the audience applauded

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

They are also the guilty ones for terrorism: They make farmers poor, that justify them to be terrorists. --> You have a well known Najma Sadeque; a researcher and prominent women's rights activist "From the World Bank and IMF, and made from grounds from western countries, they;ve all gone (the finances) to benefit the elite and feudal classes. They have not benefited the ordinary people. Experts from nations who are an authority should be accepted to a certain degree to accept the claims made by John Perkins. Another example is that of terrorism: Lord Ahmed of Rotherham -First UK ; & Kaiser Bengali an Economist and Adviser to the Chieft Minister of the Government of Sindh. If they really wanted to flush them out (the terrorists), there was no need for a huge military operation in Swat causing the entire district to become internally displaced persons. The population of Swat is (now) 1.8 million and 2.3 million refugees in the country.If they really want to get the terrorists then they should have carried out a clandestine operation "...Well said... This is the height of evidence you can get from any average documentary.

This is a well done, top notch documentary on the problems of the world, specifically the American Culture. There have been other docs made as well equally as informative. However, like the others is just more about the problem. Ah Media, when you all realize how much power you have to influence, you will begin using that power for the betterment of us all. Spend time on the problem and you perpetuate that. Spend time on the solution and you perpetuate that. I challenge you, now, to spend just as much time if not more on a documentary showcasing the solution because right now we have way too much momentum going in the "woe is me" direction. Oh Media, you also must realize that YOU are The Solution. It is up to us only to continue to make you aware of that power, for you are after all, the Voice of the People. Until you realize and act on such power, all we can do is focus on the solution as it applies to our own small, tiny, individual universe. For I can only affect my life and my world, your life and your world are your responsibility. It's just the way its meant to be. Alas Media, we call you to step up and use your mighty strength for all that positive and good.

A really good and worthwhile documentary that scratches the surface and point out directions. It's all over the Internet by now so take your time and rewind and dig deeper on your own. The gold standard and abolishing of income taxes might be areas that can be further explained, and the terrorist section needs to take religious fanatism into account. It's most important message is that we all need to understand the current unsustainable economic system and collectively take responsibility and start the changes from beneath. And as a side note: I don't know what film user "rune-andresen" have seen, but it can't have been this one.

When a documentary attempts to tackle the most important issues of a generation, from financial instability, to environmental degradation and terrorism, it really needs to be backed up with a lot of solid research. Unfortunately, Four Horsemen hopelessly fails to live up to its ambitions. It touches on everything from the decline of empires, to the expansion of credit and disastrous banking deregulation. It rightfully highlights the asset bubbles, the failures of foreign aid and the counter productive nature of much of the west's foreign policy. But touch is the generous word, as most issues are addressed with little more than a talking head tied together with some slick animation and stock footage. The film is strongest when stating the obvious, highlighting the offences of the banking industry, the predatory lending and illegal foreclosures. Indeed, when describing exactly what is wrong, Four Horsemen takes few risks and lands some critical blows, a welcome reintroduction for a debate that is most conspicuous by its absence. But the first warning sign for the film is when the entire history of human economics is framed in the terms of Classical versus Neoclassical, followed by the pushing of quite extreme Libertarian pet causes proposed as the only possible solutions. It marks wholly disingenuous connections regarding the glory days of the gold standard and becomes almost comical when it praises FDR on one hand and then claims 'income tax is inherently unconstitutional' on the other. A few quotes from the US Constitution and a lecture on the decline of morality, and the whole film starts to feel like a Ron Paul 2012 direct to YouTube creation. Then when casual remarks drop like: 'perhaps global warming isn't the greatest threat to our planet, but the depletion of resources', (a statement that so comprehensively against mainstream scientific opinion which contends we cannot afford to burn even the oil we have found), and the film starts to make Zeitgeist appear the model of impartial reasoning.When this is rapidly followed by 'all foreign aid is bad', suddenly the minuscule on screen presence of the most lauded guests, such highly respected development economic Ha-Joon Chang (who appears on screen just twice for a total of about sixty seconds), and the motives behind the recurring presence of the gold and silver traders becomes a little clearer. The producers of Four Horsemen may be well meaning, and who isn't rightfully outraged at the 'heads we win, tails you lose' attitude of Goldman Sachs and their ilk, or the ridiculous disconnect between real wages and real estate prices? I also doubt the proposition that 'we need more employee owned businesses' would ever lose a show of hands outside a GOP convention. But overflowing as the film is with justified indignation, the proposed solutions have all the hallmarks of a stock Libertarian: 'tax is theft, government is bad' economic thesis, albeit cleverly packaged to sneak in front of a left leaning cinema audience.