MuzikJunky

Still frightening after all these years, the artistry of this film still holds up, the special effects and sound design continue to impress, and the execution is exemplary. You will want to know about every single aspect of the sound, the special effects, and the art design. It's utterly amazing what the producers of this film were able to accomplish in the early 1950s. This film also has a rare heart that's sadly missing in current American commercial cinema, despite the annoying religious overtones that otherwise bog down a pitch-perfect script. The over-stimulation of today's sci-fi blockbusters, which favor spectacle instead of content, still can't compare with the subtlety in the original American sci-fi blockbuster.

Edit 2020: the Criterion Collection's invaluable Blu-ray Disc is the best that the film has EVER looked in gorgeous three-strip Technicolor since the initial theatrical release. If this resembles what audiences saw in 1953, it's like watching it again for the first time! Peace.

An Afrocentric perspective is necessary for a true understanding of the interconnectedness of all peoples of the world. By teaching from an Afrocentric perspective, a legitimate but misunderstood philosophical and academic discipline, we, as citizens of the world, gain additional insight to the contributions that African people have made to humanity. Clarke was one who recognized that African people were misrepresented by scholars in the post-imperialist era, when scholarship regarding people of African origin was suppressed and almost eliminated by colonialism.

When status-quo bearers are close-minded to new ideas, particularly the idea of the Ancient Egyptians (Kemetans) as dark-skinned, woolly haired Africans, you wonder if ignorance has played a role in the shaping of such ideas. Afrocentric scholarship, among other things, attempts to return the Kemetans to their rightful place as Africans; imperialism tried to separate north Africa from so-called sub-Saharan Africa because it was felt that Black African people were not technologically sophisticated enough to come up with "civilized" societies. In la Monde Francophone (the French-language-speaking world), Afrocentricity is recognized academically, and the scholars and thinkers, especially the work of the Senegalese Egyptologist and anthropologist Cheikh Anta Diop, are canonized.

The closing credits say, "The comments made by Dr. Clarke are not necessarily those of the filmmakers." You may not agree with everything, but even with the evidence presented, you cannot dismiss facts uncovered by Clarke and his contemporaries as fiction. An important documentary, one that will wake you up to the rich possibilities of different perspectives.

An ambitious film that suffers, unfortunately, from what might be the worst cinematography in the history of film. Even an American special effects team could not save the film from somtimes sloppy editing and shoddy camera work. However, the film is worth seeing for the issues it brings up regarding worker/management relations. A good story and great acting soften the blow of the weak cinematography. Yash Chopra is a very good director, but this film makes him seem like a hack.