Flock of Dodos: The Evolution-Intelligent Design Circus (2006)

Director:

Randy Olson

Writer:

Randy Olson (writer)

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

Evolutionary Ecologist, Randy Olson, tries to find out just who is the real "Flock of Dodos"

Plot:

Filmmaker and evolutionary biologist Randy Olson tries to figure out if it is the Darwinists or Intelligent Design supporters who will become a flock of dodos.

Plot Keywords:

Intelligent Design | Dodos | Evolution

Cast

Michael Behe	...	Intelligent Design Supporter (as Michael Behe Ph.D.)
John Calvert	...	Intelligent Design Supporter
Jack Cashill	...	Intelligent Design Supporter
Tom Givnish	...	Evolutionist
Randy Olson	...	Himself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Erik Alden
Dr. David Bottjer	...	Evolutionist
Carol Brown
Jeff Brown
John L. Burch
Dr. John Angus Campbell	...	Intelligent Designer
Ty Carlisle
Dr. Steve Case	...	Evolutionist
Dr. Michael Donoghue	...	Evolutionist
Ron Etter	...	Evolutionist
Dr. Daphne Fautin	...	Evolutionist
Sue Gamble	...	Moderate Republican
Thomas Givnish	...	Evolutionist
Dr. James Handen	...	Evolutionist
Dr. William Harris	...	Intelligent Designer
Ed Leydecker
Dr. Karel Liem	...	Evolutionist
Dr. Donal Manahan	...	Evolutionist
Kathy Martin	...	Conservative Repbulican
Bob Muller	...	Evolutionist
Steven Orzack	...	Evolutionist
Dr. Jane Pickering	...	Evolutionist
Pastor Edward Rowand
Mark Skinner	...	Evolutionist
Bill Wagon	...	Democrat
Dr. Jonathan Wells	...	Intelligent Designer

MPAA:

Rated PG for some thematic elements and brief mild language.

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby | Stereo (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Dover, Pennsylvania, USA

Company:

Prairie Starfish Productions

The Scientific Community's Extinct-ential crisis

I was lucky enough to go to a small screening of FOD at my college. Randy Olson was present at the end to discuss opinions and answer questions.

What struck me about this movie was how unashamedly it looks at pretension and ego in the scientific community today. Though ostensibly about the Evolution vs. Intelligent Design debate, this movie delves quite deeply into the levels of effective communication between scientist and layman. Anyone out there who's ever studied under a particularly brilliant professor will know exactly what I mean- they usually have quite earth-shatteringly amazing ideas and thoughts that they are woefully unequipped to communicate to the rest of us mortals.

The movie covers the Evolution/ID debate (and its theological implications) from a variety of perspectives, ranging from Conservative right-wingers to Athiest Liberals. To be entirely honest, I went in to see this movie with a preexisting bias- I am a student of Evolution and an Athiest. However, what I like about this movie is that it does not hide or suppress the opinions of either side, but lets them be heard. While my opinion on Evolution remains unchanged, this movie did uproot some prejudices in my mind relating to certain very common social stereotypes. Fundamentalist Christians are not necessarily scary bible-spouting messengers of doom, nor are scientists with an arsenal of PhDs necessarily the calm voice of reason.

Ultimately, Flock of Dodos is precise, to the point, and in a way- manages to do exactly what it asks the scientific community to do. It communicates a complex idea to the everyman without resorting to falsification or 'dumbing-down.' (9*/10*)