the leading man is my tpye

Sorry, this movie sucks

it is the rare 'crazy' movie that actually has something to say.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

It is probably best that I hold my hands up from the start and say that, in regards this film I am a member of choir. I am pretty liberal but on the subject of terrorism legislation I do think I have a right to an opinion because of my experiences as a Northern Irish man in England. I note that some critics of this film have criticised it for the way that it does paint things in a very bad light and, while I agree to a point, I do also think that there is a certain amount of "it'll never happen to me" thinking, similar to the "if you have nothing to hide what is the problem" school of thought. However having been arrested and held for being on the same street as Prince Charles would later visit that same day (after several court appearances, the charges were thrown out). So I do have a certain amount of sympathy with those that fear being wrongly targeted by those given the powers to do so if they wish.However I must be careful not to let me agreeing with the politics of the film totally cloud my view on it because, as much as I agree with it, it is not that great a documentary. It is too simplistic in some regards and it just seems to throw examples at the screen in the aim of hitting the audience with so much stuff it has no time to digest, consider or reflect. The strongest documentaries build their case and let you come along with them to the point where you find it hard to disagree; those films that simply dollop it out are doing the audience a disservice and tend to be those that fail to win over anyone other than those who already agree with the message. So it is here and it is a real shame because moment by moment it is compelling stuff. While nowhere near the degree where we cower in our homes after curfew, liberties are being squeezed and the many examples make it hard to ignore as an issue. However it doesn't pull it together in a focused fashion and ultimately seems to think the point will just make itself. The rather rebellious tone suits some of the material but at times goes too far and again makes this a film "for the audience" – the closing song is the most extreme example of this and quite unnecessary.It is a shame it is not better because it is an important topic but, while it is compelling stuff, the failure to really deliver a killer argument or a strong structure is its undoing in regards winning the hearts of the undecided viewer. Goes without saying that, for the choir, it is great stuff, but I wanted it to do more than just tick the target audience box.

Chris Atkins Documentary carrys some interesting accounts of the erosion of civil liberty's in great Britain, some of it I've seen before, such as the use of control orders on entirely innocent people and also the banning of protests outside the house of commons, though there is certainly a lot to focus on and even get you angry in certain parts. Taking a Michael Moore esquire approach with the use of archive footage, from silent films and also a cynical yet witty narration (provided by actors David Morrisey and Ashley Jensen), some have described the film as our version of Fahrenheit 9/11, which it is'nt as that film set out to show the incompetence of George W Bush, TAKING LIBERTIES exposes the fundamentally flawed and fear mongering policy of the British government led under Blair, to slowly erode civil liberty's and bring in new laws and change existing laws, that eventually let pensioners on peaceful protests become arrested under the terrorism act, putting them in the same league as Taliban extremists, destroying the right to protest outside of military basis', weapons factory's and the house of commons itself, and causing the police to swoop in vast numbers on anyone even thinking of waving a placard and most disturbingly of all putting control orders on Muslims who have been convicted in a court of law, as innocent and forcing them to remain in a designated area and effectively making them prisoners in there own home. The film approaches this in light hearted at times yet essentially serious manner, and my only criticism of it is that I would have liked to have more views on the other side of the coin, from the politicians who implement these laws, to at least argue there point, though in retrospect, probably no politician would want to appear in front of the camera for this film for fear of embarrassing themselves. Will civil liberty's change under Gordon Brown now that Blair has left, it's hard to tell and if your like me, i'm cynical and think, no, nothing will probably change, if you have a threat of terror, the best way to assure the public is to keep this threat up and then the public will be behind any change in law as long as it stops the extremists from blowing us up (see Adam Curtis' documentary series THE POWER OF NIGHTMARES to get a full picture on the use of terror and fear). Though one thing we can do, and in many respects the one prevailing factor in LIBERTIES is to keep a chin up and laugh at the absurdity of it all.

