Adam CurtisThe Power Of Nightmares (DVD) (2004)

(Click the MPEG2 link on the left to download the NTSC DVD ISO file.)

This film explores the origins in the 1940s and 50s of Islamic Fundamentalism in the Middle East, and Neoconservatism in America, parallels between these movements, and their effect on the world today.

From the introduction to Part 1 (Baby It's Cold Outside): "Both [the Islamists and Neoconservatives] were idealists who were born out of the failure of the liberal dream to build a better world. And both had a very similar explanation for what caused that failure. These two groups have changed the world, but not in the way that either intended. Together, they created today's nightmare vision of a secret organized evil that threatens the world, a fantasy that politicians then found restored their power and authority in a disillusioned age. And those with the darkest fears became the most powerful."

The Power of Nightmares was first broadcast on BBC Two in three hour-long parts on consecutive Wednesday evenings in the autumn of 2004. The series was rebroadcast in late January 2005 on three consecutive nights, with the final part updated to reflect the Law Lords ruling from the previous December that detaining foreign terrorist suspects without trial is illegal.

This DVD is of the updated version of January 2005, and is NTSC, no region; many PAL DVD players will play NTSC DVDs, but the reverse is not true, so NTSC it is. It was created with the MPEG2 files available at http://www.archive.org/details/ThePowerOfNightmares with a menu added for good measure.

MD5sum of ISO file: 074F5F903C12665A522ED2B558DC7B07 (If you don't know what this means, don't worry about it.)

This item is part of the collection: Feature Films

Producer: Adam Curtis
Production Company: BBC
Audio/Visual: sound, color
Language: English
Keywords: Adam Curtis; The Power Of Nightmares; Power Of Nightmares

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Reviewer: JohnScotty - - August 22, 2007
Subject: Best documentary from Britain on our political history and Future

The Power of Nightmares Part
This originally aired on the BBC in 2004.
best documentary on the history of 20th century Islamic extremism and Neo-Conservative ideology that I have yet seen.

Reviewer: someguy2 - - August 1, 2007
Subject: Bucket -o- Nightmares!! as seen on Late Night with David Letterman!!

"Congratulations to Mr Curtis for keeping the spirit of imaginative and open media strong."
Robin, Torronto.

hahahahahahahahahaha There, ya see? Robin of Toronto thinks it`s all tits up!
Well done, beeb, well done!
Keep that 'imaginative' reporting comin'!

Reviewer: horrorbob1 - - July 9, 2007
Subject: downloads

ok so ive been waiting more then two days for this download and it still says 3.99 on it put the file was downloading I reallt wanted to view this without haveing to watch it on my comp but it seems has everyone is having problems downloading this arrrrrrrrgh

Reviewer: sky_diver_ - - July 3, 2007
Subject: For General2007

Hello General2007. Download is fine, what you have is 4GB limit problem. You are probably downloading iso to FAT32 formatted drive. Use NTFS (WindowsXP) drive for download and you will be fine.
Regards.

Reviewer: x9x9x9 - - June 21, 2007
Subject: DVD ISO needs to be fixed

The navigation structure of the ISO is faulty and can't be read by conventional dvd players. As suggested below, RipIt4me utility can be used to fix this problem.

The DVDR version is also available for download on torrents.

Reviewer: General2007 - - June 16, 2007
Subject: THE POWER OF NIGHTMARES

I TRIED TO DOWNLOAD IT FOR AT LEAST 5 TIMES WITHOUT SUCCESS. WHEN IT IS IN 3.99 GB KEEPS RUNNING AND DOES NOT DOWNLOAD ANY MORE (IT'S BEEN DOWNLOADING FOR ALMOST 13 HOURS AT HIGH SPEED). CAN YOU SENT THE DVD INSTEAD OF THIS FAILY DOWNLOAD ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO GET IT?
THANK YOU.
MY ADDRESS IS: DIEGO PATINO
1942 TIGERTAIL BLVD
DANIA FL 33004
CELL 954 410-5478 I WILL PAY FOR THE SHIPPING CHARGES IF YOU WANT IT.

