An overlooked classic


A really good movie. Maybe a little heavy-handed with the eco-message, and perhaps simplistic in portraying the Indians as unblemished children of nature, but most entertaining and beautiful to watch.

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[deleted]

I must say my first impression was bemusement - I watched it for the first time last night, and it struck me as particularly bizarre. The acting wasn't great, and the story was a bit disjointed. Still, as the movie went on I did get engaged in the story, and the scenery etc was fantastic. Plus nearly-naked Charley Boorman doesn't hurt ;o)

Overall though - a tad odd!

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Engaged in the story, yes, but the eco message seems tacked on.

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I also loved this movie. It's one of my favorites, along with "Dances with Wolves" and "The Last of the Mohicans". I loved the cinematography and the message that humans can live more in harmony with themselves and nature than we do.

For the people who think the movie portrayed the natives as overly innocent or something (in this message board and in the user comments), I want to say this: you might be right, but what do we know about what native people are really like? Only people who have studied anthropology quite a bit really know (aside from the natives themselves). For all we know they might be exactly as portrayed in this movie. Or even more innocent in some ways, and more worldly in others. It's hard to know for sure.

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This one is one of my favorites as well.

Although I'd like to remark on the term innocent. If I'm not mistaken in this film these innocent natives were quite capable of producing an impressive amount of violence when they felt it was necessary

All in all I found the portrail of the natives quite well balanced.

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Yeah, I'm not quite sure what the argument is in regards to the natives being "innocent". They seem to portray a relatively peaceful tribe that got bumped up against a rather aggressive one when their habitat was destroyed, but the peaceful one sure had an army, and they trained to be good fighters. That doesn't just happen overnight. Training like that takes a lifetime, and thus means it is a way of life. If the aggressive tribe hadn't of brokered a deal to protect the brothel in the jungle for guns, they probably would have been fairly evenly matched. The so-called "innocent" tribe, if anything, seemed to have keener archers and warriors---they just couldn't stand up to a sub-machine gun.

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It did mention at the very end of the movie that many of the tribes that live (lived?) in the rainforest hadn't ever had contact with the 'outside' world, therefore I believe their [the Indians] portrayal ("unblemished children of nature")to be as suspected and possibly spot on.

I agree with you all though, this is a brillant movie! All the more because you know it's based on a true story. B.t.w. - does anyone know more about the true story?

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a wonderful film in every way, I remember the first time I saw it, quite by accident it was on late at night and I was hooked from the first frame....funnily enough the director is on t.v. at the moment talking about his career in films and clips of The Emerald Forest have been shown, it really it a little gem of a movie to be recommended to all.

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This is really one of those movies that has always been sitting on a shelf in my house, since I was little. But I didn't really watch it for ages because I didn't know what it was (ignorant me). Now that I have watched it a million times I love it. I don't agree that the natives are portrayed as "innocent". They are portrayed as people who have more of a connection with nature than we do. And also the Invisible People are given a stark opposite (the Fierce People), who 'lose their way' and start drinking and shooting guns all over the place. Also, given that the Invisible People supposedly hadn't had any contact with the outside world, it's fair that their way of life would not have been disturbed in any way. Innocent is the wrong word. Maybe in a way they were too pure, and maybe that's what was meant by them seeming too innocent.

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[deleted]

I think you're the one who needs to "get a clue". The idea that people were "truly happy" squatting in caves, struggling to find daily sustenance, at the mercy of the elements, dying in droves of diseases they were powerless to treat, is so silly that only a child with more exposure to unicorns than to the real world could embrace it.

No thanks. I'll take the pseudo happiness of a hot bath in the evening, fresh food in the fridge, and falling asleep watching "The Emerald Forest" in my own warm bed.

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You moron. Meddlecore is only trying to point out that we need to take care of the earth instead of raping it of its natural resources. There are plenty of ways to incorporate sustainable living practices into the way we are living now without needing to go back to living in caves. But then you're probably one of those huge SUV driving, McDonalds consuming, oil company supporting, wasteful humans that couldn't give two $hits if the rain forrest were completely obliterated, so long as you are happy in your material world.

