts and reconstuct the past from it. They should NOT discard proofs of ancient technology which is more advanced than we think, and turn a blind eye on it. For example, historians have no place for things found from the past (eg. an ancient device later proven to be a simple battery, and the convex lens from ancient times, and a machine like cog that was found under the sea which were dated to ancient times) in their "history of man", all because they presume that ancient people live in the cave and simply can't produce these things. They can't fit it into their 'dumb cavemen' history so they discard these artifacts. And these artifacts are displayed in museums! What a contradiction! As we move on in time, new discoveries are reported each day, and over the years, we see the date of the 'oldest skeleton found' keep changing and back-dating, as they discover more & more. They used to say it is impossible to have life on Mars since there's no water...well now they just found there is actually water underground, AND an Australian research just reported that a meteorite from Mars found 35 years ago contain fossils of micro lifeforms, ie, alien lifeforms. We need to keep an open mind on these evidences that are presented to us, and open up the possibilities. I am not saying Daniken is 100% correct, because even he does not want to draw a conclusion (unlike the academis historians who think they are always right), but all he wants is to ask possible questions that face us as we are faced with the artifacts. History does not belong to the historians, so dont let them tell you that if they say ancient men are dumb cavemen, then it is the truth. Open up.
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Summary: A MASTERPIECE. OPENS YOUR MIND AND FORCES YOU TO THINK.
Review: An excellent read, thought-provoking and guaranteed to make you say "hmmmmmmm, I wonder?" Any [person] out there who still believes our one lousy planet is the only place intelligent life exists will not have the capability of fully appreciating this book. This book is a must read for those who don't discount the possibility that intelligent life exists outside the confines of our little planet. If you are one of those [people] who think that there definitley IS life out there, but there's no possible way that they have visited us (because we're so far away), save your money - you will make a great pet for the Aliens.
Rating:
Summary: not the first
Review: Erich has done a good job of introducing the idea of alians as the early gods - to the masses. However - please disregard the editorial - EVD was not the first! Lobsang Rampa was saying this back in the fifties - with more detail!!
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Summary: It help you view things from different angle
Review: This is one of the best books I've read, the auther speaks with your mind, he gives many evidences that support his theory. It's really make you think about history and the past civilization. i am sure you will enjoy it.
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Summary: Some illogical conclusions, but Daniken proves it all
Review: Chances are, you have heard of Erich von Daniken. Furthermore, you probably have heard about all the negative criticism about his ideas and theories, such as how he made illogical conclusions and exaggerated certain details. Some of these accusations are true, but Daniken provides several strong points proving that we have been visited by extraterrestrials in the ancient past. Daniken examines many aspects of archaeology in this book: such as strips beside huge drawings that appear to be landing strips for UFOs, examines many ancient texts, a map which appears to be an accurate map of Antartica created before any kind of technology would enable us to do such a thing, and many, many more things. Daniken did make many illogical conclusions, but this is more than made up by the strong statements proving that we could have been visited by extraterrestrials in our far, far past.
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Summary: There Can be LOTS of Other Explanations!
Review: This is a worthwhile book to read. The author did some pretty good collecting, and his theories are tantalizing, to say the least. It is a shame that he had to repeatedly ruin some good information with the single phrase "There can be no other explanation." He repeated this phrase throughout the book. Each time I saw it, I cringed. This phrase tries to cut off debate, stifles analysis, and generally hurts the credibility of the entire work. When people are so convinced of their own position that they try to suppress any information to the contrary (even rhetorically), they are degenerating to the level of the "Thought Police" - or worse. Sorry Herr von Daniken, you blew it.
Rating:
Summary: This book will make you think
Review: If nothing else, this book will make you think. It will make you wonder. Being filled with a sense of wonder is not such a bad thing. There are many gaps in the knowledge of our history that could be explained by extra-terrestrial visitation. There are many gaps in the knowledge of our present and the vision of our future that extra-terrestrial visitation could explain. This is a basic primer, a wonderful place to begin to question the assumptions that make up our life and our work, whatever it may be. After all, isn't it pretty arrogant to believe that in this vast universe our planet is the only one with so-called intelligent life?
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