Reviewer: TadFromPoland - - June 4, 2007
Subject: To force and to attract

Hello, someguy2, I'd like to thank you for your mention on film The Trap: What Happened to Our Dream of Freedom. It is available at http://www.thedossier.ukonline.co.uk/video_philosophy.htm . The fragment (8:22-9:03) of its Part 3 - We Will Force You to be Free illustrates beautifully my words "the liberal American society attracts people all over the world" ( http://www.archive.org/details/ThePowerOfNightmares ). Those people were forced to be free by liberal Americans with the help of such movies as Rear Window ( http://messages.finance.yahoo.com/Business_%26_Finance/Investments/Stocks_%28A_to_Z%29/Stocks_R/threadview?bn=15252&tid=75&mid=430 , the message is seen in ISO-8859-2). Do you agree with me that the cultural force used by liberal Americans is much more suitable for the development of the worldwide market economy than the military force used by neoconservative Americans? When will Americans return to attracting "people all over the world" [319 The American culture and the others (I) 01/24/1999 9:51 PM, TadFromPoland and 320 The American culture and the others (II) 01/24/1999 9:54 PM, TadFromPoland -- http://www.geocities.com/tadfrompoland/floor5a.html , available now at http://www.geocities.com/lydiafrompoland/bbs319.htm and http://www.geocities.com/lydiafrompoland/bbs320.htm , both messages are seen in ISO-8859-2]? By the way, that inactive URL which appears in The American culture and the others (II) leads in fact to my citation from Gilbert Seldes's The America of the Intellectuals ( http://messages.finance.yahoo.com/Business_%26_Finance/Investments/Stocks_%28A_to_Z%29/Stocks_R/threadview?bn=15252&tid=75&mid=111 ).

Regards,
Tadeusz Lemańczyk
http://www.geocities.com/tadfrompoland/

Reviewer: fred tam - - May 30, 2007
Subject: the power of propaganda indeed!

the power of propaganda. a perfect example is this film. i give it one star because of its intent, not because of its technical qualities.

be careful you don't become what you probably hate or scorn. remember the mirror image of a neocon is not truth, it is yet another monster. curtis is clever fellow and this documentary certainly is a polished product, but viewed from a objective perspective its more about the power of propaganda than anything else. Curtis basically distorts and selectively uses history to support his conclusions. Essentially the same crime he thinks the neocons and such are guilty of. Over simplification of the vast complexity of the real world to fit a grand narrative is the mistake of conspiracy theorists. and in his need to draw parrallels between neocons and islamists he has been forced to stretch the truth. he relies on the viewers ignorance of history. and the sad thing is many will just eat it up. you know what they say, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

nothing new of substance is brought to light in this documentary. better documentaries on the history of the middle east and neocons from frontline are avaliable from frontlines website. not to mention countless books on the subject. pbs unlike the bbc does seem to have higher standards for the documentaries they will air.

its too bad. i know he didn't make this film to be a clever self aware example of propaganda, but as a highly biased bit of manipulative propangda made to cater to the preexisting biases of those in much of his target audience who will desperately want to believe his version of history. its far more polished a film than one made by michael moore, and in ways it is more subtle in its bending of the truth, but that doesn't make it any better. its a shame as i liked his century of the self series which was much better. this is not what we need. we need people taking rational unbiased views of history and its effect on the present. we do not need politically motivated film makers like curtis making "documentaries" to distort history in the opposite direction of their political enemies making the world even less of a rational place. frankly it does a disservice to the cause to decieve those who would be on your side, and to make them believe things that discredit themselves and their movement. the plain truth is bad enough, making huge stretches so you can believe the absurd does yourself no good no matter how good it feels.

familiarize yourself with the thinking behind conpiracy theories
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy_theory

michael shermer founder of skeptic also has a book called "why people believe weird things" thats gets into conspiratorial/irrational thinking.

The Power of Bad Television
http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/davis200410211043.asp

Reviewer: Dan L. - - May 29, 2007
Subject: Review and DVD Navigation Structure

I wrote a review for this piece in the other entry (the non-DVD iso entry at archive.org)

A suggestion: I used download accelerator Plus (DAP) to download this as it failed SEVERAL times without a download manager.

I burnt the .iso using a Roxio product, but the resulting disc was only playable on PCs, not on standalone DVD players. Opening with DVD shrink said there was an invalid navigation structure.

USing RipIt4Me, the incorrect navigation/tracks were autoamtically identified and corrected and was able to re-rip it into a correct iso. Reburning it, it works perfectly now...even on set-top DVD players

Reviewer: Saitchy - - March 31, 2007
Subject: Next - The Trap

This is a work of genius we saw here in the UK a couple of years ago.

