Fantastic Fungi

I enjoyed this documentary. It was perhaps more entertaining than informative in certain parts of the film. I do wish they had provided more scientific information. There were a lot of theories and ideas I was ready to get behind if given the proof and thinking behind it, but then it would just kind of drop off and move to something else. I wish less time would have been spent on the one man who we follow and more time on his actual research and findings. There was one discovery he made that he explained and that was fascinating. But other aspects of his personal experiences such as tripping on mushrooms for the first time could have been reduced or cut.

The time lapses we're really beautiful throughout, I loved seeing the different species bloom to live or break down decaying wildlife and food. That was all really incredible to see. I truly believe in the overarching message of this, which is that fungi have the ability to regulate and control just about everything. They're an amazing part of nature, and all nature deserves to be respected.

Even though majority of the film feels to be informercial, I enjoyed it very much. "Mushroom voice" was a bit strange and the feeling of disbelief would not leave me at some moments. But in the end, this Psilocybin thing is acknowledged by FDA and seems to truly help people. So I do not mind this to be informercial in order to spread the word. The story is touching enough and the visuals are just tops.

Greetings again from the darkness. Why did the mushroom get invited to the party? Because he's a fun guy (fungi)! That joke works better when spoken rather than read, but it made me laugh as a kid, even though it wasn't enough to keep me (and half my classmates) awake during those dull science films in junior high. Documentarian Louie Schwartzberg obviously stayed awake in class, and now he's showing us how those films should be made ... interesting, informative and entertaining.

"We brought life to Earth. You can't see us. We are mushrooms!" Narrator Brie Larson (yes, Captain Marvel herself) introduces fungus, or more accurately, fungi ... since we are told there are 1.5 million species - 20,000 of which produce mushrooms. Despite the presence of Ms. Larson, this isn't a superhero movie. No, it's much more important. In fact, the real star of the documentary - other than fungi - is an amateur mycologist named Paul Stamets. That's right, this informative project devotes much of its time to some guy who just likes science (oh my, does he like it); specifically, the study of fungus and mushrooms. He even tells us some of his personal story, allowing us to connect with a guy who is proud to be known as a mushroom nerd.

Director Schwartzberg is an accomplished documentarian, and noted time-lapse photographer and visual artist. He even uses impressive digital animation periodically to guide us along. He's also smart enough to complement Mr. Stamets' observations with input from real life scientists, as well as authors and researchers. Admittedly, it's not really fair to classify Stamets as an amateur. He has written books and his research has been invaluable to some of the world's foremost experts.

You may wonder why you should care about fungi. Heck, it's described as something between vegetable and animal. We hear that it's been around since the beginning, and that it plays a role in rebirth, reincarnation, and regeneration. This is shown via a memorable time-lapse segment, and with the bold proclamation that Mycelium is "the mother of us all." We learn how fungi is such a vital part of our existence through medical research, penicillin (and chees), antibiotics, bio-terrorism, psychedelics, and now even the treatment of depression and cancer. Fungi can feed you (it's good on pizza), heal you, and even kill you. The film is quite a fascinating and educational treat ... and a lesson in biological resilience. And I never once fell asleep - my junior high teacher wouldn't believe it.

I get what people are saying here... Let's set that aside for a minute however. The visuals are absolutely stunning first off... I imagine many 4k screensavers will become intertwined into the "deep web" of people's PC's in due time... This alone makes the "documentary," as it were, worth your time...

I think what people are missing out on is just how vital to the ecosystem mushrooms are... Not many people in this day and age that I've met seem to be getting the same kind of education that was given out in classrooms during the 70's and 80's. To reach people you have to give them a sense of hope, positivity and something worth reaching for. This documentary does that WELL...

First off, a little background: my son's mother is heavily into herbal medicine and I've learned and SEEN firsthand the dramatic healing effects of herbs and plant (and mushroom based) medicines... Someone I know contracted spinal meningitis which, if you know ANYTHING about this, has a less than 5% survival rate. Not only did she survive, but what she carried into this made all but certain she would be one of the less than 5%... It is a dramatic story that STILL has the doctors baffled to this day, and something she knew and took for granted.

The stories in this "documentary" are TRUE... I have read the reports of mushrooms that cleaned up oil spills in the Gulf. The utilization of mycelium threads to create batteries could have a revolutionary and profound change in the microchip industry, something that technological companies are having troubles with at this moment (I am an amateur stock trader as well, so I read the news reports every day). And the altered states of consciousness? Well, some of these guys might seem like "old druggie hippies," but what would have given this documentary even MORE credibility would have been to mention the Native American Indians who utilized mushroom teas for clarity and insight.

It's a biased slant to be sure on the part of some of these reviewers, but they seem to be poo-poo'ing decades of quality scientific research. Research papers that I personally have read and studied... In an era where we allow presidents to call scientists with 10 and 15 year studies and masters and bachelor's degrees "stupid," sadly it speaks to just how far gone we as a species have gone. When we celebrate stupidity rather than enlightened, knowledgeable learning and scientific discovery.

Mushrooms are amazing pieces of creation. They help keep life going and have for millions, maybe even billions, of years. Yes, cutting down endless amounts of trees is not going to help this planet, but at least we can seemingly be assured in the knowledge that long after we're gone, the 'shrooms will still be here.

Movies like this are designed to get you to "do more research..." I stopped the movie several times to research and look up the various mushrooms talked about, just to see and learn more for myself. You could ironically consider this movie a "gateway" into a LITERAL underground world that most people walk by and never even consider.

And to those claiming this movie is "political?" The movie did an EXCELLENT job of showing how politics kills off scientific innovation and discovery. This has happened MANY times in our past, and keeps humanity stuck in the dark ages. Let us not forget what happened to the mathematicians like Hypatia who discovered long ago that earth moves in an elliptical orbit around the sun, challenging rigid and unnecessary religious dogma saying the sun revolves around the Earth (hint, Hypatia was murdered by the church). Or more recently, how the Bush administration outlawed stem cell research when it had the potential to save millions of lives and impact humanity in a meaningful way.

Love fungi, love the photographic work in this flick, and very much appreciate where the folks who directed the production want to "mainstream" fungi.

More folks *need* to understand how important fungi are. It's also a wonderful ponder to reflect on how higher fungi grow and reproduce.

But... geez... did they *have to* inject specious pseudoscientific stuff about how a mycelial mass is like a brain, and trees use those masses to "communicate" with each other?

I'm about 99% sure the stuff they're implying is a weird romanticization of fungi... and that's (pardon the mixed metaphor) "gilding the lily", seeing how the "lily" (fungi) are deeply fascinating, without the added speculation.

Folks are also chiming in to deride the infomercial-ish 2nd half of the flick... but the stuff I describe just above--the stuff that rubs me so wrong--kicks in only about 12% into the production.

They could have kept it more grounded and scientific, and STILL been able to convey a scientifically grounded awe about fungi.

So... as much as I wished this flick could be the audio-visual poster-boy intro to that amazing world for the newbie... these affronts leave me unable to recommend it to those newbies.

And that's a shame.

It only gets as many stars as I give it because 1) the complementary payload of honest, scientific info is nice, and 2) Geez, but those visuals are amazing!