SoftInloveRox Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Calum Hutton It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Jakoba True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Loveunderlaw As a real LHP Pagan adept & a real Goth too, Criss sadly for himself is neither of those things. He's a poseur that doesn't believe in anything supernatural, making $ is his only life, that's it. We've never seen him at any Goth events either, we go to many in the Northeast & Mid-Atlantic regions every year.IMO his Sleight Of Hand "magic" tricks are just really paltry, he should just hang it up IMO. He's gotten rich off of the backs of those that don't know any better, how sad:(IMO Cyril Tanaka blows Criss away easily in skill & finesse. Unless you are easily amused by foolishness, I wouldn't waste my time watching this show.

bonbonwen It is not about true or fake.This is Criss Angel's reality even if it's out of your reality.His magic is way beyond tricks or normal magic.He works in ancient Shamanism,Alchemism,Voodoo etc.There are people who has been done these true magic all through history.What's the surprise?It's the way he manifest power through wisdom.Power is not easy to handle.It turns misused or out of control when there's not enough wisdom.Even it could turns against oneself and became destructive.He has higher wisdom and extreme strong will to work with this tremendous power.See how dangerous he has been acting?This is how powerful he is.This young man is incredible being knowing how the energy works.He says,I'm using the energy of audience when performing.Yes it's true.The whole performing stage is actually his playground of energy field.He drives the energy flow to cause stunning vision effect.Can't believe it?Because, There is no reality as there is no illusion.

caa821 I'm no expert on the subject of "magic," but I believe the term "smoke and mirrors" goes back to the 1800's and perhaps a lot farther.If you watch, say, David Copperfield, whether live or on television special (I've seen him in both), there still is a lot of "smoke," undoubtedly mirrors as well - and the state-of-the-art in the manufacture and use of these today would be far advanced from earlier times. You know the huge spinning saw blade isn't going to cut through him, but it looks like it does. We know this is an "illusion," and the practitioners in this area of show business use this term themselves, including Mr. Angel.There's some video on-line, purportedly produced by Criss himself, indicating the levitation technique. And while one program showed him levitating high above the ground, from one Las Vegas building to another, he still takes the elevator and stairs to his suite, steps onto and off of his RV, etc.Whatever, I enjoy his programs - the prolonged séance scene wasn't that entertaining, and (for me) some of his more extravagant bits (e.g. from the boat) are my less-favorite.I enjoy most some of his bits with cards, jewelry, other personal items, and some of the bits levitating others - especially when done on a crowded street, restaurant, etc. How did he not only toss a deck of cards from the sidewalk, with his subject's card then appearing stuck to the adjacent plate glass restaurant window (ON THE INSIDE, ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE GLASS, YET)?? Hell, I don't know, but that's the whole idea and I enjoyed it.Some suggest the use of confederates from the "bystanders," and some camera trickery. This thought has crossed my mind sometimes, and some people's reactions and patter, and some occasional camera shots suggest this. But many observers are youngsters, ordinary street folk, and others, where, for a variety of reasons, it doesn't seem they could be "acting." A lot of it is simply great sleight-of-hand. And we know misdirection is usually involved, expertly, at some point(s).I've spent a lot of prolonged time in Spain on business, and have seen a man there who does CLOSE-UP magic, standing by a table with patrons seated there, and he does it WITH ONE HAND ONLY. Colleagues of mine have seen him live, and been participants, and none can deduce how he does what he does.Angel's interlocking a couple's wedding rings at a dinner table in a Vegas restaurant, having an older lady's ring reappear within an ice cube, and before a large crowd in a mall, throw a deck of cards scattered on the floor, and then having the "selected card" rise from the pile, were all entertaining bits.His sleight-of-hand is superb, and his demeanor is entertaining.Does he possess truly "magical powers?" I doubt it. But, who cares? It's an entertaining half-hour, and watching 2/3/4 of his episodes back-to-back is entertaining, and doesn't seem "over-long," if you have the time.Finally, where physical prowess is needed, this man's superb conditioning is admirable and fascinating to see, too.Just enjoy his talent and quirky, likable persona. A good program.