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You moron.
Oh, stop, Dragon Man, you're making me blush.
Meddlecore is only trying to point out that we need to take care of the earth instead of raping it of its natural resources.
Is that what "get back to our primitivist roots" means in DragonSpeak? (looks confused, taps "universal translator" on desk a couple of times, holds it up to ear and shakes it). Whenever I hear "raping [earth] of its natural resources", I suspect I may be dealing with a nutcase, but I'll withhold judgment for now. Tell me, when somebody dug the gold out of the ground to plate the connectors on your laptop, was that rape? When they dug the coal, or the oil shale, or pumped the natural gas that fired the turbines that generated the electricity to power it, was that rape? When they pumped the oil to make the plastic that went into your keyboard, was that rape? What about that huge gash they dug, the open pit from which they plundered the piles of sand that went into making silicon chips for your CPU and glass for your monitor, and the lightbulbs by which you read? How many tears have you shed for the trees that were sacrificed to make your library?
There are plenty of ways to incorporate sustainable living practices into the way we are living now without needing to go back to living in caves.
I agree, but none of them involve going "back to our primitivist roots". It's technology that raised us up out of the filth, so that we can live in cities with clean running water and sewage treatment plants, instead of dipping our drinks out of the Amazon without even being aware that all of nature is using it as a toilet.
But then you're probably one of those huge SUV driving, McDonalds consuming, oil company supporting, wasteful humans that couldn't give two $hits if the rain forrest were completely obliterated, so long as you are happy in your material world.
Oh, Dragon Man, you must've bugged my bunghole, because you've sure got me pegged. Except, I'm not huge, don't drive an SUV, and am not particularly wasteful. As far as the rain forest goes, last time I checked, it wasn't the oil companies who were obliterating it, it was people a whole lot closer to their "primitivist roots", slashing and burning to get enough clear field to grow one crop, which exhausts the shallow nutrient base of that particular plot of land and forces them to move elsewhere for their next crop. Dang, if only they believed in a little earth rape, they might be willing to take phosphorous and nitrogen out of small quarries and spread it around on land that had already been cleared. Maybe then we could save a wee bit of green for you and the little Dragonettes.

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When coal mining started in 1748, I doubt if the miners considered the world population would double in 1802, 1927, 1974 and again around 2027 (notice it takes about half as long from the previous doubling). When people began drilling for oil, I doubt they consider population growth. Currently, the US alone consumes more than 20 million barrels of oil a day.

The Amazon Rain Forest makes up roughly one half of all the rain forests on the planet and more than a one fifth of it has been cleared. Deforestation occurs not for indigenous people to grow crops as it is normally attributed to, but largely for timber industry and the meat industry for cattle grazing. You may remember McDonalds and several other fast food companies coming under fire for supporting the cattle industry in the Amazon. One gallon of gasoline is used for every pound of beef produced. For every pound of red meat, poultry, eggs, and milk produced, farm fields lose about five pounds of irreplaceable top soil. The water necessary for meat breeding comes to about 190 gallons per animal per day. The forestry and cattle industry forces the indigenous people to move to other locations, which is what leads them to clear land for crops and I seriously doubt they are making an impact as large as the industries are.

As for my laptop, I bought it used because I don’t need anything fancy or the latest and fastest technology. Am I thankful for it? Yes. It serves a purpose for now. When it no longer serves a purpose (i.e. finish school) I will recycle it.

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Starting with a world population of 1 billion in 1802, it was 125 years before that doubled to 2 billion in 1927. 47 years later, that had doubled to 4 billion in 1974, and if your projections are correct, there are 53 years before it doubles again to 8 billion. It looks to me like the growth trend has peaked, and maybe even begun to reverse, if I accept your numbers.