Adam Curtis latest three parter, "The Trap" is even more fascinating. Looking at our conception of liberty and how narrow it has becaome. It builds on "The Power of Nightmares" even more.

Reviewer: Jim In Holland - - March 14, 2007
Subject: Great show - terrible accessibility

I can't add more than what is written here - it's a valuable show to have and to share. The problem is that the system times-out as you try to download it...I've been trying for a week now and I can't get farther than 500Mb without being disconnected (http & ftp)

Reviewer: Red Rose - - January 23, 2007
Subject: The Power of Nightmares

A must see for all! However, it seems not all the iso file downloads. I've tried various sfw to write it to DVD, but it doesn't get beyond the 1st 10 minutes or less of the video. Am I doing something wrong? I've ruined 3 DVDs so far.

Red Rose

Reviewer: jdblackwell - - January 16, 2007
Subject: Great as Far as it Goes

Imagine, Americans. An Empire did everything we are trying to do already, mostly better than us, because they actually had a CULTURE to offer the world, beyond Ronald McDonald. One thing we adopted from this empire we rejected, because they were too "liberal" to the natives, is a Jingoist press that cynically manipulated the masses to the worst Imperial fantasies, controlled like ours by a financial elite. One thing we didn't adopt was a public media with an educational mandate. Therefore our citizens are completely ignorant of the world, since they don't read, while the British are taught by Oxford Dons on TV like Adam Curtis. Our little Iraq adventure has reached WW II expense in real dollars, so I have to ask, how is that educational policy working? The facts in this film are validated every day.

You can still be entertained by 24, just like the Russians were entertained by Soviet TV. Just innoculate yourself with this film.

Reviewer: amin-benaya - - January 14, 2007
Subject: good

salut tous

Reviewer: nolight - - January 13, 2007
Subject: Interesting

This film is quite intersting. It offers a different perspektive on how things evolved regarding the conflicts Iraq, 9/11, Afghanistan. Though I have my doubs that all the arguments presented in the film have been evolved the way as stated. If you inverse the argumentation you can clearly see that the linkage does not always work. Especially when in the 3rd film I have my doubts.
Following the line of the film the neocons are responsible for Iraq war and so on; and this is as the only argument. But especially in the last years additional problems became more graven; oil for instance. Shedding light on the conflict in Sudan it is clearly visible that the second level parties (following "The clash of civilizations") are interested in this region because of the oil-richness, as the USA in interested in the Middle-East in order to secure the oil transport to its country.
Imho the problem I have with the film is that there is an extreme narrow focus used as analyzing the conflicts. The ressource problem is something that has increased the potential in the last years; Jemen, South-America, Sudan ...
So the invasion of the Iraq is not that easy by only stating: It is because of the doctrin of the neocons.
This is one facet in a much broader spectrum of problem a state is facing.

Reviewer: benjamindlevin - - December 7, 2006
Subject: funny

i really need to comment on the one star givers. . . who assume that liberals are born with their world view and then go out searching for ways to justify their way of thinking. it is the polar opposite. . . it is only through seeing these things that we become so emblazoned that we must let the whirled know. . . but, especially in the states, we are so pelted with propaganda since birth that it is difficult for any to see clearly. it is amazing, and much needed, that we even have a left in the U.S. i must take this moment to thank free will and open minded thinkers for that one.

Reviewer: justag - - October 25, 2006
Subject: Thanks and possible technical problem

First of all thanks a million for putting this online in high quality and as a DVD.

I encountered what I think is a technical problem with the audio and I'd like to share it with you.
From one test, it seems one audio channel is out of phase with the other channel. If you don't know what phase it it means the positive and negative voltage or 'wires' are reversed (in some software it can do this on purpose or by accident too).
How we can tell this is when the left and right channels are played both from one speaker, we hear less of the center or mono information and more of the left-right or panned information; for example the narrator is much quieter compared to the music when both audio channels are playing, but when only 1 channel is played the voice is at the proper level compared to the music.
I have not been able yet to load the audio in proper software to test this further but it seems that this is the case on initial playback on DVD systems.
I hope that helps.
One other nontechnical thing is I would recommend another picture for the DVD menu (which again thanks for making it!) because it could turn the people we want to see it off.
Thanks again and best regards.

