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This standard-def set isn't notable in terms of A/V quality, but The Power of Myth is nevertheless a mesmerizing piece of scholarship....
Acorn Media / 344 Minutes / 1988 / Unrated / Street Date: February 5, 2013
Joseph Campbell has a reputation among nerds of today as the guy George Lucas cribbed from when he wrote Star Wars, and even though .0001% of Greedo geeks will likely check out this Power of Myth: 25th Anniversary Edition DVD collection, these interviews do quite a bit to manifest the author and philosopher's more nuanced and astute perspectives on storytelling and mythology. The Power of Myth isn't a particularly exciting program - they're discussions between two guys, pure and simple - but as such, they're late-career Campbell triumphs.
These talks investigate various pieces of literature, history and myth and elucidate on both what gave them such clarity and why they're still relevant in today's modern world. In culminating what he referred to as humanity's "one great story", Campbell uses these six episodes to offer perspectives and ideas about the entropy of the human world, and how that's manifested in our art.
So, yeah, he's still the Star Wars guy, but there's a lot more at work in a piece like The Power of Myth than you could shake a Wookiee at. Those uninterested in the construction and contribution of myth to culture and humanity at large might snooze through the hours of interviews here, but for anyone in need of a jolt of inspiration, these are legitimately illuminating treatises. As a DVD set - even an anniversary-themed one - this compilation is anemic in terms of audio/video presence, but Campbell himself might argue that it's all about the story, and that's something The Power of Myth has in spades.