In 1802, most children were dead before their 5th birthday, even in "advanced" countries. The fact that modern medicine, sanitation, and food distribution has enabled children to live not only long enough to enter the first grade, but long enough to collect retirement, is a good thing in my mind. In most developed countries, including the United States, birth rates are at or below replacement levels. Two thirds of that exploding world population you seem concerned about is in Asia. Less than 5% is in North America, so if it's really the number of people that has you all hot and bothered, maybe you should be complaining about it in Hindi or Mandarin.

You're correct that the timber and beef industries have contributed to deforestation in the rain forest, along with the indigenous people. I honestly don't think the solution is to "return to our primitivist roots". Am I in favor of preserving the rain forests? Absolutely, even though I have no intention at this point of ever visiting them personally. The topsoil is too thin for long-term farming. Clear cutting large areas has the effect of destroying the rain forest permanently in the area that has been clear cut. Harvesting trees in a more sustainable manner is possible, but it's more expensive, and it will really be up to the governments in Amazonia itself to enact and enforce laws to make that a reality.

It's a complicated issue, and the solutions, if they come at all, will be complex and multifaceted. Demonizing corporations which are only providing goods and services that consumers are demanding, or the comfort-loving consumers themselves, may make you feel like you're not part of the problem, but you are, and so am I. The nature-worshipping Pied Pipers who hope to lead us back to a pre-industrial Utopia that never existed are wasting their time, and ignoring human nature. Meddlecore was clearly one of them, but perhaps you are not.

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I agree, this is a visually stunning film that stands the test of time. The movie itself only appears dated in the most obvious, unavoidable ways, and its message is still, unfortunately, very relevant.

Someone mentioned the scene where the girls were rescued...I really liked how that served to illustrate another form of callused exploitation of the land and its people.
I think the most disturbing aspect of that scenario was seeing the girls run back into the forest and immediately began tearing off their clothes with contempt. Not because they weren't accustomed to wearing them, but because they were so clearly used to taint their sexuality. I realized then how backwards it all was. They looked vulgar in clothes -- and in the few minutes they had been wearing them appeared more sexual then they ever had in the hour of nudity that proceeded it.

I really liked the whole chain reaction theme represented in the film, as well. Our actions have consequences, whether we witness them or not.

This film deserves more acclaim!

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May I suggest you something? Think about the last words of the movie... people that still remember what we forgot long ago...

Stop for a second and think how ridiculous is to judge their innocence... we are the innocents!! That's ridiculous to live in the concrete jungle and still believe this is a real life!!

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THINK about it? How can you deny the reality of it??? IFC is showing this flick all weekend - it's as relevant now as it was 20 years ago- how can you deny otherwise? It gave me my belief system.

at least it's not end of the world beat the clock bs - it's reality. Boorman claims 120K indians are left - that was 20 years ago - how many now? Can anyone come up with a figure?

I'm leaving in October for South America - Oct 1 as a fact - I've got 210 - 215 days to travel from Ecuador - Columbia - peru - chile - argentina - uruguay - guyana - brazil - french guiana - brazil - venezuela - and back to the US - and all I plan to do is enjoy every stinking minute of the indigenous people i can - no immunizations - no religion - no western philosophy - all for me to hear THEIR side of the story - is that wrong? i will become free - FREE.

Boorman made a statement here - lose of capitalism will set you free - deal with it - accept it. nothing will change that - nothing. I will not impose my growing up and propaganda on the indigenous people - i am going to learn and accept theirs. Be it the FARC in Columbia to the indians in the amazon - i will be set free finally. FINALLY.

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thats a good question im guessing 120,000 still maybe the hid deeper in the jungle. I just seen the movie again after 20yr i was seven at the time and didnt respect what the movie was trying to show you. All i saw was naked people and i kept giggling. Anyway what i wanted to ask is what is it that you do to have the luxury of such intense travel? Is that your job to travel that many places at such little time? I think whatever you do must be wonderful.


