2012 Mayan Prophecy
Another look at the upcoming end of the world
Tags: Misc DVD 2009 Categories: DVD/TV Reviews, Reviews
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Nov 12th, 2009
There is an overuse of hard rock in 2012: Mayan Prophecy and the Shift of the Ages in the beginning, so much that it is off –putting. Getting past the horrible introduction, we get a decent explanation of the Mayan long count calendar and how it not only marks the end date but also the start date of August 11, 3114 B.C.
It is this significant fact that we have a specific “beginning” as the question arises as to what is the end what does that actually mean. Since we know that time did not actually begin on August 11, 3114 B.C. we should also not necessarily consider December 21, 2012 to be the date the world will cease to exist as some doomsayers would have us believe.
Through some examination and several interviews we are presented with a couple of theories as well as examinations of various phenomena and how they each point towards the year of 2012 in their own way. All of this is meant to provide the viewer with a sense of how important the coming date is regardless of how it is approached, but given that an ancient civilization somehow managed to point their finger here (metaphorically) as significant should count for something.
We also get what feels like a fairly crackpot theory of time travel through mind alteration but presented in a plausible way.
At a bout 70 minutes, we are given a decent overview of the issue in a compact amount of time. Perhaps the best thing viewers can take away from 2012: Mayan Prophecy and the Shift of the Ages is an understanding of just what the Mayan long count calendar actually is.
With 2012: An Awakening we get a much more environmental viewpoint of the issue of the significance of the Mayan long count calendar and what could be in store for the world. This documentary also takes into account some of the natural cycles that we see, over long periods of time, such as solar activity and how things ebb and flow.
Plenty of time is also given to the upcoming magnetic pole reversal and how that could be coming imminently and what that could also mean for us. This, perhaps more than any other single event could be the catalyst for many of the events that would be accounted for the Mayan prophecy coming true. Then again, the actual prophecy itself is open to interpretation.
Here again we also get some examination of the significance of the Mayan long count calendar. Some of the interview in both films are with the same people and cover the same thing, but are done by different people. It is a shame, really, that these two features couldn’t have been combined into making one comprehensive overview of the 2012 phenomena. They are each interesting, but there is only so much that can be seen without either cowering in fear or finding it all preposterous. There is come very interesting things to be found in both documentaries, but there is too much overlap to recommend both. Alternately, neither has a significant enough amount of exclusive content to recommend one over the other.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
| + Decent introduction to the concept of the Mayan "end of the world" scenario | 6.0 |
| What Doesn't | |
| - Not enough information together to really warrant them as seperate documentaries | |
| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| A lot of filler and little meat, but perhaps an interesting first step in your exploration of the 2012 phenomenon. | |
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Tags: Misc DVD 2009
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Nov 12th, 2009 and is filed under DVD/TV Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
