Good concept, poorly executed.

A different way of telling a story

I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

I recently viewed ETHOS and it just increased my lack of trust in big business and government practices.Not too long ago some friends and I were discussing many topics and politics came up. We were looking for a brief but accurate description of politics.We didn't find one.I went to sleep still thinking about this.I woke up three hours later with an acronym: Persons Of Low Integrity Talking In CircleSDoes this work?

Hosted by twice Oscar nominated actor Woody Harrelson, Ethos explores the mechanisms in our systems that work against democracy, the environment and our own personal liberty.Harrelson says "it would be illogical to expect politicians to change a system that puts them in power". True, but only if we accept that the system is so far gone that it cannot be changed. Bernie Sanders is a case in point, showing that (although rare) dissident voices can get into the ring.Another reviewer says the problem with this documentary is that it is clipped from other documentaries. That does seem to be a problem, on top of Harrelson's desire to suggest conspiracy theories are sometimes real.The film has a big reliance on Chomsky, including his insights into Bernays and Walter Lippmann. While Chomsky is in here, it seems (like everyone else) his footage was taken from other sources. He would have been more than happy to appear for five minutes to discuss these topics...

How do you rate a film like this? As a documentary, it makes a number of relevant points about the biggest problems within the structure of our society. Unfortunately, none of this material is new. Most of it is lifted directly from 2003's excellent documentary, "The Corporation" (http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=SnE8D3tgZ5c), and much is also lifted from "Zeitgeist 2" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gKX9TWRyfs). The only thing original to "Ethos" is Woody Harrelson's presence. When I say that most of this film's material is "lifted" from other films, I really mean "excerpted," or "plagarized." Do not watch this film expecting it to be an original creation. Contrarily to how it bills itself, it is in fact a compilation of other documentaries.As a compilation of sorts, Ethos works fine -- but frankly, I find it a little offensive that this film doesn't announce itself as such. A less informed viewer might assume this film to be wholly original, which would be -- apart from Harrelson's narration -- wholly inaccurate.Truthfully, you should pass-up "Ethos" and watch "The Corporation" and "Zeitgeist 2" instead. Footage from these two documentaries comprise a great deal of "Ethos," so if you like what you see here, you're honestly better-off watching the original films which have been liberally excerpted from.Given the dishonest way the film presents itself as something other than a compilation, I can't bring myself to award it more than a single star. But do keep in mind that, as a compilation, "Ethos" does serve as a nice summary of two or three other great documentaries. And, it must be said: Woody Harrelson's presence is seldom a bad thing.

I stumbled across this documentary online because it was free to watch on their official site, as well as on youtube. I would say my knowledge on the US political system is basic, but I'm interested in building upon it, more than what the big media corporations feed us. Because of that reason, Ethos was a delight seeing. It captivated my interest right away, especially when Woody Harrelson started narrating lol. I knew that he's a good actor but seeing him in this docu made me separate the actor from the "White Men Can't Jump" character.It touched on a few subjects like the environment, capitalism influencing our gov't, role of big businesses in politics, Sept 11, propaganda, apathy in the public, among other juicy topics. With a running time of 52 mins (Director's Cut is 72 mins), it piqued and kept my interest with a non-sluggish pace. More importantly, after seeing the movie, Ethos motivated me to learn more so I checked out the official Ethos website which had some helpful links and recommendations.It had several good messages, and one that I remember most vividly is that consumers have power/voice/influence in how businesses conduct their business. Choosing to buy from a socially-conscious business versus a company that isn't sends a message to both companies, one of support, the other of disapproval.I rated this 9/10 because it was one of my favorite documentaries, I don't regret seeing it, and I recommended it to friends.