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Power and Terror - Noam Chomsky in Our Times

Power and Terror - Noam Chomsky in Our Times

List Price: $24.95
Your Price: $22.46
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Pathetic Attempt at Filmaking
Review: Don't waste your money on this DVD. It is incredibly quixotic in its aims and painfully tedious to follow. Chomsky seems incredibly out of touch, especially considering many of his positions. But even if you agree with him, this DVD isn't likely to enthral you either. He tries to directly connect terrorism and the larger issue of power without actually dealing with each issue. The viewer is left to ask "What is terror to Chomsky?" and "Whose power, where?" and "What the heck is this guy getting at?" He could clear things up and liven the DVD up and it still would seem bluntly ineffective. I've never given a one-star review before, but I'd give this zero stars if it was an option.

Simply put, this DVD leaves you wondering why you just spent a good chunk of a day watching Chomsky ramble on about conspiracy theories.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Pathetic Attempt at Filmaking
Review: Don't waste your money on this DVD. It is incredibly quixotic in its aims and painfully tedious to follow. Chomsky seems incredibly out of touch, especially considering many of his positions. But even if you agree with him, this DVD isn't likely to enthral you either. He tries to directly connect terrorism and the larger issue of power without actually dealing with each issue. The viewer is left to ask "What is terror to Chomsky?" and "Whose power, where?" and "What the heck is this guy getting at?" He could clear things up and liven the DVD up and it still would seem bluntly ineffective. I've never given a one-star review before, but I'd give this zero stars if it was an option.

Simply put, this DVD leaves you wondering why you just spent a good chunk of a day watching Chomsky ramble on about conspiracy theories.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: anything chomsky rates 5 stars ....
Review: 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.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: anything chomsky rates 5 stars ....
Review: 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.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good, but not his best
Review: 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.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: not a Nobelist
Review: Noam Chomsky does not have a Nobel Prize in anything, let along the fictitious Nobel Prize in linguistics. I seriously doubt the reviewing credibility of anyone stupid enough to claim Chomksy is a Nobelist. I know this isn't helpful as review, but false information is the scourge of the internet.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Where is he going with all this?
Review: Noam has been around for quite some time and has a wide audience of follwers. Mr. Chomsky is highly critical of US foreign policy. He attacks both, the right and the left. The world is very complicate due to human nature not Noam Chomsky's political/linguistic analysis.

He has many adherents, especially from well known universities, including Berekley. But, Mr. Chomsky is marking his arguments in the form of speeches, books, dvds. Yes, the truth must come out. HE IS MAKING MONEY.......Lots of it!

People need to be more, not less, informed. And, they don't necessarily and should not be totally absorbed by Chomsky's politics. I find Chomsky's following, from two conflicting levels, humorous in nature and tunnel vision in nature. Humorous because people don't think for themselves. Tunnel vision because people don't think for themselves.

We humans have been in conflict from day one. We don't need Chomsky to remind us of this. Being an independent thinker is so important and critically rewarding; yet, many "scholars" make the same mistake: they look to others for validation. They almost cannot think for themselves.

America is a great nation. We should honor all that is good, question what is not, and support and strengthen this great nation.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: one doesn't need a nobel
Review: 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'

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Good Introduction
Review: 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.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Oh my ...
Review: Some people are just so ignorant, narrow minded (and by the looks of things - illiterate) it is starting to hurt. All you need to do ist Google "Chomsky" and "Kyoto Prize" and you will find it. Nobody said anything about a Nobel Prize. It's frustratingly painfull to know I live in a world with people who are blind to the "real" truth.
Broaden your horizon people and watch this movie. And not just this movie, but movies (and books) from the left AND the right. Then put your own pieces together. It's that simple !
I can also recommend "Control Room", "Orwell Rolls In His Grave", "The Corporation", "Uncovered", "Outfoxed", "Bush's Brain" ... the list goes on and on !
Take care and stay open minded :))


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