I have been using Kickbox 2000 (VHS) for years and still am. I barely broke a sweat with Kbox II -- it lacked the intensity I was hoping for. The warm-up was too fast and jerky.

Anyone who engages in even a rudimentary investigation will discover that everything shown in this film has been presented either as gross mistranslations or devoid of context. Jesus said that he came to bring war -- that statement can be used against him if its context was ignored. The narrator portrays himself as neutral and dispassionate, but he is anything but. This film exemplifies the new method of attack against Islam currently in use by Christian evangelicals (already not the most sophisticated interpreters of text).

If one were to ask for evidence of why this book is needed, one need only refer to the previous review. The review denies that the West hates Muslims and then proceeds to spew astonishing lies regarding Islam and Muslims. For example, the reviewer states that the Holy Quran declares all out war against the "House of War" (ie. the non-Islamic world), however, this term does not even exist in the Holy Quran. It is people like the reviewer below (and Bibi Netanyahu) that feed the problems that the world is facing today and gives crazies like bin Laden fuel with which to manipulate. Shame. The review below constitutes nothing short of hate speech.

That this book is written so lyrically and delicately, and yet also shocks and awes is testament to the fact that it has the stuff that classics are made of. I find this to be a regular trait of Canadian literature.
I have read numerous books depicting WWI, and while all describe its brutality and horror, few have done so to the extent that this book does. Further, WWI depictions have rarely been written from the viewpoint of the snipers, which is a very unique and interesting angle. Also, being a story told from the viewpoint of Native Canadians means that there are many mystical and surreal depictions, using smooth and sensual language.
Astoundingly well written.

The only words I have for this work is "thank you" to the author. It is amazing that, in all the centuries that the Holy Quran has been on this earth, it took until the 21st century for a work like this to be produced. The Islamic world is indebted to the author.

Clearly the first two reviewers not only did not read this book, but they lack scholarly sophistication which makes there contributions saddening. Shiism is a jewish conspiracy? This seems to be the case with everything that the fundamentalist-bent Muslims don't like. Shias, Ahmadis, you name it, they are all jewish conspiracies. Please. Moreover, Ibn Arabi was not a Shia and had no affiliation with Shias at all. He was, in fact, an orthodox Sunni. The hidden agenda behind such reviewers is that they wish to disqualify Ibn Arabi because so much of what he says go directly against the narrow-minded and impoverished views of the "ulama" of today. This has been an effort on their part since Ibn Arabi's time and the principle reason why only Western scholars have delved into studying Ibn Arabi.
Although the Hanafi, Hanbali, Shafi and Maliki schools of thought are well known, many do not realize that Ibn Arabi could very well be the 5th. His level of scholarship on Islam, both before and after him, is unsurpassed, him having produced the densest and deepest works of all the great Sufis and legal scholars. Scholars like Chodkiewicz do humanity a great service by increasing accessibility to Ibn Arabi and showing the relevance of his writings. Thank you.

I absolutely enjoyed every minute of this book. Except for the fact that I wanted to resolve who Red was, I really didn't want this book to end. This book being told from many different perspectives, including those of inanimate things, like a horse illustration and the colour red itself, were very fun and interesting. This is brilliant historical fiction as it transports the reader to another time and manages to evoke the images and flavours of the time intimately and successfully. It is also a very good murder mystery. While reading and enjoying, I was also doing my best to amass clues so that I could try and determine who the murderer was which was very fun as well. This book does not teach anyone about Islam, nor should it, but it does give one the flavour of what Islamic societies were like centuries ago when they were in their prime. I have always been a lover miniature art, and being introduced to its history and technique as well as the types of personalities who enagaged in this art was wonderful.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

McEwan writes very well. His language is fluid and evocative. As for the plot, I loved the first half of this book. Each character was extremely interesting and their development was intriguing. However, once the second half of the book began, the book took on a distinctly different tone. Suddenly, the book took on a faster pace that seemed to leave the characters behind. The resolution of the book occurred abruptly. Much sentimentality was felt in the concluding birthday party as if the event that occurred in the first half was special and to be lovingly remembered but it should not have been given what transpired. I did not like the second half at all and it ruined the book for me. I was quite disappointed considering I picked this book up based on the rave reviews it received when it first came out.

I respect Ethan Hawke for his acting and his contribution to theatre and I actually appreciated his first attempt at a novel. The Hottest State had a subtlety and flow which I found promising. With much interest, I picked up this latest book to see how much Hawke had advanced as a writer and whether he was now qualified to "quit his day job". I can safely answer "NO". I was disappointed with this attempt. Although I found the first half of this book interesting, I soon found that I did not like the characters, and unlike a previous reviewer, did not care what happened to them, both of which I think Hawke did not want to happen. Another reviewer commented that these characters do stupid things and anyone with teenagers should identify -- the problem is that these characters are not teenagers. They are at least in their late 20's and Jimmy is "around 30". Given that I am 31 and have a wife and a one-year old son, I found the immaturity of these characters frustrating. Both characters are made out to be intelligent yet they cannot actually commit an intelligent act -- every woman I have ever known who eats nothing and smokes during pregnancy has been a numb-head and yet I am supposed to believe that Christy is intelligent, please. The same goes for Jimmy who really only has a passion for the smell and taste of female genitalia.
The book completely falls apart in the last 40 pages, which is 20% of the book -- much of the dialogue becomes ridiculous and I prayed for the book to just end.
Hawke has a talent with words if only he could find a plot to use them for.