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Two Words...Epic Fail.
Let me start by explaining a bit of the trouble I've had getting to see this movie. A couple weeks ago, while they were having pre-release screenings, anyone could sign up to go to a screening if there was one in their area...and many people did. I signed up and was told I was on the list for a local screening the next week. Unfortunately for me the screening was canceled 2 days before it was scheduled to be. I was slightly annoyed, but didn't think much of it until a few days ago when I saw this seed on newsvine. It seems they had been sending out cancellation notices to certain people, but still having the showing. If they had said "Oh, we don't want you at a screening" that's one thing...but pretending to cancel a screening to weed people out?
The dishonesty doesn't stop there...but more about that later....on to the review! Oh, and I apologize in advance if this review seems a bit disjointed. The film was very poorly edited, and sort of all over the place, I'll try to deal with the content in roughly the order it came up in the film, but believe me, if it's a bit haphazard, it's not my fault (not completely at least).
The movie opens with the credits weaved into old black and white war-time footage, mostly Germany from WWII from the looks of it presumably to tie-in with the strong attempt at connecting Darwinism to the Nazis (more on that later). Not a very good start for a film that purports to be about science, and how proponents of ID (Intelligent Design) are being persecuted in the scientific community for their beliefs, to the point of loosing their jobs, etc.
National Center for Science Education already has a great site detailing all the problems with their examples of such persecution right here, so if you want to know just how much bull@!$%# they are peddling, check that site out, I won't bore you with the details here.
The movie also is VERY clear to mention (several times) that ID is not about religion or god. But then the questions Ben Stein asks almost all of the interviewees were centered around their being room for god and religion to play nice with science. It seems to bounce back and forth from the idea that ID is science, and nothing to do with god, to pushing the idea that science is trying to stifle religion. It's all very sloppy, plot-wise.
And about the interviews...many of the people interviewed for the side of science (Richard Dawkins, PZ Myers, Daniel Dennett, etc) were told they were being interviewed for a movie called "Crossroads", which was supposed to be about the intersection of religion and science, and then after the fact the movie changed titles (and the entire premise). You can read more about that over here.
They eventually start discussing the connection between Darwinism and Eugenics (and thus the Nazis), complete with a LONG tour of a German concentration camp, the point of which I'm still not sure of. Stein is claiming here that Hitler was a Darwinist, and although Darwinism doesn't lead directly to eugenics and genocide, it is necessary for that sort of world-view...and thus is evil. There are so many problems with the idea that that something is wrong simply because someone evil believes it. Even if there was a clear and solid direct causal relationship between Darwinism and the Nazis or eugenics (which there is not, and the film doesn't even try to show such a connection beyond the "Hilter was a Darwinist" idea), then it would still have NOTHING at all to do with whether or not Darwinism (Evolution, etc) was correct or not.
I should mention, the film does not try to explain what ID is, or attempt in any way to show that it is scientific (probably smart, since it's not), it just attempts to convince the audience that evolution might not be the right answer, and that people that are pushing ID are persecuted for it. There is no argument for or against the validity of ID in the film. They are quite literally trying to argue for the validity of ID as science simply because it's not being taken seriously. It's a complete non-argument.
There is a part of the movie that actually plagiarized too. No joke. They actually completely riped off this video created by XVIVO. Which they are being sued over, and now are fighting. Flat out lying really seems to be par for the course for Premise Media (the force behind the film).
There is so much wrong with the film that it's hard to really explain without just going point by point through the whole thing, which would take far longer than the time wasted by seeing the movie for yourself (and I do mean wasted). Regardless of which side of the ID debate you are on, this movie is not worth an hour and half of your time. It does nothing to help the case of ID, it's filled with flat out lies, pointless asides that seem to have nothing to do with anything, and it's just plain boring.
Even if I believed in ID...even if I believed in god....even if they were right and there really was a problem in the scientific community not wanting to accept their "evidence" (whatever that might be, they give no examples in the film)....it would STILL be a poorly edited, boring, waste of time. As it stands, with all the lying, underhanded tactics, plagiarism, and lack of any amount of integrity (scientific or otherwise), it's among the most mind-bogglingly inane attempts at film making I've ever seen...and I'm counting "Plan Nine From Outer-Space"...at least it's terrible in hilarious ways.
"Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" is the perfect title for this film, as there was obviously not a scrap of intelligence used in it's creation.
*reposted from AtheistOnline.ca*
