hyped garbage

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

I have read a lot of posts online & the majority of the naysayers are upset because portions of the show are staged. It is a TV show, not the nightly news folks, so get a grip! Does it completely and accurately portray everything about daily Amish life? Probably not. I won't say yes or no because I didn't grow up Amish! However, does it give someone like me a picture of just how different their lifestyle and culture is, good and bad? Yes, I believe it does. Obviously no lawyer is going to allow their clients to be filmed committing felonious acts. Duh! But does stuff like that really happen? Probably. Have any of you people ever read the Old Testament? Not so different, my point being it has been around since the beginning and no one is immune, because human nature is what it is. But the show tells a lot of things about everyday Amish life. Why would anyone who has ever watched Oprah or Dr. Phil be surprised that women like Esther and Mary have suffered abuse that was never reported? Sadly, it happens every day and no community is immune. My heart goes out to them both and I'm glad they now feel empowered enough to speak out. Maybe that will empower other women in their community to speak out as well. I give full credit to the producers and crew who have worked hard to show us an interesting slice of Amish life and manage to make it really entertaining. One more thing: my dad wasn't raised Amish, but he was an old country boy who only had an 8th grade education but grew to be a very successful businessman. He told me stories about stuff he and his friend (who grew up to be a judge) did as boys. Not much different than some of the stuff Lebanon Levi and his crew do on the show. I'll take this show any day over "Survivor" as "reality" TV. Much less offensive and much more entertaining!!!

They are having a "Holy War" how cute! This show is just a little bit better than playing space invaders (a 35 yr old video game that truly suk'd). Calling their fellow Americans "The English" is no different than us "English" calling South America natives "The Mexicans" lol.The dirty deeds the "Amish Mafia" do,and worse also happen every day in rural America! I know many Amish, Mennonites... all of them good people. The show just capitalizes on the worst of them, which ain't bad compared to the rest of the world.When is Discovery going to do a show about Reveren Poppoff? Lol. I would like to see some background on these folks that are getting the miracle healings!

If you watch the show, various items are fully explained. If you are in the book, you were born Amish, but until you are baptized, technically you are not, which is how Lebanon Levi operates outside the rules. He is the necessary evil that the church allows to do their dirty work. Why would you watch a show about Amish farming and being boring? You wouldn't. So of course you are going to film thousands and thousands of hours of footage of people who have criminal records and show the most interesting parts of it. Shows like Dexter, Breaking Bad, The Sopranos were all quite popular (and scripted with actors), but if you could capture similar drama live with any group, such as this group of Amish / Mennonites, why not? They are people/human with desires/greed/lust for power. Even the bishop put his own desires/needs ahead of the community. He made a deal with Levi to "take care of" Caleb in order to keep him away from his daughter, pretty much wiping clean all the other things he did in exchange for his personal wants/desires. Merlin is a delusional egomaniac who uses "God" as an excuse to attack Levi at every opportunity. Instead of staying in his own little kingdom, he treats his little friend Wayne like crap and attacks Levi for no reason, joins with Alan and the Kentucky rednecks to go after Levi. All Levi did to retaliate was talk to his Bishop. If he was smart, he and Wayne should join forces!Esther is a power-hungry bitch that would sell out her own brothers for power in a small community. John seems like he would do anything for her. Why not just leave the Amish? I can understand being scared of Freeman. Though not possessed, there is something certainly "off" about him. I am sure that some of the "re-enactments" are done with a lot more effects / pyrotechnics than the original event, but again, do you want to see a buggy explode or do you want to see a flame burn for hours and hours?

I can believe the Amish might use their own "police" force rather than depend upon outside authority. And I can believe that drugs and prostitution have probably found their way into the community and are generally hushed up. I can even be persuaded that the cars Levi uses are paid for from the earnings of his privately owned company rather than from money extorted from his community. And there are manipulative women, thugs, and both simple and stupid men in the communities around the Amish, so why wouldn't they also exist inside the Amish community. All of this I can believe.What I can not believe at this point is that a rival Amish "police" group from Ohio would try to start an interstate take-over of the group in Lancaster, Pa. These are relatively small communities with small groups of thugs that can barely maintain control over their own communities let alone attempt to take control of other communities over three hundred miles away from their home territory.