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The Power of Nightmares

Original title: The Power of Nightmares: The Rise of the Politics of Fear
  • TV Mini Series
  • 20042004
  • 2h 37m
IMDb RATING
8.8/10
4.4K
YOUR RATING
The Power of Nightmares (2004)
DocumentaryHistory
A series of three documentaries about the use of fear for political gain.A series of three documentaries about the use of fear for political gain.A series of three documentaries about the use of fear for political gain.
IMDb RATING
8.8/10
4.4K
YOUR RATING
  • Stars
    • Gilles Kepel
    • William Kristol
    • Melvin Goodman
  • Stars
    • Gilles Kepel
    • William Kristol
    • Melvin Goodman
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 33User reviews
    • 27Critic reviews
    • 78Metascore
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Won 1 BAFTA Award

    Episodes3

    Browse episodes
    TopTop-rated
    1 Season
    2004

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    The Power of Nightmares (2004)
    The Power of Nightmares (2004)
    The Power of Nightmares (2004)
    The Power of Nightmares (2004)

    Top cast

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    Gilles Kepel
    • Self - Historian of Islamist Movement
    William Kristol
    William Kristol
    • Self
    Melvin Goodman
    Melvin Goodman
    • Self - Head of Office of Soviet Affairs CIA 1976-87
    Michael Ledeen
    Michael Ledeen
    • Self…
    Stephen Holmes
    • Self - Political Philosopher
    Richard Perle
    • Self…
    Azzam Tamimi
    • Self - Institute of Islamic Political Thought
    Mikhail Gorbachev
    Mikhail Gorbachev
    • Self - General Secretary Soviet Communist Party
    David Brock
    David Brock
    • Self
    Milton Bearden
    Milton Bearden
    • Self - CIA Field Officer - Afghanistan 1985-89
    Jack Wheeler
    Jack Wheeler
    • Self - Adviser to the Reagan White House 1981-84
    John Molloy
    • Self - Defence Lawyer Lackawanna Trial
    Lewis Z. Koch
    • Self - Bulletin of Atomic Scientists
    John Prados
    • Self - National Security Archive - Washington
    Joe Conason
    Joe Conason
    • Self - Author 'The Hunting of the President'
    Roxanne Euben
    • Self - Political Scientist
    Sam Schmidt
    • Self - Defence Lawyer Embassy Bombings Trial
    Richard Pipes
    • Self
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

    Edit
    • Quotes

      Michael Lind: For the neo-conservatives, religion is an instrument of promoting morality. Religion becomes what Plato called a "noble lie". It is a myth which is told to the majority of the society by the philosophical elite in order to ensure social order.

    • Alternate versions
      For its second BBC broadcast in January 2005, part 3 was updated to reflect the Law Lords' recent ruling that the detention without trial of foreign terrorist suspects was illegal.
    • Connections
      Edited from Nosferatu (1922)
    • Soundtracks
      The Big Ship
      Written by Brian Eno

      Performed by Brian Eno (as Eno)

    User reviews33

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    10/10
    But the Emperor has no Clothes!
    This remarkable documentary, well written, researched, and articulate, traces the odd, parallel paths of the rise and failures of the Islamist movement and the movement of the American neoconservatives. What makes this documentary so outstanding is not just that it clearly exposes many of the myths of the so-called "War on Terror," but the fact that it places the power of these myths in a larger and very important context.

    This film's position is clearly that it is the failure of belief and of ideology in Western societies that has allowed neoconservative extremists to fill the gap with nightmares in order to assert power and influence.

    Fear works well when people do not believe in anything, since that lack of faith makes them quite vulnerable. For the Islamists, fear attempts to fill the gap in societies that have lost their Islamic faith and roots.

    The dirty little secret underlying all this is that both groups, the Islamists and the Neoconservatives, are, at the core, nihilists, in spite of their ideological rants and pretensions. One can only hope that a discerning public will eventually be exposed to the hollow, vain, and arrogant "men behind the curtain" in both societies, so that all can realize that these wizards of terror are just empty charlatans.

    The sooner that happens, the sooner we can all click our ruby slippers together and return to Kansas, and, hopefully, to some measure of sanity, and, perhaps to a genuine faith.
    helpful•24
    6
    • khuban
    • Sep 4, 2006

    Details

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    • Release date
      • October 20, 2004 (United Kingdom)
      • United Kingdom
      • BBC (United Kingdom)
      • English
    • Also known as
    • Production company
      • British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • 2 hours 37 minutes
      • Color
      • Stereo

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