So much average

It is a performances centric movie

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Quite a few reviewers are being far too harsh and expecting this to be something else that they watched. This does a good job of answering the question presented in regards to who asked the question, someone from New Guinea. It explains the limiting factors that keep a population from being able to free up enough of their individuals in order to allow them to focus on objectives not to do with getting food. There are more answers to the question if you change who asks it but in pertaining to the people that asked the question it does a good job of covering the basics of some of the bases.Yes, there are scenes of him failing at using some tools. It seemed to me like a demonstration that westernization means nothing to ability and intelligence.I would suggest showing this to just about anyone. While it doesn't cover all of the bases it puts the information it does cover in an easily understandable format and explains factors as simply as possible.

The Documentary, Guns Germs and Steel is an informational and argumentative documentary about Jared Diamond's theory on why there is a big difference between those who have advanced technology and those who live normally focusing more on gathering food instead of improving technology. I personally recommend this documentary to both Adults and Teenagers as it became one of my favourite documentaries because of the information it provides, and the reasons why and how the Europeans settled in South Africa.I have read the other reviews on the site and I agree with some of them. This information could have been presented in less than 2 hours, but there were some useless scenes like the time when Jared failed to shoot the arrow from the bow. I recommend Jared Diamond try to not overcome his sad feelings because he looked kind of strange when he was weeping and crying. Other than that, this documentary gives full explanatory reasons of the topic and is easy to understand.

I came to this with great expectations as a long-time admirer of Jared Diamond and his books, including 'Guns, Germs and Steel'. It was shown on UK TV as a 2+ hour documentary but it was painfully obvious that it originated as a 30-minute series. The result was that every half-hour or so the continuity was punctured by long and tedious repetitions of what had gone before - a real spoiler! The main themes of the book came across clearly and it was good to see Jared Diamond's personal first-hand responses to world events that he had previously only studied from a distance as an academic. But overall the programme was unbalanced, with far too much time devoted to Pizarro and the conquest of Peru (in the book only 15 pages out of 450) and nothing at all to his chapters on China and Polynesia.Yes, I know that I was expecting too much and it was great to see such important ideas about "a short history of everybody for the last 300 years" (his subtitle) popularised via television. But by the end I felt that it could have been so much better.

This is a documentary I came across by chance on the UK TV channel More4 and I have to say I found it extremely interesting and thought provoking. I will also be seeking out the book that was the source material for this documentary. Basically this is Professor Jared Diamond theory on why certain parts of the earth's societies prospered and others did not. The argument he presents was new to me and argued about how the fortune of the right crops and the right animals that where able to domesticated is certainly a compelling one. As for the documentary itself it is well shot and well narrated with not to much of the re-created scenes that spoil many a modern documentary. Diamond also helps by not being to condescending which is a fault of a lot of intellectuals when trying to get a message to the masses. People have claimed his theory is Marxist but I do not buy this and see it more socio geologist. It was also refreshing to hear an theory on the evolution of society not based around religion. Highly recommended viewing.