Lumsdal Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Jenna Walter The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

alucardzybell This is probably one of the worst movies ever made. I had pretty high expectations of this film, but they were quickly crushed.First of all, there is almost no plot to this movie until the end. I sat through it twice to try to figure out what was going on. In the beginning, it shows a bunch of whinny brats crying about how the government controls everything and that we need Anarchy.When the movie starts to develop a plot, it is pretty horrid. Johnny Black is the main villain. I know what most people are thinking, "Wow, they got real creative with character names!" Anyways, the lead character hooks up with Johnny Black in order to spread Anarchism, but Puck (the lead character) quickly realizes how "bad" Johnny Black really is and kills him and all of his terrorist buddies.The only good part of this movie, was at one point the "anarchists" were questioning people some religious people at a seminar.Watching paint dry is more interesting than this piece of garbage. Don't buy the DVD or VHS, it will decrease the value of the dust that it collects. Don't download it, there are better things for you can use hard drive space for such as viruses. If someone gives you a copy of this movie, immediately destroy it. This movie has scarred me for life!

k_elliott007 I think this movie was totally worth seeing. It's shaped around one character who's entire life is centered around fitting in. Then the filmmakers take this concept of anarchy and throw this guy into the middle of it. He wants to just fit in but "how far will he go?". The story twists around his wanting to fit in and his conscience of what is actually right and wrong. The characters are by no means Abercrombie and Fitch, but more normal everyday looking people.This movie has depth that some people might not be able to see...and even though sometimes it might get slow maybe they did it on purpose for you to reflect or so you can say yeah I'm not just watching another mindless movie.Also this movie points at social issues like the 60's hippie movement. And how it's shaped us now, instead of hippies were anarchist. Or how were always trying to rebel against something. It's very interesting to see the "new age hippie" mixed in with the radical 60's hippies (who are now adults).So if you don't want to see another mindless Hollywood carbon copy this is definitely an interesting movie to see.

mario10zeus Let's see, we have Anarchists, Nihilists, anti-government right-wingers, wealthy Republicans, Neo-Nazis, but no Democrats at all. Being a moderate Democrat which at times veers towards Centrism, I found this movie lacking a bit. While some scenes were smart, others came off as stupid, un-original, un-realistic and improvised. Puck lives with his friends in a Anarchist commune somewhere in Texas. These are Anarchist that resemble more flower children. One day, a Nihilist called Johnny Black shows up, offer everyone drugs and violence as a weapon and somehow becomes the leader. Later on, the Anrchist forge an alliance wit other anti-establishment groups such as Neo-Nazis. First of all, not all Anarchists are peace loving intellectuals. Many are upper-class spoiled brats that simply want to vandalize anything (Yes I know plenty of these, they do exist). Many do follow Anarchist theory but fail to realize it's utopianism. Johnny Red the early leader,constantly lionizes Sweden as an exemplary society but somehow Social Democrats are missing from the film's universe. Anarchists tend to be socially liberal and would NEVER form an alliance with Neo-Nazis. If Puck didn't agree with the system, he could of found ways to subvert it by integrating himself into alternative cultures and political movements (YES, lobbying does work). Other reviewers are correct in pointing out the similarities between this movie and SLC Punk and Trainspotting. Despite its plot's weakness, Anarchist Cookbook has a witty script and at moments stylish direction. Gina Phillips as the commune temptress, steals most of her scenes.

bootscootin The Anarchist Cookbook is a well produced film. The style of the film is excellent and it fits the subject matter well. All of the actors put on a passable performance. And as another reviewer noted, the film made mention of political things not often mentioned in a film of this kind.Even though I enjoyed the film, I don't think it accomplished what the director intended too. Unless the director was trying to preach to the choir with this film, this film missed the mark. I can't imagine any real anarchist being convinced by this film and it has nothing to do with them being "close minded" or anything like that.I you are to effectively argue against an anarchist, you need to show them WHY things are the way they are and WHY it needs to be done that way. You can't JUST say that this is the way it is and you have to go a long with it. The anarchists have arguments for why things shouldn't be. Anyone who is to challenge them needs to show why things have to be the way they are. Saying "JUST BECAUSE!" is not only predictable to an anarchist, it also isn't very convincing to anyone who doesn't all ready hold your view point.Anyone who thinks the film defeats anarchists should definitely do a double take. Look at this page for instance, the anarchists are still standing and it's because of what I explained in the above paragraph. This is what this film does and that's why it fails.Also, I'd like to note that people like Johnny Black are not exclusive to anarchism and nihilism. There is a Johnny Black in every political movement. Left and Right. Anyone could use violence to advance their political ambitions. It's a universal thing in politics.To sum things up, the presentation of the film was good. Though, the film won't convince anyone to change their views and will only empower people who wouldn't agree with anarchism all ready.