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I’m going to deviate from our normal review format for this release.  This is a very special disc that should be considered based exclusively on its content.  The qualities of the video and audio, and the nature of the supplements (with one exception) should not influence your interest.  I will also violate my own rules by now inserting a quote from another reviewer, a quote prominently featured on this disc’s slipcase.

“In 39 years, I have never written these words in a movie review, but here they are.  You owe it to yourself to see this film.” - Roger Ebert

I could not agree more.

When I reviewed Syriana, a film that provokes thought and debate and has the potential for raising the consciousness of viewers, I criticized gas-guzzling SUV behemoths and the preponderance SUVs occupied only by a driver.  I suggest that this is both geopolitically and environmentally foolish.  I received an email from a reader who took exception to my editorializing and defending his ownership of one of those unnecessarily massive machines.  I considered writing back with a link to a popular automotive magazine’s station wagon page that featured links to reviews of roomy vehicles that achieved thirty miles per gallon, but I didn’t want to seem argumentative or confrontational.  After all, I value each and every one of you and I didn’t want to cause the correspondent to flee from the site.  But after watching An Inconvenient Truth, I regret that decision. 

With clarity and thoroughness, former Vice-President Al Gore lays out the case for how our behaviors are causing planetary suicide.  Now before you tisk-tisk and shake your head, reminding me of all the publicity surrounding the criticism and uncertainty of global warming “theories” and accusing me of being a flaming liberal, allow me to paraphrase Gore’s answer to that argument.  There have been published hundreds of articles in newspapers and magazines about the subject; 53% of those articles question the validity of current global warming as a man-made phenomenon.  There also have been published hundreds of peer- reviewed scientific papers that examine the evidence for global warming and its cause and effect.  But of all the published peer- reviewed scientific papers on the subject, not one . . . not one . . . cast doubt that current global warming is a direct result of our actions.

Please don’t think that global warming simply portends the prospect of milder winters and balmier temperatures.  The consequences of our continuing our current behaviors, the consequences of the administration giving lip-service to the issue, the consequences of the status quo, and the consequences of relaxing environmental safeguards as big business prefers, puts at risk life as we know it.  Have I got your attention yet?

This film is a blend of Al Gore’s sophisticated presentation and lecture interspersed with homey biographical sequences and germane travel snippets to enliven what could have been quite dry.  Gore stands before a live audience, his laptop remote control in his hand, and systematically examines every aspect of how greenhouse gases are affecting the planet.  He’s quite personable; if he had projected this side of him during his presidential campaign, I suspect the results would have been quite different.  He skillfully uses graphics to illustrate points made in academic papers, demonstrating many thousands of years of carbon dioxide and temperature data.  He very effectively dispels the notion that what we’re experiencing is a normal cyclical process that has occurred on Earth many times before.  He examines many consequences of planetary warming and credibly extrapolates the effects of business as usual.

I won’t attempt to summarize his points or highlight his arguments further, but I do need to reassure you that he does offer hope.  Perhaps feeling that appealing to Washington to impose laws that would help reduce greenhouse gas emissions is futile, Gore suggests over a dozen ways in which each of us can help, but I don’t think he goes far enough.  The current administration takes a faith-based approach to global warming.  It’s my hope that this DVD will provoke a groundswell of pressure on our government to legislate our salvation: require dramatic reductions in greenhouse gases; reclassify SUVs as automobiles instead of trucks to force mileage improvements; increase automobile fleet mileage requirements; fund alternate energy sources and hydrogen fusion in particular; and more.  Perhaps the newly elected congress will be a catalyst for change, embracing science rather than rationalizing the support of measures that help big business instead of safeguarding our long-term survival.

The 1.78:1 production video is fine.  Halos come and go.  Stock footage of questionable quality is edited in.  Color and contrast are fine.  The sound may be Dolby Digital 5.1, but this is simply a man on a mission conveying fascinating information.  There are little more than live recordings and voiceovers, and those are conveyed well.  All that matters is that you come away with a clear understanding of his points.  If this disc were in full frame video of VHS quality and had a monaural soundtrack, I’d still urge you to buy, rent, or borrow this DVD. 

Among the supplements are two commentaries, one by the director and the other by the producers.  You’ll find a music video of “I Need To Wake Up” by Melissa Etheridge.  The Making of An Inconvenient Truth is a featurette that runs 11:07 and is presented in anamorphic video.  Although this is not fluff and contains some interesting behind-the-scenes footage, that’s all I’m going to offer. 

The only supplement I will ask you to read about is An Update With Former Vice-President Al Gore (32:23).  During a yearlong post-production process, several notable scientific papers were published; some had entirely new metrics for assessing the impact of global warming.  In this mini-documentary, Gore takes us through the new findings, reinforcing and amplifying points made in his filmed lecture.  I was particularly appalled by the studies that indicates a growing acidification of the world’s oceans caused by the absorption of carbon dioxide and the consequential formation of carbonic acid, and the bleaching of the ocean’s coral reefs caused by excessively warm water.  I am a SCUBA diver, but don’t assume that my interest is purely a selfish concern for the loss of my ability to explore beautiful dive sites.  These effects threaten to disrupt the entire oceanic food chain, putting additional pressure on our ability to feed a world population that already numbers entirely too high.