The Bottom Line
Pros
- Movie takes an intellectually and emotionally engaging look at a topic of paramount importance
- Brilliant example of the power of film in presenting difficult material to a mass audience
- DVD provides worthwhile extras that enhance viewers' appreciation of the feature film
Cons
- Some experts claim the film gets some of its facts wrong
- Some viewers will see the movie as being too much about Al Gore's political ambitions
- The DVD is short on practical approaches to the serious issues it raises
Description
- DVD containing op-ed piece An Inconvenient Truth (2006) about global warming
- Film's narrator is Al Gore, former U.S. Vice President and candidate for U.S. President
- DVD 32-minute featurette has Al Gore giving an update on the info contained in feature film
- DVD provides feature audio commentary with director Davis Guggenheim
- DVD contains a second feature audio commentary with 4 producers
- DVD has 11-minute making-of featurette
- DVD contains "I Need to Wake Up" music video by Melissa Etheridge
- MPAA rating: PG for mild thematic elements
- Feature film run time: 1 hour 36 minutes
- DVD release date: November 21, 2006
Guide Review - An Inconvenient Truth DVD
"I am Al Gore. I used to be the next President of the United States of America." That's how the presenter introduces himself in An Inconvenient Truth, an op-ed piece intended to raise awareness of global warming. The film is a version of a multimedia presentation originally developed using Keynote software and given hundreds of times by Gore from his laptop computer. Amid charts, graphs and photos, the movie inserts vignettes about Gore's life. The former Vice President's earnestness and passion help him make a persuasive case that the world's climate is changing and we'd better try to figure out what to do about it. The film is intellectually and emotionally engaging, and it's worth seeing whether you agree with Gore or not.
The DVD contains worthwhile extras, the best of which is a 32-minute featurette where Gore discusses additional information about climate change that emerged between the completion of the film and the making of the DVD. There are also two separate audio commentary tracks, one by director Davis Guggenheim, the other by four producers. Additionally, the disc contains an 11-minute making-of featurette and a music video by Melissa Etheridge.
The DVD packaging is Spartan and claimed to be made from 100% post-consumer recycled material. This is symbolic of the notion that climate is affected by the amount of trash we generate and the way we deal with it.
The extras were worth my time, but the DVD is worth buying for the feature film alone. I highly recommend An Inconvenient Truth.
