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Transformation: The Life and Legacy of Werner Erhard

Play trailer Transformation: The Life and Legacy of Werner Erhard 2006 1h 20m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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Tomatometer 1 Reviews 83% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
The founder of the est movement discusses his philosophy and why he left the United States.

Critics Reviews

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Frank Scheck The Hollywood Reporter The information imparted feels skimpy and incomplete, with the result that for every question the film answers, more seem to be raised. Sep 10, 2007 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member Werner Erhard is perhaps one of the unknown heros who've made a huge impact on the quality of people's lives. His work is very powerful, self revealing and can be life changing. This movie (more like a documentary) tries to clear up some of the unanswered questions/doubts on Werner's life which ultimately resulted in a controversy and adds some flavor to his work as well. The movie in itself is ok, but if you've been a part of any of Werner Erhard's work, you'll definitely find it more meaningful. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Audience Member YOU DON'T KNOW YOUR ASS FROM A HOLE IN THE GROUND! I can assure you, if you have not been personally involved with est or The Landmark Forum, Werner will strike you as a complete utter wackjob. This movie does a nice job of trying to clear his reputation. The media has a tendency to rip people apart without bothering to include the positive aspects. Whatever you feel about the man himself, he has done a great thing for society with his programs. Interesting movie, love how they have clips from the est training in the 70's. It must have been quite an experience in est, before they softened up the program in Landmark. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Audience Member Great review of the est training weekends, and Werner! And to see how this conversation has transformed since I 'got it' at est in 1982! Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/16/23 Full Review Audience Member a must for everyone who has done the landmark forum Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Very interesting take on Werner Erchard and his life. A lot opened up and cleared up for me Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/25/23 Full Review Audience Member Recently a blogger has referred to this "documentary", as an "infomercial". This makes a lot of sense with respect to its executive producer, Walter Maksym. After the March 3, 1991 airing of the 60 Minutes piece on Werner Erhard, Werner Erhard then filed a defamation lawsuit against 20 defendants, including the San Jose Mercury News, individual reporters, other forms of news media, CBS, Hustler magazine, the National Enquirer, commercial publications and even private groups that had criticized Werner Erhard or his teachings. According to a San Jose Mercury News story from April 7, 1992 entitled: "Est Founder sues critics; suit names Mercury News writer", the lawsuit was filed in March 1992 in Chicago's Cook County Circuit Court, and Werner Erhard was represented at the time by Illinois attorney Walter Maksym. Today, the company "Walter Maksym Publishing" lists books including "Diets Don't Work!", "Diets Still Don't Work!", "One Hour Orgasm", and "Who Taught You That?". However, these books are ALL listed on Amazon.com as published by some Texas based company called "Breakthru Publishing". And what is another publication involving Werner Erhard published by Breakthru Publishing ? Why, it's none other than the book by Jane Self, called 60 Minutes and the Assassination of Werner Erhard. In the issue of John Marshall Law School Briefcase, Fall 2006, Vol. 6, Issue 2, Walter Maksym is described as such: "Walter Maksym is executive producer of the upcoming film "STASH," set in Chicago. Maksym is president of Walter Maksym Publishing, president of Diets Don't Work, Inc. and president and executive producer of Eagle Island Films." I wonder how this "documentary" can be considered anything BUT an "infomercial", as the blogger had written, when its Executive Producer, or rather, the president and executive producer of "Eagle Island Films", one of the two production companies behind "Transformation: The Life and Legacy of Werner Erhard", was in the past the attorney for Werner Erhard in lawsuits against the press/media, as well as being the current president of a company that has all these books that in the past were published by Breakthru Publishing, the same publishing company that had published 60 Minutes and the Assassination of Werner Erhard ??? It is most likely that this "documentary" will probably not go down in history as a "documentary" or a "film", but rather ... something else. Especially when the background behind the production of the "documentary" is taken into account. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 02/18/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Transformation: The Life and Legacy of Werner Erhard

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Movie Info

Synopsis The founder of the est movement discusses his philosophy and why he left the United States.
Director
Robyn Symon
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Jul 3, 2016
Runtime
1h 20m