Orientation: A Scientology Information Film

The movie: okay, this was bad. Unspeakably bad, but to the person informed about the truth about Scientology, kind of funny in a very sad way (think "Battlefield Earth," only worse, and with a lot of the same people involved). The audience won't be getting an unbiased view of this cult, but that's to be expected in a feature produced by the Church. What's unexpected is the degree to which it is pure, unadulterated propaganda, at a level that would make Leni Riefenstahl blush with envy. For example, Kirstie Alley, with a look of seriousness that is unsettling, declares, "Without Scientology, I would be dead today." The viewer is paraded with a number of Scientology suits, each with their own title. (One person, introduced as the "Director of Processing," acts as Orwellian as his job title implies. A sinister, b-movie villian chuckle, and the exaserbated sigh, (paraphrased) "The world out there is such a corrupting influence. We really have our work cut out for us in breaking our new recruits of that influence." Ick.

Nevertheless, the propaganda of this film is produced in such a cheesy way that the film approaches self-parody. When actors like John Travolta are tapped as intellectual spokesmen (no offense to Travolta, but he isn't exactly Stephen Hawking), when L. Ron Hubbard is portrayed as the ultimate renaissance man/prophet/saint with utter sincerity, it's difficult to take any of the film's claims seriously. And as self-parody, you almost don't even need the MST3K crew to heckle the show; one would have to have the intelligence of peanut brittle to be unable to do it oneself.

Despite a rating of 1, I will recommend people see this movie at their local Scientology centers (the only place this movie can be seen), if anything else, for a good laugh, and a view at how intellectually bankrupt this excuse for a film really is. A word of caution though: after this film, I and the group of friends I saw it with were split up and separately "interviewed" by members of the church. They were reluctant to allow us to leave, and were eager to have us confess personal shortcomings that caused us distress and difficulty in life, which of course they alone could solve. How you choose to handle this is up to you, but I ultimately found any attempt at a dialogue futile. I recommmend that you treat this situation like you would a telemarketer, politely thank them for their movie and their time, but state you aren't interested and leave. Certainly don't give them personal info like your address and phone #.

So sit back, wait for the movie to start, bring your own popcorn (since they don't provide any), and say together with your companions, "MOVIE SIGN!!!"

I thought this was a remarkable little film. It won't win Oscars, but these guys pull no punches. I lost my once-strong interest in philosophy at college when Nietzsche and Schiller and Sartre (Oh, my!) seemed to orbit endlessly around word games inside of unreal hypotheticals inside of self adulation (or flagellation). If I wanted to make a film about layoffs in Dearborn or dot-com geniuses, they were no help in deciding whether to, which to, or why to.

Orientation seems to present Scientology (and maybe I'll find out someday) as an action-oriented philosophy. (Dead French philosophers are now cursing Monsieur Hubbard, I can tell. One's actions? Guided by philosophy? Quelle horror!) The film showed plenty of different people, famous and not so, who had benefitted from Scientology. These guys seriously want to do something useful with their lives, and Scientology seems to be the way they have found to carry out that desire. Of course, the actors in the film were scripted and rehearsed, but I thought they evinced a sincerity that pushed right through the screen. We've all seen the 2-dimensional infomercial cut-out housewives and hail fellows. This is a very "real" bunch of people in the film.

My friend asked me how I could believe the actors because they were all Scientologists. Wouldn't they just be saying things to get you to like their religion? So I asked him why, with a hundred other religions, and presumably a few other careers available to them, these people would become Scientologists and spend their entire working days working at it as a profession in the first place? Go back a few years in their lives and ask what changes had Scientology wrought in their lives that made them choose it in the first place?

I watch for sloppy edits and bad transitions in TV all the time and found none here. Unlike lots of short films, its focuses were sharp, and the sound wasn't echoic or hollow. I liked the guy who tackled head-on why some people criticize Scientology. Overall, it was a good film. I bought a book. So far, Hubbard is more understandable -- and productive! -- than Hegel.

Orientation gives a new person to Scientology an overview of the religion and its views.

It's not an entertainment film, but is more a briefing to bring people up to snuff about the religion.

I'd recommend this film if you are seriously interested in improving yourself, especially if you are searching for more meaning in life.

I can recall visiting my friend's Buddhist Temple, going to a Unitarian Meeting and visiting several Christian churches when I was seriously evaluating religions and what they had to offer.

If you are in that mind set or somewhere close, go view the film. You'll at least have an idea about what Scientology is and you can make up your own mind.

Hi. I have never seen this film and I probably never will. So, how, you may ask yourself, can I leave a relevant review? Extensive study of Scientology should prove to anyone that it is hardly a religion or a church. It is a cult created by a man and maintained to this day in order to amass wealth and power for those in its higher echelons. Much has been written about the true nature of this "church" - often by ex-members. These people do not carry irrational grudges against Scientology - they simply want the truth to be exposed. For your own sake, your family's sake, and for the sake of your nest-egg - do not bother with this silly and dangerous cult and do not allow your loved ones to, either.

This film is pure propaganda. I actually went to a Scientology "church" here in Orlando and sat through this film. Every single person in the film was an actor, trying to convince us of the "greatness" of this cult. The problem was not the actors themselves but rather the horrible job they did in acting and giving testimonies. If I wanted to here testimonies from people I want to hear actual accounts. Imagine watching 60 Minutes and not getting real interviews but watching actors (and real bad ones) tell the stories, this is exactly what it is like. Another problem is that there is part of the film where about 20-30 people are interviewed all actors, arranging from all walks of life also very politically correct and they all said "I am happier" or some form of that thought. It was pure propaganda and brain washing. A very weak minded or depressed person or a person with very low self esteem would fall into their lies. The icing on the cake was at the end when the man doing the whole film approached the camera and said "If you do not agree with this you are simply stupid." WOW! That was the last straw. For 40 minutes I sat in there and watched it and was totally insulted. My intelligence was insulted the most, there is no way to believe that L Ron Hubbard discovered the governments "grand plot" to bend our minds and control us and that he is the one who discovered this (by the way he was a fiction novel writer before he created this "religion". Anyway... this film should be in the comedy section. If you want a few laughs check it out. But beware if you are depressed, self conscience or have low self esteem watch it with someone who will be able to expose the lies.