Skeptic Project

Disclaimer: This is not an unbiased review. I went into this completely biased against The Venus Project.

First off, this narrator sucks. I mean really sucks. He sounds like he weighs 800 pounds and is constantly breathing through his mouth. He even has subtitles for when asking Fresco a question, and Fresco is the one I usually have trouble understanding. That might sound petty, but it really made watching the movie difficult. I devour documentary films, and from a production standpoint this one was a pile of shit.

Second, this is a conspiracy flick. Oh, the gnashing of teeth and the tearing of hair that will no doubt cause Zeitgeisters who read this. But yeah, the damn thing totally relies on the narrative of evil outside forces somehow always stopping someone from saving the world. Someone always kills Fresco's dreams. Someone always steals his patents. Nothing is ever Fresco's fault, but he seems to take credit for everything. Classic CT.

I mean seriously blueprints of a floating blimp city with propellers? Some goofy sci-fi nonsense from the 20s? This is the best example they could use for all of these supposed blueprints Fresco has stashed away?

The only tangible contribution Fresco seems to have made that the movie shows is in the area of pre-manufactured homes. It seems Fresco helped pioneer the creation of America's trailer parks. Thanks, I guess.

If I had not gone into this already being skeptical of Fresco's real background, I would imagine all these wild claims about why nothing is patented in his name and his intellectual dismissal of Albert Einstein would sound pretty impressive. The passing credit to Fuller also made me chuckle, because he made it sound like he was schooling Fuller rather than simply ripping off Fuller's ideas.

One thing that really struck me were the early photos of Jacque. The first thing that leapt to my mind was James Randi's Amazing Randi gimmick. The pipe, the stern way in which he was staring into whatever piece of junk he happened to be holding, everything. These were staged press photos. This guy understands showbiz, and it really shows where he is lecturing a group of old farts in Florida who probably vote Republican. No longer is he Jacque the scientist. He is clearly Jacque the guru. The old farts look very bored.

The segment about the construction of the Venus Project is totally and completely dishonest. It makes it sound like these dome buildings and everything around them are using sustainable energy and food supplies. Well that's bullshit. The Venus Project uses conventional energy and buys conventional food. Hell, you can see a damn satellite TV dish sticking up out of the ground. This segment did make me understand why Zeitgeisters are obsessed with palm trees and dome buildings. Its part of the dogma.

Also, none of the models have doors. What is with this guy and not having doors? Fresco clearly states that the models are not supposed to be literal designs, and yet every single thing I have seen in regards to The Venus Project are exact copies. My interpretation? Classic guru plausible deniability. Its like the self help guy who charges you twenty bucks for a book that flat out tells you this might not work for you. They'll happily take your cash, just not any responsibility for what they're selling.

The influence of Star Trek is very, very obvious. His descriptions of the "homes of the future" are essentially nothing more than a rip off of Star Trek. Personally, one of the things I always found creepy about Star Trek was how everyone knew where everyone was all the time. That is not appealing to me.

I got exactly what I expected to get out of this film: an 88 minute long advertisement for Jacque Fresco.

Verdict: NO FUCKIN STARS

good review.Even the music played during his description of the homes of the future and the various parts of the home was awful.Seriously how do people compare him to Leonardo Da vici.Sure Da vincis science and inventions are impractical (even comparable to Jaques)but hey at least Da vinci didnt steal his ideas and work from others.

Is there a link where I can watch this over the internet?

I dont know it used to be on youtube but i guess Fresco or Peter took it down.I downloaded it on rapidshare about six months ago(you never was gonna take my money for you even when I was a fan yours Fresco!!)

ps Matt! dont use Edward's profile pic! Is confusing! :D

Nah!!

It would be a lie if Jebus tried to make up excuses for his error after being called on it.

If he says "oops, I was wrong" that is called a mistake.

See, that is the difference between an error and a lie.

Unlike TZM, people here care about being accurate. Not right.

Edit: Never mind. He wasn't even wrong.

You mean it got your vote of 2x10stars or that it now stands at that on imdb.
If it is the latter than it is a lie - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0870112/ (7.8/10)

Check the review section, two reviews with 10 stars and one without rating (or it doesn't show for me). Nuthin moar.

Give me back my jacket!