Product Description

HOW ARNOLD WON THE WEST is a hilarious and insightful documentary that tells the story of the bizarre California Recall Election. Documentary filmmaker Alex Cooke followed the campaign from the moment Arnold Schwarzenegger announced his candidacy through to his victory. 135 candidates took part in this extraordinary gubernatorial race, personally paid for (to the tune of $1.7 million) by Republican Congressman Darrell Issa (former owner of America's biggest car alarm company, and brother of a car thief) to eliminate Democratic Governor, Gray Davis. With so many candidates—from delusional hopefuls, to actors, porn stars, porn peddlers, self-promoters and performance artists, as well as seasoned politicians—the circus really did come to town.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #142823 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-01-25
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 80 minutes

Amazon.com
The madness of the California gubernatorial recall election, which ousted incumbent Gray Davis and brought Arnold Schwarzenegger into the governor's mansion, is a natural for a documentary. How Arnold Won the West seizes upon the most bizarre aspects of this political carnival and holds them up for some fairly easy mockery. Here's Arnold being hit with an egg, and here's Arnold accused of groping women. And don't forget the TV "game show" debates featuring some of the countless gag candidates, including Gary Coleman and porn star Mary Carey. All of which won't be terribly new to Americans who watched the spectacle unfold, although others may find it flabbergasting. Brit director Alex Cooke takes a snarky attitude toward this, spending too much time on Schwarzenegger's shunning of campaign reporters. Ultimately, the film focuses on process and the horse race, rather than issues--just like the mainstream press. --Robert Horton

London Daily Telegraph
"A terrific portrait of American Politics in action"

Sydney Morning Herald
"An immensely funny, superbly written and shrewdly observed piece"

Customer Reviews

A thinnly veiled agenda
I was tremendously disapointed with this documentary. This seems to be a sad trend in documentary making in the Michael Moore era, where the filmaker uses deceptive and manipulative tactics to paint there subject as deceptive and manipulative. You want to hear people talking about the flaws of Gray Davis? The filmaker felt the best example would be an Elvis impersonator and a guy who poses for pictures as Spider-man. A few minutes after describing how spin doctors discredit the source of opposition to Arnolds agenda, they attempt to discredit the man who spearheaded the movement for the recall by stressing his BROTHERS crimminal record. There is also surprisingly little information about the deeply flawed record of Davis that spawned a re-call to begin with. They seemed to much rather show him as a victim, as the David vs Goliath, ignoring that he was infact a Governor of California (which may make the David comparison break down).

Above all else, this Brittish movie loves to portray the American voter as a blind sheep to awe struck to think critically and too stupid or lazy to make intelligent decisions. As a matter of fact, she's banking on it, for you'd need to be stupid and lazy to not see through her thinnly veiled agenda.