This documentary should be a mandatory watch, just to make people aware on how the world is in hands of a handful powerful families and that since centuries. Not that it will make any difference as the vast majority of this planet are sheep and will continue being sheep until their last breath. I don't think the powerful families like the Warburgs, JPMorgan, the Rothschilds, and the Rockefellers are scared that a documentary like this will change something in this corrupted system we all live. They perfectly understand, the normal human being is just a sheep you can simply control with consumerism, a handful of dollars, a creature that can be mold like they want it, by brainwashing them with fear and greed. The documentary is well done, with alot of fragments of other revealing documentaries like Zeitgeist. It's a very interesting documentary about how people have been manipulated since centuries, by the powerful families behind the scenes, using media, wars, politics and propaganda as their tools. With the narrating voice of Woody Harrelson, maybe not the best narrating voice but respect to him that he stands for his opinions and that he clearly is not a sheep. We, all together, could make a change, if like explained in this documentary we would boycot certain multi-nationals, by never buying anything from them. But that's just wishful thinking, we all know the vast majority of humans have difficulties for thinking by themselves. The flock is were they belong and nothing is going to change that, not even thousands of documentaries like this one. This planet is doomed and there is no escape from it.

Ethos is an interesting little DIY documentary project- a sort of political zeitgeist from the perspective of the left. It is hosted by Woody Harrelson, and is mainly a compilation of interviews and ideas from commentators on both the right and the left. These ideas are compiled into segments that reflect upon the political analyses of Chomsky, Zinn and others....analyses that often find themselves under the umbrella of "conspiracy theories".Personally, I liked this film because it aligns very closely to my own political observations and analysis...and manages to explain some of these understandings that are central to holding such a worldview, in a succinct way that even idiot right-wingers can understand. Any leftie-anarchist type who has ever hung out and conversed with the people over at ConCen for any period of time....will know what I'm talking about.What makes this film particularly interesting though, is that it dips into legit observations from both the left and right, and compiles them into an argument that is directed at the very right wing conspiracy theorists it is inherently critical of, in a brazen attempt to enlighten them about left-political analysis...and bring them over to our side in the process.McGrain does this by looking at financial/banking conspiracies and how they tie in with the political elite, who exploit the media to control the masses (using interviews with people like ron paul, g.e. griffin, russo etc to illustrate this). Something the right fully understands. But then he juxtaposes these ideas with left wing criticism from people like Chomsky, Zinn, and Naomi Klein, who provide a critique of where the right goes wrong- and where the left and right become fragmented from one another (at least in the conspiracy realm, at which this doc is clearly directed)- Rothbardian ultra-Libertarianism.By doing this, he is brazenly attempting to enlighten these right wing viewers about the nature of left wing political analysis. I'd argue he does this pretty effectively, but that's likely because he's arguing the exact same thing that I, myself, believe....so I'm probably biased on that front.In the end, though, one idea is put forth, which can be embraced by both the left and right, and used to empower us all....this is the idea of consumer action. Political activism via how and where you spend your money. These libertarian oriented actors only speak one language and that is the almighty buck. Any way that you can affect their bottom line is a realm which you, as an individual in a capitalist world, do have power. So use it. Don't like what a company or person is doing? Don't direct any money into their coiffures. Take a stand and spend ethically.Remember Kids.....Don't Vote....Revolt. This is a Good way to start.

How do you rate a film like this? As a documentary, it makes a number of relevant points about the biggest problems within the structure of our society. Unfortunately, none of this material is new. Most of it is lifted directly from 2003's excellent documentary, "The Corporation" (http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=SnE8D3tgZ5c), and much is also lifted from "Zeitgeist 2" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gKX9TWRyfs). The only thing original to "Ethos" is Woody Harrelson's presence. When I say that most of this film's material is "lifted" from other films, I really mean "excerpted," or "plagarized." Do not watch this film expecting it to be an original creation. Contrarily to how it bills itself, it is in fact a compilation of other documentaries.As a compilation of sorts, Ethos works fine -- but frankly, I find it a little offensive that this film doesn't announce itself as such. A less informed viewer might assume this film to be wholly original, which would be -- apart from Harrelson's narration -- wholly inaccurate.Truthfully, you should pass-up "Ethos" and watch "The Corporation" and "Zeitgeist 2" instead. Footage from these two documentaries comprise a great deal of "Ethos," so if you like what you see here, you're honestly better-off watching the original films which have been liberally excerpted from.Given the dishonest way the film presents itself as something other than a compilation, I can't bring myself to award it more than a single star. But do keep in mind that, as a compilation, "Ethos" does serve as a nice summary of two or three other great documentaries. And, it must be said: Woody Harrelson's presence is seldom a bad thing.

I stumbled across this documentary online because it was free to watch on their official site, as well as on youtube. I would say my knowledge on the US political system is basic, but I'm interested in building upon it, more than what the big media corporations feed us. Because of that reason, Ethos was a delight seeing. It captivated my interest right away, especially when Woody Harrelson started narrating lol. I knew that he's a good actor but seeing him in this docu made me separate the actor from the "White Men Can't Jump" character.It touched on a few subjects like the environment, capitalism influencing our gov't, role of big businesses in politics, Sept 11, propaganda, apathy in the public, among other juicy topics. With a running time of 52 mins (Director's Cut is 72 mins), it piqued and kept my interest with a non-sluggish pace. More importantly, after seeing the movie, Ethos motivated me to learn more so I checked out the official Ethos website which had some helpful links and recommendations.It had several good messages, and one that I remember most vividly is that consumers have power/voice/influence in how businesses conduct their business. Choosing to buy from a socially-conscious business versus a company that isn't sends a message to both companies, one of support, the other of disapproval.I rated this 9/10 because it was one of my favorite documentaries, I don't regret seeing it, and I recommended it to friends.