Excellent film. Al Gore reached an effective chord with equal parts of humanity and scientifically based research. Although the subject of global warming is hard to breach without a mountain of graphs that overlap and eventually cause an acute sense of nausea, the generous amount of charts did not have so much of an eye-glazing effect on the audience. Rather, it had a steady, rational flow that seemed to saunter through the data at a browsable clip. So, kudos to the producers for making such scientific work manageable for the average theater-goer, which is to say: the every(wo)man.
On a human level, we found it to be informative, understandable, and yet frightening. At a certain point, the affects of the melting in Antarctica and Greenland is hammered home when showing the 20 feet of flooding in NYC caused by rising ocean waters. The affects were palpable in the theater as a group sucking sound was made by everyone frantically finding their home on the ‘new’ map. The area right off the end of our street, which is a major thoroughfare, is shown as beachfront property! (Finally, a reason to love global warming – Is that wrong?!)
Through this all, one can gleam some hope. For it’s only when we have our backs against our walls do we really show our true colors and the ability to overcome all obstacles when we pool our resources in a combined effort against a commen goal. But is it too late?
Perhaps it is these very catastrophic warnings that we need to WAKE UP and get to work. We can all do our part, and each of these small parts can add up to make a real difference. But we need to start, and we need to keep at it. For the older generation that means to teach and guide the young for as long as you can; and for the younger ones, it means we have to start now and never stop.
Politically, this film is an excellent vehicle for laying the groundwork for a 2008 presidential campaign. I mean, c’mon Al: "In America, politics is a reneweable resource"?!
See their website: ClimateCrisis.net
