Scientists Richard Dawkins and Lawrence Krauss travel the globe promoting a scientific worldview and the rational questioning of religious belief.
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The subject matter is quite interesting and there are some very good statements from people in the documentary. Learned something about the issues in an entertaining way. Some really dynamite quotes. Learned that Cameron Diaz is a freethinker, so I actually have more respect for her as an individual, although I still think she's not much of an actor. Now the bad stuff. It's a very "jerky" production with lots of jump cuts, fast forwards and a lot of filler of cityscapes, etc. But the worst part of it for me was the sound quality. For some reason, almost throughout the film there was a music accompaniment that was very intrusive. For instance a recording of REM's "Orange Crush" playing for quite a while, with the volume going up and down. This was when one of the subjects was speaking, and when his volume went up, so did REM's. I think they used some type of "normalization" software that adjusted the music volume to the general volume of the speaker. Very distracting, and really poor soundperson work. BTW, there are some (thankfully brief) Woody Allen interviews (along with many others) at the end and the beginning. But you really shouldn't be listing him as one of the actors or featured persons in your description, any more than you should list Cameron Diaz, Penn Gillette or Stephen Hawking. They all have some statements in here, but Woodys is no more a featured item than the others.
Deeply intelligent world-changers such as Krauss and Dawkins deserve a better documentary than this. If I were to rate their thoughts and views on the world and on science vs religion, I'd easily give this film a 10. But since I am rating the documentary and NOT their views I can only give The Unbelievers a weak 5 out of 10. The documentary doesn't share any new knowledge, any interesting new facts or any conversations beyond the most simple interviews, etc.Anyone on the hunt for deeper knowledge will be disappointed. I really have no idea what the film makers tried to tell the viewer? PS. All the celebrities featuring in the cast list are just a smoke screen. They don't share anything of value and are only on screen for 1-2 minutes combined. DS.
This movie has been criticized for its lack of entertainment value and also because it's not convincing. I disagree with the entertainment part, because it entertained me. The only thing I found annoying was the sound-mixing.It's a short period of the lives of Dawkins and Krauss, and was not meant to make people stop believing in god. It is more about what these two guys are trying to do, how they do it and why they do it. It's basically promotion for their movement, and I see no problem with that. I was a bit disappointed though, for various personal reasons and expectations, but the overall thing is kinda good at what it does. If you don't know about Dawkins and Krauss, this is the movie for you, because it is what the movie's about. Don't expect religious vs atheist debates in this documentary, like I did, because these are not included. They are all over the internet by the plenty though, so if you want you can check them out.It's an interesting documentary to understand what atheism is about, what it is willing to do and who are the big names of the movement. Not necessary, but you can still watch it and learn something out of it. I know I did and I'm a atheist.
The Unbelievers (2013) 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2636522/ This presentation of Richard Dawkins and Lawrence Krauss on tour is packaged as a tour highlights reel. They go into a venue, we are given a few lines of speech, discussion or debate and then it's off to another venue and a few more lines. We see a lot of the people who attend these lectures/events. I believe the purpose of the movie is, this time, not conversion to reason but to show that it is becoming more and more accepted and acceptable to 'come out' as an atheist. There is a cynical, to my mind, application of marketing acumen in that the film is bookended with clips of comments from 'celebrities', thus giving us reassurance that this all must be important and true! Well, first ya gotta get the rubes in the tent! My cynical beast will go lie down in the corner and let the grownups make the world safer for honesty.The most liberating thought I have ever had: I am a temporary biological event existing in an indifferent universe.