[email protected]

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i worked in pharmaceuticals for a long time making bad drug data look really really good to doctors so they would write scripts for you & me! I made good money - semi-retired at 32 and am now just living off what I can day to day - and yes - i got into drugs when i retired... had nothing to do but waste time - so leaving for South America is to stay clean partially - i have nothing better to do than go down there & give up capitalism and find myself again-

i worked my butt off to get to where i am today and am as disillusioned about society when i part of it and doing what i was supposed to as now, when i refuse to conform again and basically hang out and watch movies all the time... the time has come for me to take that final trip-- and we'll see if i ever return. I plan on 210 -215 days - but in reality - i wonder if i will ever return for sure. i don't want to live here - i don't know if i'll find what i want there - but i'm going to look for it. i don't want to be part of this world & america...

what's the saying- i wouldn't be a member of any club that would accept me? that's where i am...

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Hey iamme1270, did you go on your trip? How are you getting on?

regards

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I wonder if he really went, he seemed very sincere.



OPEN YOUR EYES! dailymotion.com/video/xbi2hi_1993-chandler-molestation-extortion_news

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Well i be d@#$$ I was looking up post on IMDB and i just for the first time ran across yours wow! I did even check your answer until 8 years later. Life is a funny thing huh?

God bless.
If you love Jesus Christ and 100% proud of it copy this and make it your signature!

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Well, I went on a trip, but not THE trip as I got wrapped up in where I landed! Of course, the best laid plans go awry... but it was sensational to say the least. To see the devastating poverty that exists in the Latin Americas as a result of American greed and capitalism... do any of us Americans truly know what we do to the rest of the world? I've seen villages devastated by American Corporations unfriendly eco practices... mining that pollutes the water and devastates an entire ecosystem that just derails the capability to live in a region where their ancestors have lived for thousands of years. By polluting the ground water, rivers, tributaries, soil, and deforesting -- american corporations have displaced communities one after the other. In Mexico, I found small groups of people, left behind after a mining operation became too expensive because of low return on minerals -- hundreds of local people who had once received up to $1 a day for slaving in dangerous mines all day were left high & dry when the american company pulled out and left -- these peoples who had lived there for centuries or relocated to the area for hopes of jobs were left with nothing, nothing but disease, non-potable water, and no way of farming or making a living. They basically live in extreme poverty while the american company left after making millions in profits. Was it worth destroying an entire regions livliehood? I think not?! In Columbia, the political environment is changing rapidly. The FARC who were notorious leftist guerillas and fighting for the right to assume control of their own country back from the rich military government are slowly laying down their arms and coming out of the jungles. Kidnapped foreigners are being returned after being gone for years. The drug trade is being laid open by the new government who has vowed to give up prosecution of the FARC members who were once viewed as terrorists, when they were simply fighting to regain control of the land, country, and home that was theirs and over taken by both the drug trade and foreign provicialists who laid waste to their natural ownership and property. In Peru, elections were coming up and the peoples were pushing to have an indigenous leader take over and instill socialistic principles to regain again their own lands, economy, and resources so ALL peruvians, whether Indian or Spanish descent could reap the benefits long controlled by foreign imperialists... Venezuela has Hugo Chavez who is inspiring distribution of national resources in the foreign market -- and redistributing the wealth back into his nation and for his peoples to better the society that has long been controlled by the corrupt wealthy -- no longer will he allow the distribution and reinvestment of wealth to the wealthy only -- his country and his people will reap the benefits of the oil and other natural resources Venezuela has to sell on the international market.

Is any of this perfect? Is any of this truly viable and will lead to success? I don't know -- but what I do know is that if you SAW & EXPERIENCED the outright poverty, prejudice, inequities, and corruption that exists in 3rd world countries as a direct result of the provincialism, imperialism, and capitalism that a broadened world economy has on the peoples that have been controlled and dictated to for years by the wealthy few -- then you would realize an amazing revolution is occurring in some of the poorest countries of the world.

