User Reviews

This movie captures the real spirit of the time. Without conspiracy theories, Illuminati and even without radical ideas it presents the causes and solutions to the problems we're facing today. It is like the Zeitgeist movies but much more logical and insightful. Instead of provoking fear it provokes thought - going as far back in time as the collapse of the Roman empire and as far in the future as the collapse of the Western global empire. Which is actually just around the corner. There are no secret societies, aliens, demons or specific ethnic groups that are to blame. The problem is in the system and if we remove its head it will just grow another one. The problem is in all of us and all of us are to blame for tolerating the system. And change is not so difficult. The movie offers classical, realistic and tested solutions like the gold standard of money and taxation based on consumption and resource extraction instead of income. And there's optimism in the end. Just like Guthenberg changed the world and ended so much suffering with a simple invention - the printing press, another invention is now causing a new Reformation and Enlightenment. The internet is the new printing press and neoclassical capitalism is the new feudalism and the new Inquisition it is fighting. In the end ideas prevail over greed. Perhaps this time it will happen with less bloodshed.

They are also the guilty ones for terrorism: They make farmers poor, that justify them to be terrorists.

--> You have a well known Najma Sadeque; a researcher and prominent women's rights activist "From the World Bank and IMF, and made from grounds from western countries, they;ve all gone (the finances) to benefit the elite and feudal classes. They have not benefited the ordinary people.

Experts from nations who are an authority should be accepted to a certain degree to accept the claims made by John Perkins.

Another example is that of terrorism: Lord Ahmed of Rotherham -First UK ; & Kaiser Bengali an Economist and Adviser to the Chieft Minister of the Government of Sindh.

If they really wanted to flush them out (the terrorists), there was no need for a huge military operation in Swat causing the entire district to become internally displaced persons. The population of Swat is (now) 1.8 million and 2.3 million refugees in the country.

If they really want to get the terrorists then they should have carried out a clandestine operation "...

Well said... This is the height of evidence you can get from any average documentary.

When a documentary attempts to tackle the most important issues of a generation, from financial instability, to environmental degradation and terrorism, it really needs to be backed up with a lot of solid research. Unfortunately, Four Horsemen hopelessly fails to live up to its ambitions. It touches on everything from the decline of empires, to the expansion of credit and disastrous banking deregulation.

It rightfully highlights the asset bubbles, the failures of foreign aid and the counter productive nature of much of the west's foreign policy. But touch is the generous word, as most issues are addressed with little more than a talking head tied together with some slick animation and stock footage. The film is strongest when stating the obvious, highlighting the offences of the banking industry, the predatory lending and illegal foreclosures. Indeed, when describing exactly what is wrong, Four Horsemen takes few risks and lands some critical blows, a welcome reintroduction for a debate that is most conspicuous by its absence.

But the first warning sign for the film is when the entire history of human economics is framed in the terms of Classical versus Neoclassical, followed by the pushing of quite extreme Libertarian pet causes proposed as the only possible solutions. It marks wholly disingenuous connections regarding the glory days of the gold standard and becomes almost comical when it praises FDR on one hand and then claims 'income tax is inherently unconstitutional' on the other.

A few quotes from the US Constitution and a lecture on the decline of morality, and the whole film starts to feel like a Ron Paul 2012 direct to YouTube creation. Then when casual remarks drop like: 'perhaps global warming isn't the greatest threat to our planet, but the depletion of resources', (a statement that so comprehensively against mainstream scientific opinion which contends we cannot afford to burn even the oil we have found), and the film starts to make Zeitgeist appear the model of impartial reasoning.

When this is rapidly followed by 'all foreign aid is bad', suddenly the minuscule on screen presence of the most lauded guests, such highly respected development economic Ha-Joon Chang (who appears on screen just twice for a total of about sixty seconds), and the motives behind the recurring presence of the gold and silver traders becomes a little clearer. The producers of Four Horsemen may be well meaning, and who isn't rightfully outraged at the 'heads we win, tails you lose' attitude of Goldman Sachs and their ilk, or the ridiculous disconnect between real wages and real estate prices? I also doubt the proposition that 'we need more employee owned businesses' would ever lose a show of hands outside a GOP convention.

But overflowing as the film is with justified indignation, the proposed solutions have all the hallmarks of a stock Libertarian: 'tax is theft, government is bad' economic thesis, albeit cleverly packaged to sneak in front of a left leaning cinema audience.

Truly impacting statements from people who have been in, or close to, positions of power, +great thinkers,denouncing the way things work up-top and the deficits and unsustainability of our global financial and political constructs. BUT - I certainly frowned at about 10% of the movie. Yes, fiat money is baaad. But do these reborn visionaries really suggest, we should go back to the gold standard? Because of the predictable grow mining of gold? REALLY? WTF? Civil society in my country just dodged a bullet, stopping big-money corporate interests, political corruption, etc that comes with opening up "the biggest gold mine in Europe". Vast landscapes destroyed, a cyanide lake for centuries to come, broken up communities, increased health risk in the area is what gold mining leaves behind. I invite the readers, and "visionaries" in this film to google the images of a few gold mines. Does his f*** up planet need more goldmines just to store yellow metal in vaults? Is this the forward-thinking way you suggest? An e-currency like Bitcoin, if regulated, can achieve exactly the same predictable economical stability effect like mined gold. So really, dig on that a bit, and welcome my rating of 3, that would otherwise have been a nine. This aspect is simply unforgivable.

The good: Four Horsemen has a few good punch lines. Furthermore, some of the photography/scenes are not too bad.

The very bad: There are several logical errors in this movie. The storyboarding is totally absent. I wonder if the move makers understand their own message. They did not justify or explained their claims in the movie. I give you some examples of their claims:

• The West Civilization is ending because we are in general more interested in sex, we endorse our chefs in reality television programs etc.

• Wall street and their banks are guilty in all poverty in the world. The architects behind the deregulated Wall Street are called "modern Neocapitalism economists" – with "evil leaders" such as Ronald Reagan and Thatcher as examples. The greatest evil of them all is of course Goldman Sachs (The CEO must be the devil himself).

• They are also the guilty ones for terrorism: They make farmers poor, that justify them to be terrorists.

• Actually, all banks are evil – They produce all the money they want and create inflation.

• All infrastructure build in the Third World, financed by Wall Street and their fellow evils, will not benefit anyone else than Wall Street (regards to interest rate). The new infrastructure will not help the local economy grow at all.

• The only solution to the world's problem is to roll back to the classic economy, to reintroduce the gold standard – the standard economic unit of account is a fixed weight of gold. Hence, we should reintroduce the ideas of Adam Smith.

• Talking about Adam Smith, we should reintroduce the principle that tax on income equals slavery. The solution is tax on natural resources.

• Also the pharmaceutical industry is evil, speculating in dying people in Africa - And so on..

If any of this is the truth, the solution would have been very easy. Let's remove Goldman Sachs, and we would be rid of all problems in the world over night.

Probably this movie only appeals to very idealistic young girls, member of the local communist party as a protest to their parents. For everyone else, save your money and time (or at least have a good laugh).

If nothing else, at least this movie demonstrates that economy and finance is not easy to understand, not even for academics, on the contrary. Without common sense, it is very easy to misunderstand.