The Secret (Extended Edition) [2006]
£9.24
Hardly Extended and Quite Different than the Original - I purchased this DVD assuming that it was the same video I saw originally with extra material added. I did not realize that it was essentially an entirely different film. The material was very similar in most areas, and identical in some others, but had a noticeably different feel from the first original edition. The narrator of the original version (around whose work the Secret film was built) was completely edited out, which robs the film of most of its power. The voice overs were re-recorded and other sections re-shot with other people regurgitating material that was not their own and thus delivered lacking a sense of sincerity. I would never have thought that this could have such an impact on the film, but it certainly does. Very, very disappointing. I feel even more upset that they seem to mislead people into buying this version by calling it an extended edition, and not mentioning anywhere that it is in fact not the original film with more material added but something quite different. Furthermore, the few additional features that are included, with the exception of the blooper reel, are essentially sales pitches suggesting that you visit the website and buy some products there. It cheapens the whole message of the film and leaves you feeling quite unpleasant. That said, the original version is wonderful and I would give it a five star rating without hesitation.
Original version is better than the extended edition - Having seen both the original and extended versions of The Secret, I agree with others the original edition with Esther Hicks (before she was cut out by Rhonda Byrne) is definitely the better of the two. It s worth noting the extended version doesn t contain more content, just another speaker substituted in for Ms. Hicks who simply doesn t compare. As mentioned by others the law of attraction is not a newly discovered concept and hardly a secret, and yes there s more to it than this DVD would have you think. This program treats the subject superficially, and I found the special effects in the beginning to be cheesy and over the top. The Secret is heavy on hype and promise, but falls short on delivery. I ve read about the Law of Attraction over the years, and am usually excited enough about the subject matter to love most of the media I ve encountered. Not so in this case. If this is your first introduction to the law of attraction then it s better than nothing (perhaps - so long as the superficial and decidedly materialistic slant doesn t put you off). So it s not complete in itself, but it does offer a taste of more to come through other sources. If you insist on seeing what the hype is about be sure to see the original version. There are still copies of the original available which you can find if you do an online search. I first saw the extended version and was hugely disappointed. Then at the prompting of a friend I saw the original edition which compelled me to look into Esther Hicks other works. Happily her DVDs and books approach this subject matter on a deeper and more meaningful level. (If you can, take a look at The Secret Behind the Secret DVD). I give the extended edition of The Secret half a star, and the original version 3 stars for Ms. Hicks participation and early collaboration on the project.
Looking for the wings necessary to swallow that - The book and the video are the two sides of the same coin and I would advise you to follow the one or the other. I will suggest though that you concentrate on the video because the commentary between the quotations are nothing but the proof that some people need a lot more explanations and a lot of paraphrase to understand the basic meaning. Are we all without limits? And that is going to be my very first remark. From my long experience I know that some people are physically handicapped, or mentally handicapped, or psychologically handicapped, or with many hurdles on their road and around them. You should see the state of some of those children born to deep alcoholics or drug addicts. Or what about children with a severe genetic disparagement? And I refuse to say they are just disabled, or differently-abled. They are handicapped by being materialistically in their very body or mind at a disadvantage that will prevent them from doing what most people around them will be able to do. If the mind is intact, and working on positive thinking is the only way for these people, then they can compensate their physical limitations with their spiritual achievements. But you can t run in the standard Olympics without legs just like a bicycle will not run without wheels. And this time, in most of these situations, one will not be able to excel, full stop and period, and if one can excel in one particular field in which he is not or is less limited, it won t be without the help of other people around them. You cannot think positive if there is no signs along that road. The second remark is positive. Apart from these special cases, everyone, absolutely everyone can excel somewhere and that excellence can only be reached if it is targeted, looked for and built. Positive thinking, education, understanding that the pleasure of such achievements is in the goal when reached and not in the effort you have to accomplish, even if for those who will reach the highest points this very effort is a pleasure, the pleasure of the effort itself. A runner has to train day in and day out and that is never, absolutely never a plain entertaining phase of relaxation and abandon. Physical pleasure requires sweat and heart speed. But if one does not set their minds on the aim they are going to strive towards, they will never reach it. Success is enormously in the mind, in the conscious and subconscious motivation of the candidate. Yet it is absolutely false to say that man has no limits. Humanity, and every member of it, has always been limited historically and no one could think plasma physics or quantum computers under Julius Caesar. Each historical period produces its possible fields of investigation that are limited because in a later historical period those fields of investigation will always be vaster, larger, deeper, more intense. Or then the author is speaking metaphorically of man as the representative of humanity in its cosmic history. But that is not helping any individual who is striving to achieve something in his own life. Icarus did try to fly but wax wings were kind of primitive. Then my third and last remark will be a question: why only ONE percent of humanity controls NINETY-SIX percent of wealth? If this is a fact, and it is, it is the proof that all men are not equal in facts but only in rights, and that is so by our collective decision to say so. But one thing is sure: thinking negatively is never good. Think of McCain and Palin and their negative campaigning. Think of all the anarchists of the world who have never achieved the slightest beginning of their dream which is only a negative picture of the world the way it is. If you criticize the world systematically, then your dream becomes the inverted image of this world, hence a negative picture of reality, and that will never guide or inspire people into desiring such a future. When I don t like something I do not ask for the reverse. I wonder what the situation is, what the possibilities are and if another solution is possible and which one. Then I will think positively along that objective, or rather as objective as possible, line, but to demand black because what I don t like is white, or to require red because what I don t like is blue is primitive negative thinking. That kind of realism and collective striving is absent from this book or video and that is a shame because they forget attraction holds the world and the cosmos up because it is always counterbalanced by repulsion. Otherwise the moon would have fallen onto the earth a long very long time ago, even if this repulsion is itself the product of attractions that are standing abreast and against the attraction of the earth. The apple did not fall as long as the stem was strong enough and the apple light enough for the stem not to break. The author of this book or video seems to have forgotten that the cosmos is a complex system of opposed spheres and when a weak point appears, then a catastrophe develops in that weak point, and the earth is doomed sooner or later in cosmic time to disappear, just like the sun which will one day have burned all itself fuel.Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines
It s what it says on the tin: THE SECRET. Revealed to all who care to watch! - Chances are this is going to make you feel uneasy. You may want to throw it out as New Age. I suggest you watch it, out it aside, and then one day watch it again. I PROMISE you this will CHANGE YOUR LIFE, if you care to give it a chance.It s working for me! :-)
Something to learn from? - I wasn t too sure about this the first time I watched it, but the second and third time I began to understand how useful this information was(once you filtered out the american hype/ hippy feel to it). I ve listened to alot of Bob Proctor and respect him very much. This DVD only just scratches the surface, use it as a beginning point. There was a lot of emphasis on thinking, there should have been at least an equal emphasis on action other wise it s just illusion.