“Relevant for courses across the sociology curriculum...Megamall is an excellent film to illustrate the complex dynamics of public processes, especially in the face of corporate influence...It empowers the viewer (our students) that to make necessary changes in our communities we have to get involved, and to get involved we have to speak up.”—Robert Owen Gardner, Linfield College, Teaching Sociology
“For students who feel less at stake in the loss of their communities, this film points out the dangers of short-term thinking; malls are designed to last only 30 years. For courses covering local government, corporate influence on government, citizen activism, and the transformation of small town America, this documentary offers a real story that will bring textbook studies to life. Recommended.”—Sandy River, Texas Tech University, Educational Media Reviews Online
“Essential viewing for Northeast residents, but relentless ‘malling’ will be familiar to viewers in other regions as well.”—Library Journal
“Whether consulting with urban critics or registering the woes of local law enforcement over the added costs of dealing with mall-related crime, the filmmakers cast a wide net, taking in multiple perspectives…The twists are compelling.”— Steve Dollar, The Wall Street Journal
“See this film and you see the future—America’s last small towns, open space and quality of life smitten from existence by unfettered and mindless development. See it, get mad—and then get involved. We might yet confront the juggernaut.”— Bill Moyers, Public Affairs Television
“The film reveals how our township governments, zoning and planning boards, were manipulated and the conflict between perceived economic growth and the needs of decades-old stores on Main Street were used to divide us...It is extremely well done, and well worth your time. It should be shown to citizen's organizations and in classrooms as a slice of real history.”—The Nyack Villager
“The mallification of America...and the acts of local resistance against it…are central to bigger questions we ask about development, about consumption, about the homogenization of space and culture, about the relations between global economic structures and everyday life, and about the building of livable communities.”—Hannah Gurman, Assistant Professor, School of Individualized Study, New York University
“[The film] examines how greed, hypocrisy and treachery used under the banner of consumption-oriented economic development can invade and overwhelm local politics, but it also demonstrates that this can be contested.”—Greg Andranovich, Professor of Political Science, California State University, Los Angeles
“The film dramatizes the twenty-year struggle of the citizens of suburban Rockland County, New York, to preserve their shared sense of community from outside forces that sought to build the second largest shopping mall in the country in their back yard…It was a hard lesson, but in the end Rockland County citizens learned they could seize control of their own neighborhood and guide their own destiny—an inspiration for all communities.”—Emil Pocock, Professor of History and American Studies, Eastern Connecticut State University
“Megamall is an objective inquiry into how politics, planning, and policy intersect into one of the most fascinating issues facing local governments: the growth and development of commercial suburban centers. All communities will find this documentary engaging and a story worth learning from.”—Dr. Thomas Vicino, Department of Political Science, Northeastern University, Co-Author, Cities and Suburbs: New Metropolitan Realities in the US
“[The film contains] a startling series of lessons for small towns in America that desire growth, that desire jobs, that desire economic sustainability, that desire access to the goods and services of everyday life closer to home, yet desire to retain their small-town way of life.” —Robert Dorgan, Director, Institute for Small Town Studies
“At times amusing and at times disheartening, the film documents how a single development changed the community forever… While continued development is needed in many communities, unchecked growth has unintended consequences. We keep repeating the same mistakes.”—Judy Schwank, President and CEO of 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania
“A very effective film…What stands out here is a quality of compassion and understanding that is communicated so well by several interview subjects and by the script which Roger [Grange] so sensitively narrated. His voice [plus] the down home perspectives from man/woman-on-the-street interviews and the direct cinema quality of the town hall meetings work so well and combine to present a point of view that seems honest and thoughtful rather than manipulative.”—Jason Starr, Artistic Director and President, Cultural Media Collaborative
“A frightening documentary about America's biggest addiction: consumption. The equation is a classic: greedy developers, inhuman lawyers, consenting consumers and a handful of corrupted elected officials, all against a bunch of determined citizens...A well-paced documentary.”—IMDb
“More than anything, Megamall asks us to reject passive consumerism in favor of active citizenship and dialogue about how corporate greed is shaping our very landscape.”—Leslie Stonebraker, New York Press
“[Megamall] raises awareness about mall construction nationwide. Pyramid and other developers pick prime locations when building their 'consumption machines,' whether locals want them or not. Megamall gives an in depth overview of how mall makers are changing America's landscape and psyche.”—Jennifer Merin, About.com
“An engaging drama with a strong point of view as well as a sense of humor. MEGAMALL is calm, credible and at the same time, maddening.”—John Paul Newport, Reporter/Golf Columnist, Wall Street Journal
“An enthralling documentary about a small county's fight against a big mall developer... Examines the intersection between money, power and politics in ways that have implications for our own issues of adequate affordable housing vs. slow growth.”—SB Sound (Santa Barbara)
“Megamall documents [a] David versus Goliath fight...It all comes together as a portrait of what we increasingly recognize as the overwhelmingly negative impact of the mall and big box lifestyle...No wonder I get nauseous when ever I'm inside a mall.”—Thefilmfiles