Eine unbequeme Wahrheit

Before seeing this movie I thought that it might sway the debate on global warming. I assumed that the entire movie was going to be about global warming, and if it had been it would have been much more effective. While about two-thirds of it is about global warming, the other third is a promo for Al Gore--including footage of the contentious 2000 presidential election. As someone who is deeply concerned about the issue of global warming, I am disappointed because I think this diversion from the ostensible subject of the movie makes it much less effective as rhetoric. It has the immediate effect of alienating any republicans that may be in the audience, and global warming should not be seen as a partisan issue, or nothing will ever get done. I'm afraid that because of this the movie will mostly be "preaching to the choir." It still may be an effective tool for educating democrats that were previously uninformed on global warming. As a doctoral student in climate science, I can say that Gore mostly gets the science right, although he weakens the presentation by not pointing out which things are still open to debate.

I suppose climate change is the new gospel music for ex politicians.

You know singers that are no longer in the charts suddenly start sining gospel and then they have a career again.

Weather has been around long before Al Gore discovered it. According to NASA car exhaust gases are a tiny fraction of the cause of global warming. There was global warming in the fourth century. We are coming out of a mini ice age from the middle ages. Since 1880 the temperature has risen by 0.6 of a degree. Every one realises that fossil fuels wont last for ever so why worry?? They will run out and then therm will be no need to tax everyone to death???

Let me get this straight. The environment is changing rapidly, very rapidly. We have to get the message out to as many people as we can as fast as we can.

So, you don't put it on PBS or a basic cable channel. First you made everyone get in their car and DRIVE to a theater and PAY to see this crucial information. Then, if they missed it at the theater, now then can buy this crucial information (but not until Nov. 21st).

This is nothing more than a fancy documentary. But you gave it a premier like a movie, ran it in movie theaters (with movie prices), held it for DVD release like a movie. What gives Al Gore? If it can be held for months for DVD release or not shown for free, than I guess it can't be too damned important.

I got to see this at Sundance. Sometimes there are documentaries that have been accused of not being straightforward or factual, but this is not one of them. It's very fact based. It had some funny and touching moments, but they were never done at the expense of the integrity of the film. It's very science based but presented in a fascinating way (I have no science background). It was also done on a technical level that was superb. The situation presented on global warming is unsettling, but I appreciate that the filmmakers do end it with some hope. I gave it a 9/10, instead of a 10, because Al Gore (although I respect him more than ever after seeing this) is presented as a lone warrior type in trying to get the message out. I would've liked to have seen a more accurate portrayal of the community of people-- scientists, religious leaders, teachers, etc...-- who speak out for change every day. Still, it alone was worth the trip to Utah.

This movie is definitely bigger than Al Gore ! As an outsider, I see some political overtones here and there but on the whole, it is a compelling argument in favor of how we could potentially alter the 'global climatic cycles' !

The analogies he draws, his call for action and most importantly his passion for environment come across clearly.

Even more so, we understand Al Gore himself as a son, a brother, a father and most of all a human being who cannot just sit there and watch his neighbor's house burn !

As a movie, I would rate it as 'worth a watch' and 'worth telling your movie-buffet buddies about'.

Despite all this, the absence of something caught my eye. Al Gore explains all his charts and data very well...

.. but when he shows this particular chart that has the temperature-CO2 levels projected over the last 600,000 year time line, he only shows how high the 'current CO2 levels' are compared to any other time in this span!

At this point, I was really curious to know how the temperature changed with respect to it in recent years and if it still adhered to the previous 'cyclical limits' but he does not display that data or even attempt to project future estimates!

May be a convenient omission? I have not seen this data anywhere else but if one of you come across that last piece of information missing in the movie, can you please post it here?