It's finally time for those who have long suffered under the original Spanish, French, English, and American greed and need for control to take back what is theirs... the Amazon is devastated -- only luckily does so much land exist in the rain forest that what is left IS being protected and that means that there's a chance that the millions of unique species and peoples that exist will have a chance to thrive in their little corner left. It's not perfect, but it's gaining a slow down. The indians I did meet went from a perfect world in a forest/jungle with no outside intervention or need for goods and services that exist in capitalism. They were forced to believe that the way they lived was inappropriate and that since their land, resources, and way of living became impossible with the destruction that occurred, they now live in barrios and shacks grieving for their lack of money to purchase the basic necessities they were led to believe they could have if they left their homes. They are forced into becoming consumers of items they never needed before, and now believe they can't live without -- because they can't... they can't live in a barrio off the land. They live in barrios waiting for death because it's surely easier than the life they have now. Imagine growing up in a land that was clean, quiet, and free. Now, they are corralled in a dirty, disgusting, neighborhood where daily existence depends on the availability of a family member's thieving ability, government hand out, or the ability to escape violence from poor neighbors or the disease that you have no immunity to!

It's devastating, it's disgusting, and it's inhuman.

There's no way to change what we've done to these indigenous people. We've raped their land, their homes, their beliefs, their idealisms.

The only thing we can do is offer support back to these people through the provision of training, education, and support of indigenous businesses and opportunities they develop to semi-exploit their little bit of ancient skills, mysticism, and capablities -- it's their only way to make money NOW -- and as their governments evolve and we support as the Westerners who destroyed their lands, water, and living space -- ways to bring clean water, land, and NEW economically viable methods to support themselves and distribute the resources among themselves as their new socialistic governments are trying to do.

It's hopefully the first step to these people regaining control of their own lands and being able to reap the benefits themselves. What is left is the devastation we laid waste in our previous involvements with their natural resources... hopefully, they will be able to reinvent, reinvest, and regrow new ways to profit and regain power off the land that was always theirs to begin with -- and that they are finally regaining control of!

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It's simple really,but greed and selfishness through capitolism and class makes it not so simple. America and the world needs to stop consuming and start conservating/conserving or their will not be any open land for indegenous tribes or for people to even visit for fresh air away from cities.Colonialism still lives on and no doubt will continue because we human beings cannot handle losing control of our realm and in doing so we trample not only on the natural world and it's resources but on fellow human beings cultures that we may or may not understand.So we seek to destroy them with solely our own selfishness and pride.Also American corporations aswell as the worlds do things solely to gain more profit and do not care what or who is in their way.Some governments may keep somekind of leash on them but with money anything can be cast away.


Why is all this simple?When it sounds complex?Because what seems to be out in the modern world to make life better,destroys it.It is hipocritical therefor it is not working.We need to revert to the natural,listen to our fellow human beings that we may have cast out and make changes and rebuild.Socially,environmentally and economically.Our resources are running out,worldwide poverty is rampant and nations of the world are not functioning together smoothly.We are not going to be living on Mars or Saturn or Uranis.No,the earth is are home and if we really do not start making positive changes now,well then we do not deserve to live on this island earth our mother our giver our taker.

"I happen to have no dress in my cabin."
Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?

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Maybe you two bleeding hearts should get lof off the internet, shut down your computers...come on now, chip-in and CONSERVE! Ignorant hypocrites...the rest of us gives up what we have, but dare the nay-sayers give up any of what they have.

"I'm a vehemently anti-nuclear, paranoid mess, harbouring a strange obsession with radioactive sheep."

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---Maybe you two bleeding hearts should get lof off the internet, shut down your computers...come on now, chip-in and CONSERVE! Ignorant hypocrites...the rest of us gives up what we have, but dare the nay-sayers give up any of what they have.--

In a world thats not in any way as perfect as it coukd be.... its good to know that there are still people that believe in another way to proceed into the future.
i have seen a lot around the world and it is ugly ... butt still in some strange way beautyfull.

i have no hope left for this world and being a ateist im pretty much *beep* but hey thats just me.



enjoy life every day.....some day it will end.

