Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
Promotional release poster
Directed byNathan Frankowski
Written byKevin Miller
Ben Stein
Walt Ruloff
Produced byLogan Craft
Walt Ruloff
John Sullivan
StarringBen Stein
Edited bySimon Tondeur
Music byAndy Hunter
Robbie Bronnimann
Production
companies
Premise Media Corporation
Rampant Films
Distributed byVivendi Entertainment
Rocky Mountain Pictures (US)
Con Dios Entertainment (Australia)
Release date
  • April 18, 2008 (2008-04-18)[1]
Running time
96.5 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$3.5 million
Box office$7.7 million

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed is a 2008 American documentary-style propaganda film directed by Nathan Frankowski and starring Ben Stein.[3][4][a][5] The film contends that there is a conspiracy in academia to oppress and exclude people who believe in intelligent design.[6][7] It portrays the scientific theory of evolution as a contributor to communism, fascism, atheism, eugenics, and in particular Nazi atrocities in the Holocaust.[3][8] Although intelligent design is a pseudoscientific religious idea, the film presents it as science-based, without giving a detailed definition of the concept or attempting to explain it on a scientific level. Other than briefly addressing issues of irreducible complexity, Expelled examines intelligent design purely as a political issue.[8][9][10]

Expelled opened in 1,052 movie theaters, more than any other documentary before it, and grossed over $2,900,000 in its first weekend.[11] It earned $7.7 million, making it the 33rd highest-grossing documentary film in the United States (as of 2018, and not adjusted for inflation).[11]

Media response to the film has been largely negative. Multiple reviews, including those of USA Today and Scientific American, described the film as propaganda, with USA Today adding that it was "a political rant disguised as a serious commentary on stifled freedom of inquiry"[12] and Scientific American calling it "a science-free attack on Darwin".[5] The New York Times deemed it "a conspiracy-theory rant masquerading as investigative inquiry" and "an unprincipled propaganda piece that insults believers and nonbelievers alike".[3] Response to the film from conservative Christian groups was generally positive, praising the film for its humor and for focusing on what they perceive as a serious issue.[13]

  1. ^ Siegel, Tatiana (February 15, 2008). "New mutation in Darwin debate". Variety. Sutton, London. ISSN 0042-2738. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference mojo was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b c Catsoulis, Jeannette (April 18, 2008). "Resentment Over Darwin Evolves Into a Documentary". The New York Times (Movie review). New York. Retrieved December 3, 2008.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Puig_USAToday was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b Shermer, Michael. "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed--Ben Stein Launches a Science-free Attack on Darwin", Scientific American, April 9, 2008. Retrieved May 26, 2018. Shermer calls the movie "Ben Stein's antievolution documentary film".
  6. ^ Dean, Cornelia (September 27, 2007). "Scientists Feel Miscast in Film on Life's Origin". The New York Times. p. A1. Retrieved September 28, 2007.
  7. ^ Burbridge-Bates, Lesley (August 14, 2007a). "What Happened to Freedom of Speech?" (PDF) (Press release). Los Angeles, CA: Motive Entertainment; Premise Media Corporation. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 25, 2009. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
  8. ^ a b Whipple, Dan (December 16, 2007). "Science Sunday: Intelligent Design Goes to the Movies". Colorado Confidential (Blog). Archived from the original on March 27, 2008. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
  9. ^ Chang, Justin (April 11, 2008). "Review: 'Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed'". Variety. Sutton, London. ISSN 0042-2738. Retrieved June 10, 2008.
  10. ^ Emerson, Jim (December 17, 2008). "Ben Stein: No argument allowed". RogerEbert.com (Blog). Chicago, IL. Retrieved January 5, 2016. ... it's easier to critique evolution ... than to mount evidence for intelligent design, and the filmmakers' failure to offer even a working definition of the term leaves them open to the common charge that it's all unprovable, faith-based pseudo-science. ... One spokesman comes close to articulating a thought about Intelligent Design: 'If you define evolution precisely, though, to mean the common descent of all life on earth from a single ancestor via undirected mutation and natural selection -- that's a textbook definition of neo-Darwinism -- biologists of the first rank have real questions... 'Intelligent Design is the study of patterns in nature that are best explained as a result of intelligence.' I think there's another word for that: 'tautology.'
  11. ^ a b "Documentary Movies". Box Office Mojo. Seattle, WA. Retrieved January 29, 2018. Page ranks the highest grossing 'Documentary Movies' since 1982.
  12. ^ ";Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" reviews" Rotten Tomatoes
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


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