Reviewer: Alexander Burke - - August 30, 2006
Subject: 180 mins

Sun Myung Moon, you are incorrect. The full content of all three episodes is here. I created it, and I've watched it end-to-end. Not even a single frame was cut.

Reviewer: sun myung moon - - August 29, 2006
Subject: this is the edit : (

this is the 100 min edit (not 180 min as stated here) of the three one hour episodes. for the whole program download the individual episodes from here: http://www.archive.org/details/ThePowerOfNightmares
it's well worth it.

Reviewer: Kevin VandeWettering - - August 27, 2006
Subject: Power of Nightmares

I think if you toss the obviously liberal slant of this "documentary" it does contain enough cogent information to be interesting and send you to further research.

The contention that neo-conservatism and radical islam have some of the same goals and methods is interesting. However, in comparison to liberals, this is the status quo.

Liberals employ the same fear tactics against fundamentalist christians and the right.

Neocons want to create unreasonable fear of communism and radical islamics. Liberals want to create unreasonable fear of fundamentalist christians and neocons.

This show is interesting and tries to conceal it's liberal purpose, which is to create fear of the neocons.

That said, it's a good production and does convey some real information. But it stretches things a little bit.... like the story about "poor innocent" Sayyid Kotb who was executed for plotting to flood the entire Nile Delta killing everyone and plotting to kill Nassar (among other rabble rousing) ......

This documentary blames the west for torturing him while he spent 10 years in prison. I dunno. He looks pretty healthy at his final trial. The conclusion that his radicalism was the result of western mistreatment is inane. I think he was just a radical islamic nut.

Reviewer: sugarbob3 - - August 4, 2006
Subject: solid crappy dreams

Anyone who has their head not lodged in their nether regions will know that this is cheap. Facts are exactly not that. This guy was angry and well-misinformed. Great piece to show the future how far modern liberals will go to lie and push their petty agendas. My SUV love Iraqi oil!

Reviewer: brendajc - - August 3, 2006
Subject: Winston the Great

I find it interesting that LiberalismIsAMentalDisorder considers WC to the greatest British Prime Minister...because Winston was the FIRST person to order the gassing of the Kurds in Northern Iraq. I think the official records state that he said "These heathens deserve a good gassing"...perhaps that's where Saddam learned how to be a "great leader" too??!!

Reviewer: geezgrits - - August 1, 2006
Subject: FTP Link

It is a little awkward, but I had success downloading the three segments (mpeg2) from the original link for this film. (the power of nightmares without the DVD suffix). If you have a DVD authoring program, it can be used to assemble the segments and enable you to burn a DVD.

Very educational production. Should be shared world wide.

Reviewer: PMoore - - July 27, 2006
Subject: Problems downloading the FTP

Is anyone else finding that the DVD ISO appears to be 86.6 MB even via the FTP link now?

Can anyone suggest how I can download the DVD?

Reviewer: Leo Belldaere - - July 27, 2006
Subject: A nightmare coming to life before your eyes...

I haven't looked at the DVD, so the review is strictly for the contents.

When I first saw this documentary, it reminded me of Bill Moyers' piece on the military-industrial complex from 1986. It was done in the hazy obfuscation days of the Iran-Contra hearings, and it warned that the machine, if unchecked, will feed on everything in its sight.

BBC's "The Power of Nightmares" takes a closer look at just how we are manipulated, and how the actual reasons for world events are almost never what is disclosed to the public at the time. Its devastating analysis clearly identifies the current culprits right at the head of the United States' Government. Coupled with the Bill Moyers' piece, as well as the Frontline episode on the insanity of Vice President Wicked Witch of the West, it could be laid as the beginnings of the first Bill of Impeachment.

As a bumper sticker says, "If you aren't outraged, you're not paying attention." Well, "The Power of Nightmares" is absolutely worthy of attention.

Reviewer: EuterpeJones - - July 20, 2006
Subject: Required viewing

I'm thankful to the individual who posted this because I've been doing all I can to privately distribute this program. The single most lucid, insightful and informative program I have seen on contemporary global issues. As I have my own copy, I have not downloaded the one here on IA so cannot vouch for print quality etc. However, I urge you to make a point both of seeing, and sharing, this program. Essential.

Segments

Part 1: Baby It's Cold Outside
Part 2: The Phantom Victory
Part 3: The Shadows In The Cave