An Inconvenient Truth (2006)

Director:

Davis Guggenheim

Release Date:

31 August 2006 (Thailand)

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

A Global Warning

Plot:

A documentary on Al Gore's campaign to make the issue of global warming a recognized problem worldwide.

Plot Keywords:

Carbon Dioxide | Breath | Air Pollution | Meteorologist | Plant

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 21 wins & 5 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sun. July 27	8:45 AM	SHOW
Thur. July 31	2:45 PM	SHOW

Cast

Al Gore	...	Himself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Billy West	...	(voice)

MPAA:

Rated PG for mild thematic elements.

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Ireland:G | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | Germany:o.Al. | Norway:A | USA:PG (certificate #42438) | Malaysia:U | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Portugal:M/6 | UK:U | Netherlands:MG6 | Australia:PG | South Korea:All | Canada:G | Finland:K-3 | Brazil:Livre | France:U | Iceland:L | Hong Kong:I | Sweden:Btl | Singapore:PG

Company:

Lawrence Bender Productions

Trivia:

The cartoon clip that Al Gore shows to help explain global warming is from the "Futurama" (1999) episode "Crimes of the Hot." Al Gore (whose daughter Kristin was a writer for the series) guest starred as himself in the episode, claiming to be the inventor of the environment and the author of Balance of the Earth, and the more popular Harry Potter and the Balance of the Earth.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the shot of the ocean's current is on screen, the tail of the arrow resets from a pointed end to flat repeatedly when it overlaps the other line.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Al Gore: You look at that river gently flowing by. You notice the leaves rustling with the wind. You hear the birds; you hear the tree frogs. In the distance you hear a cow. You feel the grass. The mud gives a little bit on the river bank. It's quiet; it's peaceful. And all of a sudden, it's a gear shift inside you. And it's like taking a deep breath and going, "Oh yeah, I forgot about this."

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Have I Got News for You: (#34.2)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Blocks

A good film overall, but there are a few problems

I thought that this was on the whole a good film - I can imagine it being an EXCELLENT film for teachers to show to a class to explain global warming, actually. It explains the facts very well, explains away the objections that people have been hearing about from the media, and is also pretty funny at times. The film basically consists of a tour of Al Gore's climate change speeches around the world. It is, in essence, one long speech in various cities around the world (Al Gore says that he's given this presentation thousands of times), inter-cut with some various other footage. The film starts off with a few diagrams that many of you will probably have seen already, as well as a rather famous Futurama clip. In fact, if you're well-versed in your science, you'll probably already know much of what Al Gore talks about (though probably not quite all) - this film is really for the general public who doesn't quite know all of this, and also for those who might have heard something about global warming here and there but want to see exactly how all of the facts fit together.

As I said, a very good educational film. The problems come in the short but noticeable periods when the film tries to be a biography of Al Gore at the same time. Now, I don't know about you, but I was watching this to find out about global warming, not to find out what Al Gore thought about losing the 2000 election. I imagine that these are the bits that teachers will fast-forward over when they show this to their classes, since they don't really add anything to the film. I would have respected Al Gore a bit more if he hadn't tried to make this a film also (in a way) about himself. I guess it's to be expected, since he's a politician, but it's disappointing.

In closing, although it's not a perfect film, it's a pretty good one. It is THE film to watch if you want to find out about global warming (at least, I haven't heard of any better films out there). I don't really understand all of the "10" or "1" ratings on IMDb. It's not a "10" or "1" film. Even its biggest fans will have to admit that as a movie it could be a little tighter sometimes. I think it's good enough, but it's not perfect.