McLibel: Two Worlds Collide (1998) User Reviews

The film has been updated

[LFTSmith · 8/10 · 16 April 2005]

I watched this film on BBC4 this week. It ran for 83 minutes (approx) and was dated 2005. It has been updated to include the victory over the UK Government in the European Court of Human rights, which further added to the strain on the two defendants.

Since this judgement has changed the status of the notorious UK libel laws, the film will be of wider interest than to just those interested in the McDonalds aspect (and will open the way for less timidity in comment in the UK in the future). My wife was reluctant to watch the program but became enthralled by it as a court drama in the Law & Order mode. It showed a major victory of the little man over Big Government and rapacious multinationals that would do Frank Capra or Michael Moore proud.

It was a riveting experience.

A modern story of David & Goliath

[The-Sarkologist · 8/10 · 22 November 2013]

This documentary is now a little obsolete since the main protagonists, a couple of community organisers that refused to back down when McDonalds threatened to sue them under the UK Libel laws, subsequently took the UK government to court at the European Court of Human Rights and won, claiming that the Libel laws in the UK amounted to a breach of their freedom of speech.

What basically happened was that they were being sued for expressing their opinion, however the problem is that they listed a number of aspects on their leaflet that the average person could consider to be a fact, when many of these facts were stated without any conclusive evidence to support them. The difference between an opinion and a misleading fact is that an opinion is basically that, and opinion (I hate McDonalds because their food is disgusting) whereas a misleading fact (McDonalds destroys rainforests) is a statement that is made without any supporting evidences.

Granted, while the actions of McDonalds may lead to the destruction of Rainforests, that does not necessarily mean that the corporation is actively involved in it, but rather that it purchases it produce from agricultural companies that cut down the rainforests to create more farming land to met the demand. In many cases, these corporations don't actually look at the results of their actions, but only sees their bottom line. They are unthinking profit making machines, and it is only when their ability to make a profit is hit that they are forced to change.

While the film targets McDonalds, they are quite clear at the beginning that the reason McDonalds is targeted is because it is the flagship of the corporate world, and the one that everybody recognises. Just because McDonalds finds itself the brunt of attacks does not mean that the other companies are not guilty of the same practices, it is just that the is the one that we all recognise, and the one that comes to mind when we speak about the corporate world.

This is a pretty good documentary, however as I have mentioned, events have continued moving out from this particular event with the trail in the European Court of Human Rights, and as the protagonists of this film say on their website, McSpotlight, 'See, who says two people can't change the world?'

Once is not enough!

[monkeyfish-1 · 9/10 · 27 September 2004]

This outstanding documentary should be seen by everyone who ever visited or even thought about visiting a McDonald's restaurant. It is utterly inspiring, real David and Goliath stuff.

The case is mentioned in the brilliantly researched, funny and informative book by Eric Schlosser, 'Fast Food Nation' but the documentary goes into far greater detail. Get your hands on it if you can.

I accidentally put this review on the 1997 mini series version of the same story. I haven't seen the dramatised version, but if it's anything like as good as this documentary,then it's probably worth watching too if you can find it.