The Corporation
|
List Price: Our Price: $16.85 You Save: $13.14 (44%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $12.49 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of The Corporation
Movie Review: "[Corporations] have no soul to save, and they have no body to incarcerate." -Baron Thurlow
Summary: 5 Stars
I hate to write something as didactic as "this film should be required viewing for every person over 12 years of age," but I guess it's too late for that now. While one could quibble that THE CORPORATION tries to do too much in defining the varied tapestry of corporate culture, the fact that it does a good job trying it more than enough to recommend it.
Of particular note in the early going is how the film establishes that in the U.S., corporations are legally treated as people, but how corporate behavior patterns reveal the the "person" is a psychopath. That is, a typical corporation is self-interested, callous, greedy, and deceitful. (Hey, wait a minute, that sounds like some people I know!)
SIDELIGHT: It's interesting that the producer/director Mark Achbar and company (or is that "Co."?) chose to remain essentially invisible in the movie, their presence belied by the infrequent off-camera question... and yet they extensively interview a documentarian of the opposite persuasion -- Michael Moore!
Movie Review: compelling, if not flawless
Summary: 5 Stars
Based on the book of the same name by Joel Bakan, this is not a flawless documentary. As it relates the legal and social history of the corporation, it relies too much on talking heads and the imagery is not original or insightful; also, there will not be much new here for those who have been aware of the the problems associated with the rise in power of the corporation. It is, however, a compelling story to tell and an important story, and the idea of psychoanalyzing the corporate entity is terrific. At 2 hours and 24 minutes it is long, but it is substantive if the issue is new to you.
Extras include two commentary tracks, one by the directors and one by the writer; 8 deleted scenes; 8 short Q&As from various news and radio interviews; a 40-minute segment filmed with author Bakan on Air America Radio's Majority Report with Janeane Garofolo and Sam Seder; a 7-minute featurette about marketing the film; a trailer.
English, French and Spanish subtitles.
Movie Review: Excellent documentary on the greed of financial wealth
Summary: 5 Stars
This documentary is an excellent piece exposing the greed of corporations. Reviewers who are disappointed over the fact that this documentary isn't fair and balanced are missing the point. This documentary isn't attempting to educate the viewer on what defines a corporation. The objective isn't to give the positive and negative aspects of the single minded drive of companies to increase financial wealth. This view point expressed here is designed as a counterweight to various media advertisings, profit and loss reports, brochures, government filings, spin doctors, and the tons of other propaganda corporations produce to further their cause. The fact that businesses adhere to capitalistic business models and are motivated by financial gain is no surprise. However, the intensity of the corporate drive for financial profit, at what appears to be the expense of everything else, might shock you into thinking about what's happening to our community, environment, and future.Movie Review: Like a Michael Moore film made for a critical audience
Summary: 5 Stars
The modern legal structure of the corporation has been very good for investors and, by fostering economic development and job creation, for the average citizen's standard of living. This movie makes you stop and think about what it means for some of the most powerful actors in a society or economy to be constrained to seek maximum profits by any legal means. It shows the importance of the legal structures that we create. After the Collapse of 2008-?, we complained about Wall Street bankers' greed but did not look in the mirror and ask who was it that prevented shareholders in public companies from nominating Board members (thereby allowing the CEO to put his golfing buddies on the Board and they in turn to give most of the company's profits to top managers). Nor did we ask what we should have expected when we gave trillions of dollars of taxpayer funds to big banks that existed solely to pay dividends to shareholders (a little) and bonuses to employees (a lot!).Movie Review: a thoughtful look in the mirror
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie is a long overdue look in the mirror for people of the USA. It examines and presents evidence about such questions as: Are we still a democracy or are we a capitalist state, do corporations serve humanity or do humans serve corporations, does unbridled capitalism produce the best results for all human endeavors (such as health care-- the US spends twice as much as any other country per person on health care, yet has an average life expectancy shorter than that of Bosnia.) Evidence is presented in an interesting, often humorous fashion.
"The Corporation" gives an overview of social organization throughout history so the viewer can see that we humans are evolving and the future is open to our choices. The important thing is to examine our history , learn and choose wisely.
(This is not a movie for those who do not like to think or who are fully occupied by thoughts of what their next purchases will be -- i.e. sheep and piggies.)