Guyana Tragedy: Story of Jim Jones -

Customer Reviews:

Gives a good understanding of the tragedy and the events leading up to it.
The Jonestown tragedy had previously been made into the exploitation film "Guyana - Crime of the Century". However, this TV production, with a running time of about three hours gives a better understanding of how it could happen. The story starts when Jim Jones is a child, being indoctrinated by a Christian fundamentalist friend. He starts the integrated People's Temple Church after discovering how racist the established churches in San Francisco are. He really wants to do something good for the community and he does, but power corrupts and the church turns into more of a money making cult and Jones turns into a cruel leader. His drug use and paranoia doesn't make things better. After moving to Guyana, Jones has complete control over his folloers, and with him as a leader, Jonestown is headed for destruction.

This gives a good understanding of the events, and what it might have been like for the people involved. The mass suicide sequence is reconstructed almost completely the way it happened, based on tape recordings. As a piece of trivia, the gospel songs performed by the People's Temple Choir are recordings of the actual choir.

I certainly recommend this film to those interested in the Jonestown story, destructive cults, or 1970s history in general.
--2006-07-01

Before Waco,Before Heaven's Gate.
Jim Jones,A crazy preacher brainwashes his People's Temple cult to move from Illinios,I think to Jonestown.Africa,where they are forced to drink a Kool-Aid laced with syinide. Jim Jones himself had jungle fever,so he was dying anyway. Some of the People's temple did get away. The People's Temple did call Jim Jones"DAD"
--2006-03-19

Entertaining, but highly inaccurate
Powers Boothe, while obviously talented and provided a strong character, he did not capture the real Jim Jones in any sense. This movie is so full of inaccuracies that it is not worth viewing to obtain any true information regarding the Peoples Temple movement. I would recommend some of the documentaries such as Purple Haze or the A & E Biography of Jim Jones-Journey into Madness. I found this motion picture misleading and almost total fiction as I know many, many family members and survivors of Peoples Temple and have written/researched Peoples Temple extensively.
--2004-09-10

GUYANA TRAGEDY-THE STORY OF JIM JONES
I FEEL THAT POWERS BOOTHE PORTRAYED JIM JONES EXCELLENTLY IN THIS MOVIE,AND I RECOMMEND IT VERY HIGHLY FOR VIEWING.
--2003-08-02

A Spellbinding Film Though Not Entirely Accurate
This film is masterfully done and will grab the viewer's attention from the beginning. Boothe does an excellent job of portraying Jones. Though the film has great artistic merit and portrays an overall sense of the life of the People's Temple, it fails to convey the true roots of madness that became the driving force of the Jonestown cult. For a better overall survey of Jones' theological presuppositions and personal history, I would highly recommend a reading of David Chidester's book, Salvation and Suicide. Also recommended is the audio broadcast "The Last Days of Jonestown," available from National Public Radio.
--2003-05-04

Guyana Tragedy: Story of Jim Jones

- Vci Video