Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

How To Survive A Plague beautifully captures the story of young gay women and men as they fight against AIDS. The movie follows two groups, ACT-UP (Aids Coalition To Unleash Power) and TAG (Treatment Action Group) as they fight to bring awareness and find a cure for AIDS. Through interviews, home movies and footage of the protests, you meet multiple gay men and women who have contracted AIDS and are fighting for their lives. They organize and attend multiple protests to bring awareness to the AIDS epidemic while also trying to find a cure.Without any scientific training or experience, they educate themselves on the dangers of AIDS, how the disease works and their treatment options. Many begin to sell, buy and use drugs not approved by the FDA in an effort to save their lives. While at the same time pushing the FDA and pharmaceutical industry to test and approve new drugs at record time. Throughout the time this film covers, you get a true insight to the discrimination they faced, the fear they felt, and their struggle to stay alive. Many of those featured in the movie end up dying after contracting the disease, very accurately capturing what those in the homosexual community were facing. You can truly see the passion and effort these men and women put into finding treatment for AIDS. However, the footage of the protests begins to become repetitive and boring. I also would have preferred if there was more of an explanation of how the medications work. The explanation you get is very brief and seems out of place in respect to the rest of the movie.Overall, this movie does a wonderful job highlighting the work done by ACT-UP and TAG to advocate and find treatment for AIDS. It's a must see for anyone looking to educate themselves on the AIDS epidemic in America.

David France's documentary following a small group of gay activists relies heavily on archived videography to capture the essence of what we know today to be the most efficient drugs in the halting of the HIV virus.Starting in 1986, a group of homosexual men (including Peter Staley and Mark Harrington) are recently diagnosed with the HIV virus, along with many of their peers, and actively protest the government – and specifically the FDA – to come up with a drug. Or better still, a cure. The group becomes known as "Act Up!" and quickly – some may say even like a virus – spawns a lot of active participants as they lose their jobs (health insurance), mortgages (ironic, considering the first four letters of that word) and future (i.e. none), rustle up enough cash and embark on the biggest battle against the oncoming zombie-like apocalypse.This plays like a movie, with its requisite three acts. The final plot point is staggering – and too late for many of our journeymen who die along the way. The mostly historical footage comprises to make this seem as if we're in a time machine; digging out old VHS tapes and revisiting the past. We suspect many of these youngsters won't make it, but will go down with a fight. George Bush Snr, Jessie Helms, all try their best to don the antagonist's shoes. It's like a Michael Moore propaganda piece, but this time, Mr. Moore's affected. And not central stage.That final twist (occurring as it does around 1995) is gobsmacking, but exemplified into the curiously hitherto-unseen narrators of the movie. After absorbing death, illness, frailty – a future promised to our visual on screen protagonists – France wisely saves his best trick for the last twelve minutes. It's a triumph of storytelling through the documentary medium.The postscript here is bittersweet. Once you've won the fight, and fought for your future – where do you stand, now? And yes, there's the old "but the Catholics don't advocate contraception" but wisely this is kept to a minimum. How to Survive a Plague wisely circumvents the religious debate – a tactic employed by Act Up, and then by its sister offset TAG, and actually garnered results for many. But for some, not soon enough.

I really don't understand how this doco only scores a 7.3. It's the most compelling piece of film I have seen in years, I was gripped from the beginning to the end. It is basically about the early fight for treatment research and recognition that HIV sufferers have a disease and were entitled to respect and humanity from the wider community as it was not a punishment from God for a so called "lifestyle choice".It is structured by piecing together a lot of archive film that is edited so brilliantly that it like watching a scripted film that tells a great story, a film with real stars and characters. The subject matter is based on HIV but what I took away from the film is how people with such a motivation did "act up" and used democracy to achieve an objective. It is compulsive viewing for any interested in any type of campaigning.My only criticism of the film is it did not fully explore the reason for the early antagonism toward people with the virus and why the medical establishment and governments at that time were slow to act. But in the end I seen a film about a story I did not know about, a story about successful democratic campaign that has saved millions of lives. I now think these early campaigners should have got Nobel recognition. The film is that powerful.

"How to Survive a Plague" is a gripping documentary that tracks down the chronological history of HIV and AIDS, from its onset in the early 80's to today. During the 80's, it was actually a plague killing millions of people. The documentary focuses on two advocacy groups ACT and TAG, and their tireless work for decades to persuade U.S. governments to allocate more funds for AIDS research and medicine. Their efforts helped turn AIDS from a fatal disease to a manageable condition. This documentary might be hard to survive through; not because of any inadequacy but because of the frightful scenes showing how many young people with bright futures died from AIDS. Director David France proficiently exhibits the work of ACT and later TAG from its very beginnings, and then finalizes it showing several ACT & TAG members today in how they were able to survive AIDS. These brave & honorable men practically saved their own lives with their advocacy efforts, and that is one ACT that if hard to follow. OK, now TAG, you are it. Because it is your turn to get educated with France's love letter to ACT & TAG with a "How to Survive a Plague" viewing. **** Good