...ask what your country can do to you.The central thesis of this film aligns itself nicely with the Mark Thomas (who appears in the film) comment that "If You're not p*****d off, you've not been paying attention". It shows by example the story of the gradual erosion of our civil liberties that has been occurring in the recent years, concentrating particularly on the last decade. This is a subject which should have us all handing over our hard earned to be educated and entertained by.The artful thing about this film is the fact that it cleverly manages to take a fairly dry subjects of civil liberties and human rights, "Not normally box office dynamite" to quote Chris Atkins, and present it in an entertaining and even amusing way. Very much in the tradition of The Road to Guantanamo this film is as shocking but with a greater capacity to entertainment, which will hopefully mean that it will appeal to a wider audience.Whether you believe that it is the press to blame for forcing gullible media hungry politicians into rushing through knee jerk, badly drafted laws or that there are more sinister forces at work or especially if you are blissfully unaware of what your government has been doing in your name this film holds something for you. See it and tell your friends!

It had to happen. Noting the success of the Michael Moore anti-Bush polemic 'Fahrenheit 9/11', someone in the U.K. has tried to fashion a similar movie attacking Tony Blair's Labour Government. The trouble is there's not enough evidence to support the extraordinary claims it makes. Yes, the arrest of Maya Evans and Milan Rai for reading out the names of Iraq war victims opposite the Cenotaph in Whitehall was regrettable, as was the detaining of Walter Wolfgang under the terrorism laws for heckling Jack Straw's speech at a Labour conference ( you must remember that the security men were keen to avoid a repeat of the previous year's conference when Blair was heckled by Tory infiltrators ), and Gloucestershire police preventing a bus load of anti-war demonstrators from protesting outside RAF Fairford, but do these and other incidents combined paint a picture of a totalitarian government hellbent on destroying cherished freedoms? No!It is easy to make a film of this kind. You scour the news archive, cherry pick the bits that best serve your agenda, interview malcontents, string them together, overlay ominous sounding narration and music, and hey presto - you've got yourself a conspiracy movie. The only M.P.'s to appear are Boris Johnson, Ken Clarke and Clare Short. Is Chris having a laugh or what?Ask yourself this - if ( as Chris claims ) we really do live in a police state, why hasn't the Government suppressed this film and thrown its creator in jail? No mention of Britain under Thatcher, of course, when trade unions were banned from G.C.H.Q., when police stopped and searched cars during the 1984 Miners' Strike to block pickets from travelling around the country, when the G.L.C. was abolished simply because the P.M. did not like it, when Clive Ponting nearly went to jail for speaking the truth about the sinking of the Belgrano, when Trident protesters at Greenham Common were smeared as Communist sympathisers, when miners were beaten senseless for trying to protect their jobs, when London saw the worst riots in its history thanks to the hated poll tax and when Thames Television lost its franchise because it made a programme - 'Death On The Rock' - the Tory Government did not like. More recently, we have had Section 28. That, Mr.Atkins, was a true police state.When the evidence is not deemed strong enough to support his argument, he brazenly distorts the truth. For instance, he claims Blair has taken away an ancient right to protest near Parliament. That right never existed.Its true that, in the wake of the London bombings, security has had to be tightened up and one expects that. Which is the greater evil - having one's right to demonstrate curtailed or being murdered by fanatics? In all the palaver over identity cards, it seems to have been forgotten that the Tories were once keen on the idea. So come off your hobbyhorse, Chris.There's an interesting documentary to be made about civil liberties, but this is not it. I note that ads have been appearing on pro-fox hunting websites. When it comes out on D.V.D. it should be double billed with Channel 4's 'The Great Global Warming Swindle', another steaming turd-pile of lies and half-truths. If you're thinking of seeing this, don't bother.CODA: Its November 2013, and the Tory-led coalition government has ruled out a full enquiry to the Ed Snowden claims that the N.S.A. have been monitoring U.K. emails and phone calls. "The innocent have nothing to fear!", says foreign secretary William Hague. If Tony Blair had said that when he was P.M., the Murdoch press would have had a field day. Any plans to make 'Taking Liberties 2', Chris?