“More of this is true than you would believe.” That’s the opening statement to The Men Who Stare at Goats. It is a great line to get you questioning every aspect of what is portrayed in this movie; especially, when so many things in the movie seem outlandish and down right goofy. In this review, I will attempt to give a summary of the movie, highlight fact from fiction and explain why I believe you should watch this movie. Seriously… go watch this movie.

I have seen this movie many times. I always find something new that I didn’t see before. The first half of the movie does a decent job accurately defining how the First Earth Battalion was created and what tactics they used to develop their members. However, the second half of the movie strays into a fictitious story line that seems to sputter out.

This film was based off the novel by Jon Bronson, “The Men Who Stare at Goats.” However, the movie adaptation takes quite a bit of poetic license and moves far into fiction. The movie follows a reporter named Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor), trying to lose himself in the romance of war after his marriage falls apart. Wilton gets more than he bargains for when he meets a special forces agent (George Clooney) who reveals the existence of a secret, psychic military unit whose goal is to end war as we know it. The founder of the unit, Army Colonel Bill Django (Jeff Bridges) has gone missing and the trail leads to another psychic soldier (Kevin Spacey) who has distorted the mission to serve his own ends.

The reason the movie is called “The Men Who Stare At Goats” is due to the fact the First Earth Battalion would develop their psychic abilities by starting at goats. They originally intended to slow the heart rates of the goats, but got to a point of stopping a goat’s heart altogether. There is documented video footage of this actually happening!

Characters

Ewan McGregor plays the reporter who seems like it may be based on Jon Bronson. Jon Bronson not only wrote the book “The Men Who Stare at Goats”, but he also documented his research with the “Crazy Rulers of the World” documentary. You can find that here: https://youtu.be/CAMIvDmWbQs

George Clooney plays Lynn Cassady. Cassady seems to be a combination of characters. Some of Cassady’s character is linked to Guy Savelli. Guy is a former military/martial artist who also loves dance. In fact, Guy has owned and operated a dance and martial arts studio in Ohio for the past several decades (http://www.savellidanceandmartialarts.com/#!/page/274246/about-us).

The other person used to form the Cassady character is Master Peter Brusso. Master Brusso is the head of the First Earth Battalion’s Martial Arts division. He served in the US Army, is a Ninjitsu master, has developed his own martial art called Anjing Banfa and has taught that art to military/US Government agencies and civilians over the past several decades. He also created a non lethal defense tool, called the Defender, which was used in the Goats movie.

Defender movie clip and http://www.pdws.biz

***Send me a message if you would like to learn how to use a Defender.

Jeff Bridges plays Army Colonel Bill Django. The Bill Django character is based on Lieutenant Colonel Jim Channon who founded the First Earth Battalion and New Earth Army. Channon was commissioned by the US Military to research alternatives methods to combat: aka promoting peace. Channon spent years researching New Age concepts and came up with the idea of creating warrior monks who would be responsible for promoting and enforcing peace.

Kevin Spacey plays Hooper. He hates everything Lyn Cassady stands for and rubs the other New Earth members the wrong way from the onset. He is our antagonist.

Movie Overview

The movie starts off with reporter named Bob Wilton (McGregor) interviewing a member of the New Earth Army, a super secret Army of paranormal who were being trained as stealth weapons. Wilton’s interviewee says the members of the New Earth Army could view the other side of the world while sitting in one place, kill by the power of their site alone and penetrate enemy lines by spirit, not in body.

Shortly thereafter, Wilton’s wife leaves him for Wilton’s editor. Wilton then questions everything in his life and decides to go to Iraq to prove to his wife that he is courageous.

Wilton is searching for a story during the war and finds a unique story that takes him into enemy territory. The unique story is provided by legendary New Earth member, Lyn Cassady (Clooney). Cassady tells Wilton all about the New Earth Army, how a Vietnam veteran named Bill Django (Lt. Col, Jim Channon) founded the group and sold the Army on the idea of fighters who could transcend physical limitations.

Throughout the movie, you can feel a sense of Lebowski in Jeff Bridges acting and portrayal of Bill Django. I am a big Lebowski fan and have no problem with that. I also don’t think it’s too far off base from Lt. Col. Jim Channon’s personality. Take a look at Channon’s Ted Talk and see for yourself: https://youtu.be/kYliylfFxSY

The movie jumps from the recent Middle East and 20 years prior, showing Cassady’s training, and the other New Earth Army members, under Django, to become Jedi Warriors. Clooney’s attention to acting detail gives a believable performance. He moves from an uptight Army member to one who opens up to the teachings of the New Earth. Cassady embraces dancing amongst his team members, practicing yoga, cleansing his body with liquid meals, learning controversial combat techniques and expanding his psychic abilities.

Cassady tells Wilton he is headed into wartime Iraq on a mission and Wilton joins him. Soon they run into hostiles and are taken hostage. While being held captive, Cassady explains how he believes Wilton is meant to be there with Cassady. He believes they are kindred spirits and Wilton is a Jedi.

