Surely the film's greatest offense is the utter shamelessness with which it exploits the Holocaust.
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed (2008)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:41
Fresh:4
Rotten:37
Average Rating:2.9/10
Consensus: Full of patronizing, poorly structured arguments, Expelled is a cynical political stunt in the guise of a documentary.
Rated: PG [See Full Rating] for thematic material, some disturbing images and brief smoking.
Runtime: 1 hr 35 mins
Genre: Education/General Interest
Theatrical Release:2008-04
Box Office: $7,499,617
Synopsis: Though Ben Stein is perhaps most famous for his sleep-inducing drone in FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF or for his eponymous game show, he is also a highly regarded New York Times columnist and was a... Though Ben Stein is perhaps most famous for his sleep-inducing drone in FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF or for his eponymous game show, he is also a highly regarded New York Times columnist and was a speechwriter for both Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford during their presidencies. For EXPELLED: NO INTELLIGENCE ALLOWED, he needs all his powers of persuasion as he calls attention to the plight of exiled scientists and professors. In this documentary, Stein travels the world and speaks to men and women who have lost their jobs and their standings in the scientific world because of their association with intelligent design. EXPELLED uses the Berlin Wall as a metaphor and asserts that these people have been unjustly ousted, merely for speaking their minds. It carefully explains the differences between creationism and intelligent design and demonstrates that the latter is a belief held by people of all deity-based faiths, not just Christianity. It also devotes time to the connections between Darwinism and Hitler's regime. The film's climax features Stein going head-to-head with Richard Dawkins, a renowned atheist and author of the bestseller THE GOD DELUSION. Obviously, neither man budges in his firmly held beliefs, but it's fascinating to watch a debate between two undeniably intelligent men, regardless of whose side you're on. EXPELLED doesn't spend most of its time debating intelligent design and evolution. Instead it focuses largely on how the debate itself and its proponents have been ignored or pushed out of classrooms and academia. Filmmaker Nathan Frankowski inserts both original animations and clips of famous films (including PLANET OF THE APES and THE WIZARD OF OZ) to further illustrate his point. Though critics may find fault with EXPELLED for its one-sidedness, it's no more biased than any of Michael Moore's critically lauded documentaries. [More]
Starring: Richard Dawkins
Starring: Richard Dawkins
Director: Nathan Frankowski
Director: Nathan Frankowski
Screenwriter: Kevin Miller, Walt Ruloff, Ben Stein
Producer: Logan Craft, Walt Ruloff, John Sullivan
Composer: Andy Hunter, Robbie Bronnimann
Studio: Rocky Mountain Pictures
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Reviews for Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
This is propaganda, a political rant disguised as a serious commentary on stifled freedom of inquiry.
It shows us bogus security files, as if some cabal is spying on everyone. It shirks the facts. And it madly edits images to equate Darwin with Hitler, and Ben Stein with -- yes -- Ronald Reagan. Typical of all propaganda, it also distorts language.
Stein's schlumpy presence is disarming, though his know-it-all nature is at odds with his free-speech posing.
Stein's credibility is blown on this poorly constructed diatribe, and you'd be smart to save your bucks.
Expelled may prove to be as controversial as the producers hope, but the reactions will be more entertaining and elucidating than the film itself.
"...raises some interesting questions about evolutionary theory, but does so in such a smug, disingenuous and self-serving manner it's hard to take the movie seriously.
Either the filmmakers suckered these [pro-Darwinist] participants under false pretenses, or the evolutionists are more open to debate than Stein suggests.
The movie itself is an example of design by faith and emotion rather than intelligence, defined as rationality grounded in proof.
One of the sleaziest documentaries to arrive in a very long time, Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed is a conspiracy-theory rant masquerading as investigative inquiry.
Stein claims to denounce the tyranny of dogma, then browbeats us with his own.
Stein spends the first half of the movie setting himself a trap, and the second half squirming in it.
No intelligence allowed, indeed, as Ben Stein misguidedly crusades against what he perceives as the science community’s slavish devotion to natural selection.
[T]he No. 1 agenda [here] has much less to do with academic freedom than with political ideology.
A cynical attempt to sucker Christian conservatives into thinking they're losing the 'intelligent design' debate because of academic 'prejudice.'
The filmmakers' intentions are kept deliberately vague but it's a surprisingly entertaining and informative doc that at least tries to address the debate over 'intelligent design' from another angle.
[I]n a saner universe... you could scoff at Stein and dismiss him and not give this propagandistic nonsense another thought. But... [y]ou need to see this movie because these people are not going away...
For a film about American freedom of expression and the necessity for open dialogue, it's hard to imagine Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed being more one-sided, narrow-minded, and intellectually dishonest.
The man made famous by Ferris Bueller, however, quickly wades into waters far too deep for him.
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