The end of the world is not often something many of us likes to think about, but it could truly be an issue we need to all have in the back of our minds. Now I’m not recommending you devote your life to figuring out when (if) the world will end because that is just going to ruin the time you have left to live. People are easily frightened by the idea of a “doomsday” even if they make it out as if they are not really afraid of such an occurrence. Films like the John Cusack-starrer 2012 are surely going to get some of those with hidden thoughts to come forward or merely let them be known. What if the Mayans had accurately predicted so many events throughout the course of human history? What if doomsday is upon us in less than two years? There’s no real use in worrying about it or trying to prepare because there’s not a single thing any one of us can do about it.
There are many different methods and ways in which people think futuristic events have been predicted and swear by them so that they can prepare themselves. Our documentary begins with a look at the Web Bot Project. Originally designed in order to foresee stocks rising and falling, the Web Bot took on a so-called mind of its own and began scanning internet languages to predict the future. The anthrax attacks and Hurricane Katrina are just two of the catastrophic events that Web Bot supposedly predicted accurately.
Another method of figuring out the future is to dissect what an oracle, named The Sybil, from sixth century Roman Empire said about the end of the world. The Sybil would enter a trance-like state induced by the Greek god Apollo who would then predict natural disasters and things to come. Other oracles have been looked at closely over the years for their predictions, but experts also wanted to judge all the variables to see if there were connections between them all. Some say it was no more then luck while some scientists say that the caves these oracles in emitted natural gases which brought about their trances.
Plenty of methods have been studied as scientists try to figure out if any of them have the smallest amount of validity, but the most well known fortune teller would have to be the Mayan Calendar. Having foretold numerous big events throughout history; the Mayans have predicted the end of the world will happen December 21, 2012. Finally getting a firsthand look at the reasoning behind this madness makes it all rather enlightening and quite interesting. According to the Mayans, on the Winter Solstice in 2012 (December 21), the end of Earth will arrive due to the Earth, Sun, and a black hole aligning in the Milky Way. Now that is some serious horse poop. Listening to some of these self-proclaimed experts makes me skeptical of things because it seems as if they only want you to listen to their theories so they can be ruled as right.
I ask you, what good will it do if your theory is right about the way all of us will die? Nice recognition there eh? The documentary presents itself in interviews and computer generated models that try to give people a general idea of how these theories may come to fruition. Doing some online research revealed that there are a hugs host of people that believe in the ways of the Mayan Calendar meaning the world will come to an end in 2012. They actually have conversations about how to survive the apocalypse and different places they could retreat to in order to have a bit of a “safe house” with all the comforts and needs they’d require. Morons…if the Earth ends? Your little cave in the middle of Colorado is going with it so enjoy your next two years of life preparing for no reason.
The documentary is shown in Full Screen format and looks decent for the most part. Colors are good, but a lot of the CGI comes out looking rather childish and almost laughable at times.
The film is heard in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Sound and it’s more than what is needed here. Being mostly dialogue driven, Doomsday 2012 relies heavily on just hearing what people have to say with the occasional bit of music or sound effect coming through clearly.
Mayan Doomsday Prophecy – Talk about a special feature. This is a whole other full length documentary that takes a look at the Mayans in depth. It tries to decipher their calendar, go through the prophecies, and even takes a look at the alignment of galaxies and how they play into the foreseeable future. It’s an excellent second film on a disc that already had a really good main feature. (45:08)
Doomsday 2012 may seem rather morbid to some people, but to me it simply is an insightful way of looking into something that may or may not happen. How are we to know for sure? We can’t know for certain and therefore we get legitimate experts and also crackpot theorists that can tell us exactly why they believe the sky is blue, the air is light, or why the world might end. It’s always fun to hear how much thought these people put into their theories and honestly hope they are correct in their findings. The lone special feature is anything but cheap because it’s not only close to an hour of extra stuff but an entire second documentary that may be even more enjoyable than the first. You can probably pick this up for less than fifteen bucks in most stores so it is well worth grabbing a copy and checking out. Better do it fast too. Little bit more than three years left for all of us.
Hey…it could happen.
A&E Home Video presents Doomsday 2012: The End Of Days. Directed by: Jeff Schiro & Tim Evans. Starring: Phil Crowley. Running time: 94 minutes. Rating: PG. Released on DVD: November 10, 2009. Available at Amazon.com
