Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed (2008)

User Rating:

3.7/10   

Director:

Nathan Frankowski

Writers (WGA):

Kevin Miller (written by) and
Ben Stein (written by)

Release Date:

18 April 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

Big science has expelled smart new ideas from the classroom...What they forgot is that every generation has its Rebel!

Plot:

Ben Stein examines the issue of academic freedom and decides that there is none when it comes to the debate over intelligent design.

Plot Keywords:

Intelligent Design | Darwinism | Freedom | Academic Freedom | Abortion

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Ben Stein	...	Himself - Host
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lili Asvar	...	Student
Peter Atkins	...	Himself
Hector Avalos	...	Himself
Doug Axe	...	Himself
David Berlinski	...	Himself
Walter Bradley	...	Himself
Bruce Chapman	...	Himself
Anderson Cooper	...	Himself (archive footage)
Caroline Crocker	...	Herself
Richard Dawkins	...	Himself
William Dembski	...	Himself (as William Albert Dembski)
Daniel C. Dennett	...	Himself (as Daniel Dennett)
Michael Egnor	...	Himself
Steve Fuller	...	Himself
Uta George	...	Herself
Marciej Giertych	...	Himself
Guillermo Gonzalez	...	Himself
John Hauptman	...	Himself
Adolf Hitler	...	Himself (archive footage)
Benjamin Kelley	...	Himself (as Ben Kelley)
John Lennox	...	Himself
Robert J. Marks II	...	Himself
Alister McGrath	...	Himself
Stephen C. Meyer	...	Himself
Paul Zachary Myers	...	Himself (as P. Z. Myers)
Paul Nelson	...	Himself
John Polkinghorne	...	Himself
William Provine	...	Himself (as Will Provine)
Laura Ruloff	...	(voice)
Walt Ruloff	...	(voice)
Michael Ruse	...	Himself
Margaret Sanger	...	Herself (archive footage)
Gerald Schroeder	...	Himself
Jeffrey Schwartz	...	Himself
Eugenie C. Scott	...	Herself (as Eugenie Scott)
Michael Shermer	...	Himself
Mark Souder	...	Himself
Richard Sternberg	...	Himself
Deano Sutter	...	Himself - Introductory Speaker
Witold 'Vic' Walczak	...	Himself (archive footage)
Daniel Walsch	...	Himself
Richard Weikart	...	Himself
Jonathan Wells	...	Himself
Pamela Winnick	...	Herself
Larry Witham	...	Himself

Also Known As:

Crossroads (USA) (fake working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for thematic material, some disturbing images and brief smoking.

Runtime:

USA:90 min | Germany:97 min (European Film Market)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor) | Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG | Singapore:NC-16 | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Baylor University, Waco, Texas, USA

Company:

Premise Media Corporation

Trivia:

The Anti-Defamation League has condemned the film for its linking of evolutionary theory and the Holocaust: "Using the Holocaust in order to tarnish those who promote the theory of evolution is outrageous and trivializes the complex factors that led to the mass extermination of European Jewry." Promoting the movie in Canada, Stein told the Vancouver Sun that "It's none of their [expletive] business".

Quotes:

Ben Stein: What other societies have used Darwinism to trump all other authorities, including religion? As a Jew, my mind left to one regime in particular.

Movie Connections:

Features Planet of the Apes (1968)

Soundtrack:

Spirit in the Sky

Dishonest

Amongst this films multitude of sins you can count quote mining (contorting information from even Darwin himself), the blatant misrepresentation of Evolution (which has nothing to say abut the origin of life) and the rather offensive suggestion that being an atheist results in a lack of morality to the extent that we may harbour genocidal tendencies.

For the record the term 'Darwinist' is redundant. There is only the theory of Evolution. It is not a cult of personality but rather a scientific concept involving the work of thousands of scientists over hundreds of years. Whatsmore, it is a bit rich to make an emotive plea for free speech in terms of a 'level playing field' considering that religion does not exactly have a stellar record in such matters. For example the stagnant knowledge sink of the dark ages is the true face of the religious mind when it comes to principles such as 'free speech'. In Science if you cant back up what you say with evidence then it is of no use to the system. This damningly renders Expelled as a whiney, erroneous film which is thick on rhetoric and wafer thin in terms of anything useful or insightful.

Plagued by dishonesty and misrepresentation this film lacks the very moral values it claims to promote (for examples check out the trivia on IMDb.com). Overall I would say that Expelled will be looked back on by future generations and probably ridiculed and puzzled over in equal measure. 'Did people really used to think like that?' I am afraid so.