Wynter_Miller I hate "reality" shows. Why? Because they are as far from "reality" as I am from gracing the cover of next month's Vogue. I admit I detest television, as a general rule. It amazes me the absolute rubbish that fills the ever increasing number of channels. So, it follows I should hate Criss Angel: Mindfreak, right? Wrong! I LOVE THIS SHOW! There is NOTHING like it on television. That alone should be reason enough to check it out. It has spawned NO copycats, another TV first. Why? Because duplication would be impossible.Criss Angel: Mindfreak is a magic show. A REAL magic show. Not some guy in a tuxedo and a Vanna White clone. Hardly. It's completely unique, and the sole reason is its' star, Criss Angel.Criss Angel describes himself as a "provocateur". I agree. He provokes your mind, titillates your senses, and forces you to question reality. Seemingly effortlessly.The show itself, originally a "road show" , is now in its second season and filmed in Las Vegas. The style is nouveau documentary, lots of hand-held camera shots and disjointed cutaways. Each episode features one big "trick", and follows the intense preparation necessary to pull it off.Interspersed throughout are interview clips of other magicians and behind the scenes people who comment on the undertaking at hand. Although the pragmatic portion of your brain knows he will be ultimately successful, you still cannot help but be caught up in the building suspense.The tricks, and it really cheapens them to use the term, are dangerous. Deadly. These are NOT parlor games. Every one of them could easily cause death or permanent injury if a mistake is made. In a season and a half, Criss Angel has set himself on fire, been buried alive, dumped off a boat, manacled and shackled in a shark cage, suspended 90 feet above a concrete parking lot, and more.Angel has been accused of camera trickery, planting "volunteers" in the audience, and various other nefarious "cheats". Say what you will, the fact remains that these are DANGEROUS undertakings. If you, I, or anyone is locked in a cage, handcuffed, in leg irons, and dropped over the side of a boat without an oxygen tank, we had better be pretty damned quick about getting back to the surface. You run out of air, you drown. Period. That's all the reality I need.Criss Angel is, in himself, extraordinary . This is not some perfectly coiffed and manicured fellow. Long haired and darkly handsome, this man is in beautiful, nearly perfect physical condition. He moves like a cat. His mental conditioning is even more awesome, his intense focus palpable. He is totally committed to his performances, and absolutely serious about what he does.You cannot categorize Criss Angel. He is a mentalist, in the best Kreskin like tradition. He is apparently able to pull numbers, colors, ideas and names right out of his subject's head. But, he's more than a mentalist. He's one of the very best slight of hand magicians I have ever seen. Not only traditional card tricks, but anything and everything is fair game. It may be relatively "easy" to "pick a card", but I defy anyone to explain how the man can get a cell phone inside of a beer bottle, drop an expensive piece of jewelry through a glass case, pull a snake out of a woman's purse or a tarantula out of some guy's hat! He levitates people, walks on water, makes a couple walking toward him suddenly vanish and reappear fifty feet away. He flies, he floats, he disappears in a cloud of dust in the middle of the desert. He makes a straight pin travel up his arm, under the skin, to be spit out of his mouth. He gave a girl a voodoo doll in the middle of a busy intersection. She stuck it with a pin, and his chest began to bleed. She freaked. She wasn't the only one.HOW THE HELL DOES HE DO THIS STUFF? These illusions are done at venues where stringing wires or setting the stage is nigh impossible. I've seen him lift up a taxi and push a palm tree over. HOW? If this is trickery, then the people working with him are VERY, VERY good. Doubtful. Not to cast aspirations on his staff, who are excellent, but simply because backstage people with that kind of talent would be very hot commodities.None of these people are well known in the industry. Omniscient Hollywood may overlook one or two of them, but a couple of dozen? And, even more implausibly, what Burbank and Broadway missed, Angel was not only able to find, but assimilate into a team? On the credibility scale, that possibility falls roughly somewhere between Pamela Anderson's "naturally blonde" hair and the odds on winning the Publisher's Clearinghouse Giveaway.However he does it, WHAT he does is fascinating. Sometimes he will teach us how he does a trick, but if you try it yourself you will quickly see, at the least, it requires hours of practice to pull it off smoothly.I have seen every episode of this show, AND Angel's live show. Of all of his magic, for me, the most incredible single feat was in the first season. All I'll say is this: It involved a charter bus on a dusty highway, a deck of cards, and a girl named Stephanie. I DON'T CARE how he did it! It was simply the most amazing thing I have ever seen. The first season is now available on DVD. Buy it, find the illusion, and watch it for yourself.So, if you are sick of sitcoms, doze during dramas and retch at reality shows, try Criss Angel: Mindfreak on for size. It's definitely different TV. It's entertainment, in the truest sense of the word.