Watch The Power of Nightmares For Free

Highly Overrated But Still Good

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

I recently watched all three episodes of 'the power of nightmares' and found it to be the most important and eye opening documentary of recent years. Like his recent documentary (the trap), Curtis has produced a series that goes beyond the one way system of daily news reporting to something that strips away what we perceive as a threat to our world and our civilization and to look at its origins and its truthful existence. 'The power...' focuses on two movements, the Islamic movement and the American Neo-conservative movement, there origins, there battles to overthrow and instill there ideology in positions of power and to eventually the confrontation between both movements, set off by the events of 9/11. Curtis inter-cuts the interviews with key figures from both sides and also analysts on the subjects, with archival footage from films and news reports, to show how both movements started off on ideology's that would eventually agree with each other particularly during the Russian Afghanistan war of the 1980's. Yet a small group of extreme Islamist funded by Bin Laden, eventually broke off, with no enemy to fight or revolution to instill, they declared a war on America, eventually leading to the attacks on New York, September 11th 2001. Curtis comes to the conclusion that the threat of Al Quieda, has become a fantasy, enforced by the Neo cons and also taken on board by the British government, to instill a purpose for there selected governments, rather than being leaders who promise a bright future, they become leaders who will lead against the rise and threat of terrorism to there people and to there way of life, even though the threat is non-existent and becomes a phantom enemy. Curtis' series is well written, researched and engaging in showing you the true and stark picture behind the disinformation regularly given in the daily news and television media. Its also good to see the BBC producing documentary's of this quality in an age where TV is slowly becoming a succession of reality TV shows, and celebrity 'dancing on ice competitions.' This documentary treats its audience with intelligence, its demanding viewing, yet is rewarding. Check out Curtis' later documentary 'THE TRAP: WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR DREAMS OF FREEDOM,' again another insightful series. Your are being lied to!

Modern documentaries are not the same as previous ones. They are impassioned, biased and controversial. The history of the salmon has given way to Michael Mooreish rants.The Power of Nightmares is a rarity; a non-fiction expose on the current state of the world which manages to convey its message articulately and without emotion. Though there is bias involved, the series is so well put together that its narrative prose feels more like fact than belief. Over the course of three 1-hour episodes, director Adam Curtis explores in depth American neoconservatism and radical Islamism; two amazingly similar groups who define politics today. In gross oversimplification, Curtis argues that both organizations create elaborate myths to enhance their own positions.Academics, statesmen and journalists mostly comprise the wide range of characters who are interviewed, creating a multifaceted examination that attempts to analyze the motivations of these two movements.Viewing all three parts of the series will undoubtedly change ones world view. The Power of Nightmares is required for anyone concerned or curious about today's political climate.

A most satisfying documentary. Whether one agrees or not with the main argument of the filmmakers or not, there is much to learn from the well documented facts assembled here. This is the best true documentary I have seen in a long time. I particularly enjoyed its sense of humor and the clips from feature films such as Ali Baba and the 40 thieves. The film does only ring true; if one is alive, one has been a witness to much of what the film assembles to make its points. Notwithstanding, be prepared to be surprised by the bold argument the film makes. This is a very fair-minded presentation of one key aspect of our contemporary history.

This is a superb 3-part BBC documentary about how gov'ts overblowthreats to create "nightmares" which can then be used for domesticpurposes/control. It traces the US neo-cons back to the Cold War daysand examines how both the neo-cons and Islamic fundamentalists falselyclaim credit for destroying the overblown threat of the USSR. The filmthen examines the so-called War on Terror (WoT). It includesoutstanding "evidence" of the terrorist "sleeper cell" trials in the US(you have to watch and see this evidence to believe it!!). This is anextremely well done, insightful look at the post-9/11 reactions by theUS and UK and will challenge propaganda about the WoT (e.g. the USgov't named Al Queda not Bin Laden; nuclear scientists and the Pentagonboth say a "dirty bomb" would most likely not kill anyone) withreasoned and well-sourced logic and arguments. For more information, see: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/3755686.stm The first episode is not the most exciting, since it does thehistorical background to set up the last two episodes. (You can getthe gist of the entire documentary just by watching the last two. Viewing the BBC's link above will give some add'l info.) Few can claimto know about the clash of the US/west versus Muslim fundamentalism andthe interaction of US politics in that clash without seeing this video-- it's that good!