The Voyage That Shook the World

Everyone in the scientific community should see this! It's interesting that many of those giving this one star say it isn't scientific, despite the fact that most (all?) of those interviewed hold PhDs in some scientific discipline. They seem to be prejudiced against the conclusions drawn from the science. Their low ratings have nothing whatever to do with the quality of the filmmaking, which is superb.

At least one reviewer says the scientific community is in 100% agreement that evolution is the reason for today's biodiversity, but that statement is false. There are 2.5 million scientists who believe God created the world.

I have just finished reading "The Origin" and since I am about to deliver a presentation on Darwin's take on the origin of language I have been looking for video material on the theory of evolution and Darwin's legacy. After watching Richard Dawkins' brilliant documentary under the title of "The genius of Charles Darwin" I have also stumbled upon this other film which was supposedly celebrating the 150th anniversary of the most important publication the world has ever seen. Eager as I was to learn yet another thing about Darwin and the theory I approached the film with burning enthusiasm only to be severely disappointed. Throughout watching I felt that something was completely out of place partially because the film proved to have no concept at all. But more importantly, the things all these people were talking about had almost nothing to do with the ideas Darwin presented back in 1859 or anything concerning his life that I have read so far. The few things that were related to the facts regarding the theory and Darwin's life were completely distorted. It took me the entire film to understand it was creationist rubbish simply because I was expecting to see something remotely truthful and supported with scientific facts. Finally, the title of the film is misleading, as are the untruthful accreditations and obviously manipulated and misused statements of the majority of the people in the film. I guess without the misleading title no one would feel like watching, so no wonder I have just only now stumbled upon it instead of being made familiar with the film couple of months ago when real scientists were celebrating Darwin.

The perspective of this film comes from those with a point of view opposite of Darwin. While this may seem to paint him in a completely unfavorable light, it does not discredit the work he put in to form his theories.

The interviews from experts tend to paint Darwin in a more positive light acknowledging how his work has influenced science though they also acknowledge some flaws in his reasoning (as might be the case with any scientist). Ultimately, every scientist is influenced by some kind of preconceived notions. Lyell's influence on Darwin was strongly referenced.

The film as a documentary/history was adequate at best. I felt that hearing from experts was informative and intrigues me to hear more of what they may say within their own context to get a fuller picture (I do believe in being well read and researched). The acting and representation of Darwin's life was rather weak.

I do lean towards creationism and would give this a 7/10, though I understand how someone who might lean towards evolution would strongly give a lower rating.

The film presents itself as a serious examination of Darwin and his theory while in fact it appears to be far from this and appears to have a creationist agenda lurking in the background. I say "lurking in the background" because all too often the film lacks the courage of the evident convictions of its producer and director. It points out a number of errors, or alleged errors, that Darwin made on the Beagle voyage, which is fair enough. No doubt Darwin did make errors. But it then uses them to cast doubt on such issues as the age of the earth, suggesting that it is perhaps only a few thousand years old, rather than millions, as all serious scientists accept. Sir Charles Lyell's argument that geology shows that the earth is millions of years old, has not been seriously doubted since, although it is true that he did not give sufficient prominence to examples of sudden catastrophic changes. But the film tries to argue that this casts doubt on the whole theory, which it does not. There is no shred of evidence that all continents and the fossils in them are to be explained by a sudden world-wide and simultaneous flood which submerged the entire globe. The film does not argue, in any case, that the Grand Canyon was created in a sudden cataclysm. The film however never poses the argument directly, presumably because it is unsustainable. The film also states as criticism some points which are false, e.g. that the sea shells which Darwin found high up on the Andes were not fossilized. They were fossilized, as Darwin himself observed and the samples were returned to England. The film makes some valid points about Galapagos finches, which later research seem to show are not always separate species, in the sense that their beaks change from one form to another, but back again in a number of generations. Speciation is a debate within natural selection, but if one was to take on the whole debate and cast doubt on whether species evolve at all, one would have deal with all the intermediate fossils that have been found since Darwin, e.g. archeopteryx and the many Chinese reptile/bird fossils (some of which, yes, were fakes, but most are not), and the many intermediate species between ape and man, let alone DNA evidence. But the film does not attempt this, being apparently content to cast a little doubt here and there, without drawing any firm conclusion.

I didn't get all of the film when I first saw it (maybe I failed the IQ test :) so I watched it again. Each time I watched it my admiration for this film grew. I know the people who made this film and they would have meticulously researched it. They have shown a perspective of Darwin that I don't think has ever been made before. So it's about time we saw something which gives another angle to Darwin which is also true and gives us food for thought. The concept of the film is brilliant - but I don't want to give too much away. It has been made by scientists so expect technical terms. It is so refreshing to have a film which challenges our preconceptions and beliefs instead of toeing the evolutionary party line.