Guns, Germs, and Steel
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Movie Reviews of Guns, Germs, and Steel
Movie Review: Fine Overview of Jared Diamond's Ideas, But.....
Summary: 4 Stars
Jared Diamond, a distinguished professor of physiology and ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of California, Los Angeles, has devoted much of his life trying to understand man's impact on nature, through significant, often pioneering, work on bird species diversity in New Guinea, and the extinctions of endemic species of plants and animals in the aftermath of human colonization of the South Pacific by the ancestors of the Melanesians and especially, Polynesians. For this excellent work he has earned numerous accolades, including - if my memory is correct - membership in the National Academy of Sciences. He is also a superb writer and a mesmerizing lecturer; qualities which are shown in ample abundance throughout this National Geographic miniseries devoted to his Pulitzer Prize-winning book "Guns, Germs and Steel".
Originally published back in 1997, "Guns, Germs and Steel" posed the interesting hypothesis that Western civilization's preeminence is due to mere happenstance, simply because its ancestral Fertile Crescent civilizations were lucky to have the richest abundance of potentially domesticated grains and animals. The eventual triumph of Western civilization is due to its successful colonization of the temperate regions of the globe, via its rich abundance in domesticated grains and animals, advanced weaponry and technology, and the accidental spread of virulent, often deadly, diseases associated with domesticated animals such as pigs and sheep.
This National Georgraphic miniseries is a somewhat successful exploration of Jared Diamond's work and the ideas described in "Guns, Germs and Steel". The first hour-long episode, devoted to domestication of grains and animals, is the most successful of the three. It is followed immediately by a second episode describing the clash of Western civilization with an indigenous, technologically advanced, American civilization - the Inkas - in 1532 and 1533 - in which the Spanish conquistadors succeeded only because an Old World disease - smallpox - had decimated the Inka population in 1531. The third episode is a more contemporary test of Diamond's hypothesis, set in Sub-Saharan Africa, but yielding a result not nearly as clear cut as the Spanish invasion of the Inkan Empire. Still, despite the mixed quality of these episodes, I can recommend this DVD set as a visual introduction to Diamond's hypothesis; an ecologically-oriented, testable hypothesis which was virtually unknown to anthropologists and other social scientists prior to the book's original publication.
Movie Review: Not bad, but the book is better
Summary: 4 Stars
Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel is a Pullitzer Prize-winning book that traces the progression of human history from hunting and gathering societies to agricultural, industrial societies. The book itself is phenomenal, and has catapulted Diamond to the status of America's best-known popular scientist.
The documentary Guns, Germs, and Steel is definitely worth watching. However, some commentary is needed. The first episode ("Out of Eden") is by far the best episode of the three. This episode examines the development of agriculture and the rise of permanent settlements. The least interesting/most boring of the three is Episode 2: Conquest. Episode 3: Into the Tropics provides a quick history of African colonization and resistance, with a focus on current disease patterns on the continent.
Episode 1 is fantastic, and this episode alone would have made a fine documentary. Unfortunately, the second and third episodes become repititive and seem to lack a coherent focus. Having said that, though, these two episodes still have educational and insightful value - but they simply do not live up to the first.
This three-episode set follows Diamond's book closely, and since I have already discussed the book in a separate review, I will not comment on Diamond's thesis here. I recommend watching this film in conjunction with reading the book. Whether or not you agree with Diamond's over-arching theory of human history (I personally do happen to agree with it), you will at the very least find the argument Diamond makes to be quite compelling.
Movie Review: Philip Matthews, School of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame, Fremantle.
Summary: 4 Stars
The DVD version of Guns Germs and Steel (GGS) is a cinematic portrayal of Jared Diamond's award winning book. It covers most of the material in the book and presents Diamond's hypothesis for cultural evolution in a succinct manner. Unlike many DVD conversions from books, the DVD portrayal of GGS seems to work. Diamond's basic hypothesis is that the technical revolution that occurred amongst some cultures but not others over the last 13,000 years was due primarily to a geographical advantage. Cultures who developed cereal crops and farmed animals had the time and energy to develop guns, and steel. So Europeans have ocean liners and jet fighters but people living in the highlands of New Guinea do not, because the New Guinea highlanders were too busy surviving and they did not have the geographical advantage of broad acre farming. The principle of Occam's razor suggests that a simple hypothesis should take preference over a complex account. Diamond's portrayal of human social and technical evolution does seem too simple. It might be a good idea to keep an open mind on this however because Diamond may have stumbled on to an idea that may take some time to unpack.
Philip Matthews, School of Philosophy - University of Notre Dame, Fremantle.
Movie Review: Nice Perspective on History
Summary: 4 Stars
The fact that the perspective on history in this is so refreshing gives it the 4 stars. However, it repeats itself way too often on certain points and if you subtract that you're left with probably just under two hours. If you travel the world a bit you'll probably be left scratching your head at the inequality, and left wondering why the world is really that way. I think this film shows a very valid reason for why but of course not the whole picture. There's no doubt that geography played a central role in why, during the last 13,000 years since the last ice age, some peoples prospered and some didn't. I happen to think that there's some corruption involved but this film deals only with the geographical aspects. Still a very valid part of the whole story. A bit of advice, when you watch it just try and overlook the annoyance of hearing certain points repeated several times, but because of that annoyance, I'm giving it 4 out of 5.Movie Review: Not Full of Holes, Useful DVD
Summary: 4 Stars
In response to "book lover's" comment, I would just like to say that having read Dr. Diamond's book, I do not find obvious holes in his theory. Furthermore, I believe that his book has done a great deal to forward the thinking of those who question the reasons for Anglo-European domination of western civilization, and ends the myth that it has anything to do with genetic prowess or inherent superiority. The academic world needs more people like Jared Diamond.
I am a professor of medical anthropology and use "Guns, Germs, & Steel" as a part of my curriculum. I use the DVD's as an introduction and suppliment to the book; I think that National Geographic intended the presentation to be used as such.
If you're thinking about buying this program, pick up the book as well and read it at the same time. You'll thoroughly enjoy both.