refresh daemon I'd heard that this was a pretty good documentary about perspectives on the US-Iraq war so I decided to check it out and I'd have to say, in the end, it was a pretty good documentary. Nothing stellar, but it's actually an interesting and almost vital look at the media machines around the war.For the most part, the documentary maintains some degree of neutrality, however, since it's a documentary that tells the side of the story not presented by US/UK newsmedia, it's obviously going to be told with an emphasis on the Arab (not Iraqi) viewpoint of the story. And that's why it's a vital documentary, as the majority of the "Western world" only sees their own perspective of the conflict, rather than the entire picture.And now for some general thoughts: I think it's always of vital importance that in any conflict, all actors in the conflict be well aware of all perspectives, lest they become blinded by their own interests. Most of the people in the US don't get to see the Arab view of things, except through the tiny lens of the US newsmedia, which is a US interpretation of the Arab view to begin with.That said, the documentary doesn't paint the US in a negative light as a whole, rather, it focuses on specific actions (although it shows a strong bias against Donald Rumsfeld). In the end, however, the film is mostly about the Al Jazeera television network and what they saw and experienced during the war. And from the documentary, you can easily gather that the Al Jazeera is not opposed to the US, but is rather interested in informing and exposing the tales of the Arab/Muslim people and often finds itself in between the radical opponents of the West and the West itself, with both Rumsfeld and Al Queda calling the Al Jazeera a mouthpiece of the other.The story, in the end is about journalism and journalists, torn between their personal and professional worlds and how each seeps into the other. They experience hope, loss and frustration over the course of the film as the truth gets buried under spin, as the truth gets shown, much to the dismay of both sides of the conflict and well... I guess it says something about the nature of truth. It's often a double-edged sword.I'll leave you with a quote from one of the major players in the Al Jazeera:Between us, if I'm offered a job at Fox News, I'll take it. Instantly. I will send my children to go to America after highschool, I will pay for them to go, to exchange the Arab nightmare for the American dream.Excellently put together, with moments that truly shine. 8/10.

wfjgcinet The earlier reviews of this film were quite rich and detailed. There is little to add.Except it is now more than three and a half years after the historic span depicted in the film. By coincidence, I viewed this for the first time today, the day after Donald Rumsfeld had to fall on his sword. Mr. Rumsfeld's verbatim remarks in press conferences were included in several key sections of Control Room.I think it is particularly worthwhile to view this now, if one is interested in growing insights into how history really unfolds. I don't think the film will look the same now as it did to many who viewed it (and commented on it) two years ago. It struck me as quite extraordinary. See how it strikes you.

Ed Uyeshima Having just seen Robert Greenwald's "Outfoxed" about the media manipulation we are subjected to by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, specifically the Fox Network, this eye-opening documentary is a fascinating counterpoint from the perspective of the famous and sometimes infamous Middle East news agency, Al-Jazeera. I cannot think of two more diametrically opposite news agencies reporting on the events in Iraq, but the key difference between them is that Al-Jazeera appears to admit to their biases rather than claim to be "fair and balanced". What is more startling is how much more similar they are in operation than they are different in their presentation of political opinion disguised as facts. Obviously filmmaker Jehane Noujaim takes a more sympathetic portrait of Al-Jazeera and does supply clear evidence where Al-Jazeera is right and the American government is wrong on certain Iraqi events. As an overview of the first independent and now most popular news channel in the Middle East, the film takes a hard look at the key milestones from Bush's threat of invasion through the toppling of Saddam Hussein.One would think Michael Moore funded this documentary from the damning evidence presented, but Noujaim is nothing but thorough in illustrating the Bush administration's changing rationales for invading Iraq, the use of fear in the media to manipulate public opinion, the martyrdom of Jessica Lynch, the card deck identifying the most wanted men in Hussein's regime, and the suspiciously coincidental bombing deaths of three different Arab journalists on the same day by American planes. Al-Jazeera's perspective is unsurprisingly countered by Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld, who accuses the news agency of faking pictures of civilian deaths. But Noujaim cuts to indisputable pictures of real victims from the American bombing. One of the most revealing moments in the film is the Al-Jazeera team's shocked disbelief witnessing the fall of Hussein's Iraq as they try to make their emotional response correspond to what they must rationally have expected all along. Noujaim spotlights several of Al-Jazeera's personalities, and each provides a unique opinion on both their news coverage as well as that of their American counterparts. Their begrudging respect for the Fox Network, for example, is an intriguing revelation among many presented here. Ultimately though, their disgust over American imperialism is clear, as reporter Hassan Ibrahim, as bitter an idealist as you'll ever see, decries, "Eventually you'll have to find a solution that doesn't involve bombing someone into submission... democratize or I will shoot you." Another eye-opener is how Al-Jazeera does not hesitate to invite Americans to give their point-of-view on the network, which is something the Fox Network purports to do but does so miserably due to the bullying tactics of their own personalities, Sean Hannity and of course, Bill O'Reilly. Those who have grown tired of the spin coming from the Bush administration will find this documentary valuable viewing. Highly recommended.

princetonz 1- NOT at all what it purports to be. 2- Unbalanced. 3- Uses mostly slanted Al Jazeera so-called reporters. 4- Sneaky one-sided political propaganda - the systematic propagation of a doctrine or cause or of information reflecting the views and interests of those advocating such a doctrine or cause.5- I read many of the other reviews on here from those who express their love of this terrible piece and wonder if they have a clue about unbiased journalism...6- It just goes to show that if you want to suck in millions of movie-goers or movie-buyers, just make a one-sided piece, distort the facts as much as possible, and you'll get sales from people who are hungry for any support for their point-of-view. No matter how sloppy and biased the piece may be, you'll get rich using the same method as Michael Moore.