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| Lake of Fire (Sub) | 
 enlarge | Director: Tony Kaye
Actor: Pat Buchanan
Studio: VELOCITY / THINKFILM
Category: DVD
List Price: $27.98
Buy New: $10.60
You Save: $17.38 (62%)
Buy New/Used from $8.62
Avg. Customer Rating:  (12 reviews)
Sales Rank: 23610
Format: Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, Ntsc, Subtitled, Widescreen
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD
Running Time: 152 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: THKD55335D
UPC: 821575553353
EAN: 0821575553353
ASIN: B000YVBCT8
Release Date: March 11, 2008
Theatrical Release Date: 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Filmmaker Tony Kaye, best known for "American History X," has been working on LAKE OF FIRE for the past fifteen years and has made a film that is unquestionably the definitive work on the subject of abortion. Shot in luminous black and white, which is in fact an endless palette of grays, the film has the perfect aesthetic for a subject where there can be no absolutes, no 'right' or 'wrong.' He gives equal time to both sides, covering arguments from either extremes of the spectrum, as well as those at the center, who acknowledge that, in the end, everyone is 'right' - or 'wrong.'
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| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 I can't recommend it for everyone January 1, 2009
I watched the film a little while ago, and it's an important and well-made film, often portraying with force the emotional intensity of the issue.
However, I can't recommend it for everyone, but really only for the discerning viewer. This not because I'm prudish or anything, but I can see where this film may have the opposite effect of understanding the other. I could see where people of one side will walk away from this film thinking even more ill of the other side; pro-lifers will think "abortionists" are even sicker and more sinful than they imagined, and the pro-choice crowd will grow in their affirmation that they are only up against fanatics no different than Al-Qaeda. I think this is an unfortunate drawback of the film. But the discerning viewer I think can gain a greater understanding from watching this film of the emotion, and the complex disconnected reasoning that drives the different parties in this issue to such extremes.
 LAKE OF FIRE December 20, 2008
This is easily one of the most difficult films I've ever watched. It is a documentary about the abortion issue. It is told as objectively as humanly possible. Whatever your position, you will be angry with the story. It takes you into the operating room and you watch two abortion procedures as they happen. It shows the baby being suctioned out and the doctor emptying the bag into a dish to count all the body parts to make sure nothing has been left. Kaye takes you into the middle of the picket lines where both sides are shouting and cursing one another. You are there with a young woman when her boyfriend picks her up to take her to the clinic for the abortion and you sit in on her pre-op interview, view the abortion and hear the emotions she is experiencing after the procedure. You go into the homes and offices of those active in both the pro-life and pro-choice sides and hear their stories. You will hear one of the guests speculate why neither political party seems to want the issue to go away as it is an issue that activates the parties' bases like almost no other and it is always a winner in raising money. You will hear from pro-life activists that believe murdering doctors who perform abortions is morally necessary and justified. You will hear the remarkable conversion of Norma McCorvey, the anonymous Jane Doe in Roe vs Wade, from abortion advocate to pro-life Christian. You will hear some honest discussion about why abortion is such an emotional and divisive issue and how we must raise the level of discussion to more than the rhetoric that is typical currently from both sides. Is there room for compromise or is this an issue that will forever divide our country? I do not know anyone who is neutral on this subject. This film will only help to raise the understanding on both sides of this very, very divisive and emotional subject and hopefully lead to meaningful and serious discussion between the viewpoints. www.lusreviews.blogspot.com
 Balanced? August 7, 2008
7 out of 10 found this review helpful
This has been called "balanced" by many reviewers and critics. Balanced to which side?
Brief summary:
A. Reasonable, thoughtful and intelligent pro-choice advocates speak on the issue of abortion.
B. Absurd, dangerous, zealous, fundamentalist pro-life wackos speak on the issue of abortion.
C. Repeat A.
D. Repeat B.
E. Repeat A through D and repeat again when finished.
How is this balanced? I didn't see a single sane, well adjusted or thoughtful person speak on the side of pro-life and I didn't see anything but those types of people speak on the pro-choice side.
There are plenty of whackos on both sides and plenty of sane people on both sides. Unfortunately, we only got to see one of one and one of the other. I give it 2 stars simply because there was a lot of journalistic footage offered which was of some value given that most of these documentaries are not so in-depth and lengthy. Kaye did put a lot of work in on this, unfortunately it did not come out balanced.
By the way, I'm all for advocating your position as long as it is stated up front. Michael Moore doesn't claim to be balanced and I still enjoy his work whether I agree with it or not. I guess my low rating of this feature has to do with expectations from a variety of sources--Mr. Kaye included--that this would a balanced look at the issue.
My suspicions have been confirmed on this site as well as a few other DVD/movie reviewing sites as I have seen the following: If you are pro-choice you are highly likely to give this film 4-5 stars. If you are pro-life you are highly likely to give the film between 1-3 stars. I have yet to a pro-choicer give less than 4 stars and have yet to see a pro-lifer give 4 stars or higher. If this isn't proof of the imbalance, I don't know what it.
If it was truly balanced then you would see everyone giving it low ratings, everyone rating it neutral, or everyone rating it high. You wouldn't see a polarization of the ratings like I have seen right now.
Lastly, if you are planning on rating this review "helpful" then I would bet $20 you are pro-life and if you vote this review "unhelpful" I would bet $20 you are pro-choice. Incidentally, I don't defend either choice if the choice is made on personal beliefs about abortion. I am attempting to review this film objectively, so hopefully my review would be viewed objectively as well.
informative July 7, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This documentary was all a documentary should be. Informative, insightful, educational and thought provoking. I would have liked it to be more "up to date", i.e. what's happening in the years 2000-2006 on the abortion subject/legislation. Good piece of history; fanatacism that exists right here in the USofA. We need not be concerned with others' jihad against us. This documentary shows it's Us against Us. Will we collapse from within?
Nuance and dialogue instead of condemnation. June 29, 2008
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
This film will be a great tool for expanding perspectives on this often polarizing issue. Some politicians have used abortion as a 'wedge' issue, and I suspect some of the preachers who do the same are actually political operatives who pretend to be 'men of the cloth.' It's important to keep in mind that plenty of people on the Christian Right have abortions, but they tend to be the ones who want to criminalize it The War on Choice: The Right-Wing Attack on Women's Rights and How to Fight Back.
One of the thinkers the film's director sought for insight is Noam Chomsky (who happens to be one of the most-cited authors in world history). Chomsky provides very thoughtful comments; more nuanced than the right or wrong positions people often take. Issues often are best understood along 'both/and' instead of 'either/or' lines.
Here are some additional resources on the topic:
Abortion Under Attack: Women on the Challenges Facing Choice
This Common Secret: My Journey as an Abortion Doctor
Abortion: My Choice, God's Grace : Christian Women Tell Their Stories
Ms Every man should read this magazine as well.
And for more insight from Noam Chomsky:
Manufacturing Consent - Noam Chomsky and the Media
What We Say Goes: Conversations on U.S. Power in a Changing World
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