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Well good for you. I for one look at the world as a good place. Space travel, exploring other planets, man going back to the moon, Scientists cracking the human genome, cellphones getting smaller, cars getting faster, high-speed internet, etc etc. Sit in your gloom and doom and yap about everyone giving up a little of what they have, all the while, you give up NONE OF YOUR COMFORTS! BTW, all that traveling...how much pollution does jetliner fuel make?

"I'm a vehemently anti-nuclear, paranoid mess, harbouring a strange obsession with radioactive sheep."

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I for one look at the world as a good place. Space travel, exploring other planets, man going back to the moon


I agree, except we aren't doing any of the above. NASA is going out of business while your government plunders other nations with "wars". Your tax money is being wasted on rearing Christian ideologies(creationism in school anyone) instead of being used for space projects.

I cannot wait to see manned mission to Mars or a Titan/Europa probe landing but it ain't happening through NASA. Sad to say



http://www.hinduwisdom.info/quotes271_300.htm

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I wonder if tgs would end up crying if he was the one suffering & no one empathized with him because people lived off his suffering?



OPEN YOUR EYES! dailymotion.com/video/xbi2hi_1993-chandler-molestation-extortion_news

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I agree. I also think one should not only practice what they preach but they should also spread this information, people have to know & remember to empathize. It's very disheartening to read such cold-hearted cruel & ambivalent posts here.



OPEN YOUR EYES! dailymotion.com/video/xbi2hi_1993-chandler-molestation-extortion_news

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Amazing....thanks for sharing your story! How did you feel when you left on the trip, with an "idealized vision" of native people, then saw the reality of native folks used up and then spit out and forgotten?
Did you get a chance to go into the Amazon? Are there any places left where people live like the "Invisible People" lived in the movie?

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By the way, i went a roaming again and have to say a couple things in response to a few remarks about personal comforts I won't resign and the amount of pollution and cost of jetfuel to travel...

i can't help myself! I am not a greenie or a granola -- i am more of a person just concerned about other people on the planet affected by the US geopolitics... i believe in power of the people... that's all.

while it can be argued that i have certain comforts at home i won't give up, for sure, there is much i do without to live in way that does take into account our world and its shrinking returns to us humans. my very complaint is that i become dependent on the capitalistic things i don't need when i am home... riding 2 seconds to the grocery store for milk is unfathomable in some places i go -but then again, so is water or a toilet or toilet paper for that matter - so i do take it for granted dependent on where i am in my daily existence.

I do however conserve, consume less and believe in taking care of what we have here as the largest consumers on earth. I am thankful to pay taxes that pay our sanitation and schools. I am thankful for what America has. I love america. I just do not love what america does to others in the world.

as for jet fuel-- i take one plane to get me as close to where i am going and take public transportation the rest of the way... I can fly somewhere that would take me WEEKS to drive to from America and would be a greater waste of fuel and resources... and planes move HUNDREDS of people when i am on them, which is far more conservative than driving the car 1/2 mile for the milk or toilet paper...

I cant even and won't even begin to tell you how i ended up where i am in society, but i can tell you it is a fall from the graces i had lost had and lost again.

no worries...

remember, some people are trekkies, or car freaks, or knitters, or computer nerds... i happen to be a indigenous people rights nerd...

sorry if i have offended...

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sorry - but this was nowhere close to a good movie. It was very well made but its too fantastic to be believed. i think most parts of it are exaggerated.

am i wrong but i think powers booth is not a good actor, hes pretty wooden, like the kind of acting the best actors amongst the kids my old school days did. The scene where he shouts and searches for young tommy was not good acting.

the lingustics are a childish attempt - when the invisible tribes speak they are actually speaking computer garbled english. thats pretty silly on part of the director

the ending - i think you too will agree - can only be described as dumb,

.......and whats jammes trip in life ? I think he finished with drugs, sex and rock and roll very early in life. Simple minds like me never get onto spiritual or ideological trips.............so for me the constant shower of nudity was good fun and ill give it a 6 instead of 5 for that


even monkeys fall from trees

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