Watch The Corporation For Free

To me, this movie is perfection.

Redundant and unnecessary.

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Shaken and stirred by this amazing film. It goes deep into the problem of 'the corporation'. It is thorough and dispassionate, has interviews from both sides of the debate - philosophers, activists, protesters on one hand with CEO's and Government people on the other and the best of the lot - the devious middlemen i.e industry insiders, whistle-blowers, corporate investigators etc.Corporate evil is here to stay and is destined to suck the world dry. In my personal view there is no two ways about it, though the film ends with a touch of hope (well just because it has to I guess, because no matter how cruel the narrative is, what do we have except hope?), that is not the kind of hope I see sense/meaning in. Well what to seek meaning in then? I frankly do not know and I need time to ponder upon this maybe but perhaps the least we can do is to be aware at least, to be dangerously aware of the world around us, of the Moloch that we are up against and somehow in our own ways try to battle it through the way we live our lives and pass on those values to future generations.

Joel Bakan, who served as a clerk for Chief Justice Brian Dickson and advocated for human rights against governments, now takes aim at corporations in this documentary. On the way he gets a little help from friends like Naomi Klein and Michael Moore. The stuff exposed in the final product can be shocking and hits home even if the presentation is fairly one-sided. From stuff little-known like businessmen trying to overthrow Franklin Roosevelt and aiding Nazi death camps, to a reminder of Kathy Lee Gifford's sweatshops. It questions the ethics of applying patents on life and rain water. This is a story that needs to be heard, even if it needs to be balanced.I first saw most of the movie as part of a sociology course. We considered the concept of a corporation as a person, and how if it were a person it can fit the definition of a psychopath. While it may sound extreme to apply that label to men running businesses, sadly there is some truth to it. Even if this movie doesn't convince me corporations should be banned, it demonstrates why they should not have absolute power and personhood. The stuff about Bolivia having a revolt shows people being pushed can push back, and raises questions of how we may see more of that which is alarming from a security perspective. All of this is helped by use of metaphors and pop culture and the calm, female voice of the narrator. Everyone shaping a national economy should see this movie.

I base this review on the shareware version, currently available for free on YouTube, under the user machbar. It is between 2 and two and a half hours long. This goes into all the damage corporations do, the fact that they are granted rights as if they were individuals(!) and the general callous nature of them. Sounds one-sided? Well, Michael Moore isn't in this for nothing. It is somewhat like propaganda, but at the same time, I can't come up with any real arguments for the other side. I will say that it would be good to have someone from there come in so we could see just how weak their position is, and how based on personal greed it is. It's not difficult to shred their claims with actual facts, and I suppose the choice to not do so was a fear that there might be people who weren't compelled into action by this. With that said, this is a well-done documentary. It is interesting throughout in spite of the running time, and the personal anecdotes, investigative journalism and editing(if it is a tad manipulative at times) all make a convincing case. There is quite a bit of disturbing content in this, and it is effective not only on account of it being real. I recommend this to everyone, though I fear that it is preaching to the converted more than changing any minds. 8/10

As you can read from the other posts, most viewers will fall into one of two camps. Either they are business sensitive and thus are repulsed by the slant of the documentary/propaganda, or they are frustrated by the sense of lack of control over the undesired consequences of some business activity and thus cheer the big business-bashing. But what can centrists get out of the film, and can a productive message be derived from this stylish, intensive work of art with its overly ambitious agenda and misguided message? First, be forewarned that the filmmakers at numerous instances were either naively uninformed or willfully attempting to deceive their audience. Unless you are knowledgeable of terms such as deregulation, public-private partnerships, corporate and other business entities, privatization and above all, externalities, this film will try to force-feed you a limited, self-serving definition.Second, the film is spread too thin. It tries to cover monopolies, sustainability, child labor laws, consumer protection, racism and military collateral damage, to name just a few subjects, in only the first twenty minutes! Each a fascinating subject worthy of discussion, but more focus would have produced a higher quality documentary and not left it feeling more like a slick rally cry for the left.Third, the film is misnamed. It is primarily about activities of big business (which essentially means publicly-traded corporations, but not necessarily). The film does not explain what a corporation is and makes only a superficial effort to describe how it developed historically.High points. Raising issues, such as 1) are fines large enough to deter undesirable consequences, thus insuring long-term balance in the drive to raise quality of life?, 2) are virgin materials priced correctly to insure sustainability?, and 3) how do companies market products subliminally (the "nagging" angle)?; Noam Chomsky, who although described by some as the ultimate leftist, is always lucid, intelligent, and not necessarily political; and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, who must have a soft spot for the producers.Low points. The "boxes" ('layoffs', 'union busting', "sweatshops'); the psychopath analogy; the overseas sweatshops; the Bolivian water episode; US businesses in Nazi Germany; the glorification of ignorance (the WTO protests); and Michael Moore. Although I personally find Mr. Moore's films entertaining and thought-provoking on public policy issues, he is simply out of his league when it comes to economics. He appears awkward and is utterly dead wrong in a number of his statements.This film could have been about raising the standard of living by generating enthusiasm at a grass-roots level for better government with which to manage the externalities generated by prosperous business. In that way, it would have still become a "message" film, as it had intended, but in a more productive, realistic and honest fashion. Instead, it spits on the word "externality" and launches a frontal attack on the principal means of producing goods and services. Nonetheless, I give it some credit for looking good and titillating the senses.