AllMovie

In their minds forsaking life on Earth to lash out against their perceived oppressors and secure themselves a place in the eternal paradise of the afterlife, modern terrorists fear not for the loss of their own lives, and devote their entire being to an ideology assuring just rewards to the faithful upon making the ultimate sacrifice. In this revealing look at the extremist mindset, filmmakers Mariusz Pilis and Marcin Mamon attempt to understand the sacrifice made by these self-described martyrs by traveling to such faraway lands as Chechnya, Georgia, Qatar, and Afghanistan to speak with warlords, mullahs, and others who abide by the Islamic rule of Dar al-Islam. From the "international Jihad" mindset of former Chechnyan president and current "fundamentalist international" mastermind Zelimkhan Yandarbiev to the chilling threats of Chechan terrorist Shamil Basayev -- whose vows to detonate a nuclear bomb in downtown Moscow ring with maddened conviction -- this intimate exploration of the battle of ideologies poised to become the powder keg of the 21st century takes viewers deep into the places that television news cameras fear to tread.