Wonderful character development!

Good start, but then it gets ruined

I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Be Wary Of Negative Reviews For This Film as the first page of them (when sorting reviews by HATED first) are from users with no other activity on IMDb. It is possible these persons created IMDb accounts just to post a negative review about this film but its highly unlikely. People in general are lazy and if one were willing to create an account on IMDb just to write a negative review you can bet it would be a very heated and emotionally filled review; these are not.The first negative review by user "riromero" is well worded and grammatically correct however it consist of many logical fallacies. A logical fallacy is a stance, argument or statement that is in error and usually done intentionally even if the writer is not aware they are committing a fallacy. In this users case they make reference to TITLE 26 as if it is the law of the land and then uses it as the bases for why other points in the film are incorrect.This user also makes great effort to paint the Federal Reserve as something other then what it is; most likely to avoid having to admit that Russo is right about the Federal Reserve. When this review was done by the user "riromero" the economic crisis of 2008 had not yet come to pass and so the focus on the Federal Reserves actions had yet to happen and so most of the American public did not yet know that the Federal Reserve IS a privately owned bank and not a part of the elected government nor its bureaucracy .Now that the recent audit of the Fed by the government lead by Texas senator Ron Paul has taken place and details about the highly questionable acts by the Fed has been reveled the truths revealed by Russo's documentary are more relevant then ever before.Before you decide to skip on Russo's Freedom To Fascism please take some time to learn about what government has been doing that the media has mysteriously opted to not report on. There's no doubt that corruption has run amok and that the trouble makers are in positions of power in our government and we are running out of time to do something about it. Get educated and know your rights! Russo's documentary on the Income Tax and the Federal Reserve is an excellent piece of work and should be viewed at least once by every American. Russo risked his life (and eventually lost it) trying to expose what is going on in government. Take the time to watch his work and see what exactly it is that those in power would kill someone over just to to keep it quiet.

Mr. Russo's documentary is excellent. It truly shows both sides of the issue. He doesn't just get one-sided on this like a lot of documentaries. He shows how both Republicans and Democrats know of this fleecing to the American people. I liken the IRS tactics to that of Hitler. To give a organization such power to strong-arm the American citizens is such a travesty! Its also interesting how Aarron unveils more than his original quest of how big a fraud is being perpetrated on the public. It makes you sit up and take notice that if even X IRS agents speak out and X commissioners threaten that we can't be saved makes one realize its time to become leaders. Now I know most will thing just to go along with the status quo and say I'm doing fine well you might be now but what if a ripple in our standard of living affects us more personally. Do you think a corrupt government will think of you first. Remember New Orleans and remember how they put their interests first. I am Canadian but we are the same just divided by a border.

Although interesting information is contained within the first 30 minutes of America: FROM FREEDOM TO FASCISM, the latter half falls into chaotic paranoia. It's also noteworthy to point out that director Aaron Russo hasn't directed or produced a film since 1991 (the tremendously bad OFF AND RUNNING). I say this because if someone produces/directs poor fiction, their nonfiction might be questionable also, and this is undeniably the case here.Taking on the American Income Tax code, director Aaron Russo spotlights the lack of legal verbiage surrounding tax collection on the working man's income. That there isn't a legal precedence set up to prove that Income Tax is legitimately collectible is now pretty well known, and Russo's focus on this will likely send goose-bumps up your arms. Why are we paying taxes on working people's money? The simple answer is to help finance the government. And although our government has its flaws (some of them quite large), it is revered and mimicked by many. This still doesn't excuse our government's lack of legal responsibility when it comes to Income Tax collection, but most American's understand the need.Probably the most telling portion of the film was the videotaped audit of one man by the IRS, and when he asks the IRS agent to show him the law that allows him to be audited, the agent simply says that "his badge gives him the right." Hmm. That's pretty disconcerting. Intimidation by the IRS is probably their best strong arm method for collecting taxes (you don't pay, the government sends you to jail, just like Irwin Schiff). That's a pretty strong incentive. Rightly or wrongly, this is why most Americans pay their taxes, and Russo focuses prominently on these questionable tactics. But after this the film starts falling apart.Never does Russo tell or show us what to do about not paying income tax (aside from not doing so and risking jail time and confiscation of everything you own, or voting for political leaders who want to repeal the income tax ...which you'll have a hard time finding, I might add.) From here the documentary sinks even further. Flailing about like a child in a temper-tantrum, Russo then beleaguers us with information on National ID cards and implantable microchips. The story wanders well into conspiracy theory territory rather than sticking to the point of Income Tax collection and our legal rights regarding them.There's also the problem with the fact that documentaries (like fictional films) are a visual medium, and Russo's documentary constantly puts up black-and-white screens filled with reading material for the viewer to laboriously trudge through. What Russo should have done was to find experts on these items and filmed them. But we never see that because ...well ...my assumption is that either there aren't any experts, or those that were felt Russo to be so whacked out they refused to be filmed.At any rate, the beginning of the film is pretty fascinating, but after that you need to be anti-government enough to live in a box while clutching a copy of the U.S. Constitution and The Bill of Rights.

Not very often does anyone from the media or Hollywood take on serious tasks such as this. I hope that this is the beginning of a truth movement, and others will follow suit. Far too long has the truth been sidelined. The Media owes their allegiance to their big corporate owners, so we never hear anything controversial, just parroting the "official" line. I have to prowl the Internet for the whole stories behind the snippets that are aired on the networks. They would never touch an issue such as this. It would be great to see more of this type work, unfortunately the media is strangely quiet on these matters, and afraid to buck the trends and do true investigative work. I say hooray for Mr. Russo.