Cassady and Wilton make it through a botched kidnapping exchange, a firefight between US security teams and driving over an improvised exploding device (IED). This keeps the story moving until their final mission. I won’t provide any spoilers about the ending. But I enjoyed the final leg of the movie.

Fact Vs Fiction (Provided by Lt. Col. Jim Channon’s web page: www.neweartharmy.com)

HOW DOES THE MOVIE “THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS” RELATE TO THE FIRST EARTH BATTALION?

The DVD has a very interesting 12 minute featurette: “Goats Declassified: The Real Men of the First Earth Battalion” which testifies to the film’s factual basis.  Interviews include Jim Channon, Jon Ronson, John Alexander, Guy Savelli and other members of the First Earth Battalion who share their experiences as psychic spies.

HOW ACCURATELY DO THE BOOK AND THE MOVIE PORTRAY THE REAL STORY OF THE FIRST EARTH BATTALION?

Though they both claim to be based on a true story, author Jon Ronson and screenwriter Peter Straughan took wide, and we mean W-I-D-E, artistic license blurring the lines between fact and fiction. Here are some important facts:

•Jim Channon was never discharged from the U.S. Army. He served in the U. S. Army as an infantry officer and creative spark-plug from 1962 to 1982 and was in Vietnam twice during 65-66 and 70-71. During his career, he was awarded many medals. In Vietnam, he lost just one infantry soldier, never killed an innocent civilian and never took a bullet.  He was known for his ability to imagine and illustrate the future battlefield and its advanced applications.  Though retired, he continues to work with the U.S. Military.

•Returning home from Vietnam, his goal was to find non-lethal and peaceful solutions to potentially change the shape of war as we know it and save lives in the process. His work in the military was and is still highly respected in the military today.  He was asked to present to large high ranking conferences and he launched a simulation and games program that is now funded at 50 million dollars a year. 

•Channon retired from the military in 1982 and did not serve in Iraq. (Ronson speculates in his book that sound healing therapies detailed in Evolutionary Tactics evolved into torture techniques in Abu Graib or Guantanamo, however, this is inaccurate.)  

•The movie suggests character Bill Django, as portrayed by actor Jeff Bridges, used black operations money to secure drugs for experimentation.  Jim Channon never participated in any such activity and drugs were not a part of the First Earth Battalion ideals.

WAS THE FIRST EARTH BATTALION A SECRET PARANORMAL FORCE IN THE US MILITARY?

No. The Earth Battalion has acted like a think-tank collecting and reviewing advanced human performance skills from all disciplines and it still does. It was never secret although some of the spin-off ideas may have became secret once tested (such as remote viewing.) The think-tank is still active and provides advanced human performance solutions for soldiers planet-wide. It is supported by Jim’s retirement pay and has dozens of other volunteer military thinkers as part of the brain trust.

Paranormal sensibilities possessed by soldiers can increase survival rates on the modern and very complex battlefield. The goal is to create combatants with a more advanced understanding of threats, allow for peaceful incursions into dangerous areas, and to spare the lives of soldiers and civilians.

Wired Magazine contains a good article which summarizes the factual paranormal experiments conducted by the military. 

WHERE ARE MEMBERS OF THE FIRST EARTH BATTALION AND WHAT ARE THEY DOING TODAY?

Not surprisingly, many original members remain actively involved in planetary affairs.

Jim Channon passed away in late 2017. He lived in Hawaii on an eco-homestead and pioneered a wide range of evolutionary ideas for living. Jim was actively engaged in envisioning the global militaries of the world coming together as a New Earth Army to deal with environmental and social problems of the future. He calls this endeavor Operation Noble Steward and has written about on his website and discussed it in his many You Tube videos.

John Alexander, the father of non-lethal weapons has just completed a major analysis of Africa and has written two books on the future of warfare. John’s book, The Warrior’s Edge, provided an accurate description of many of his projects that explored phenomenology. Still exploring, he currently serves as a council member of the Society for Scientific Exploration (www.scientificexploration.org/) and the board of directors of the International Remote Viewers’s Association (www-irva.org)

Major General Bert Stubblebine is developing a sustainable community in Panama and raising global awareness about questionable medical practices created by large pharmaceutical companies involved in Codex and vaccines. See www.naturalsolutionsfoundation.org
Most of the 130 some odd members of the Army’s original think-tank called Task Force Delta (where these ideas were spawned) have gone on to positions of meaningful social responsibility and other future-based technologies.

Master Peter Brusso continues to teach his martial art (Anjing Banfa) in Southern California. He is also willing to teach the right people how to use Defenders, talk with plants and sense auras.

Summary

The makers of this movie chose to make light of the First Earth Battalion. I believe this approach lessened the impact of the movie.

I love the concept of the First Earth Battalion and the fact our military paid to research it. This offers a different perspective of our military away from the war obsessed one with typically see or hear about. I, personally, would have liked to have seen a more positive view on this group.

With that being said, I definitely recommend giving this movie a watch. There is enough background development, laughs, surprise, suspense and curves to keep you entertained.

“Go Planet”

– Lt. Col. Jim Channon