And ... action! We've reeled in a cast of green-themed flicks; pop some popcorn, see what made the cut, then play critic in the comments section at the bottom of the page.
An Inconvenient Truth
Mr. Gore went to Washington, and we all know how that turned out. But when Al hit Hollywood, it was a different story altogether. An Inconvenient Truth let the former veep shout his climate message from the proverbial rooftops. Who would have thought a documentary about a politician with a whiz-bang computer presentation would make such an impact, let alone win a couple of Academy Awards? But Gore's star turn changed climate conversations forever. (2006)
Erin Brockovich
Julia Roberts lends star power -- and plenty of cleavage -- to this based-on-a-true-story epic of wronged Californians rallying against a shady corporate polluter. The title character, a stereotype-bucking, working-class mom, transforms her professional inexperience into an asset, helping to coordinate one of the largest class-action lawsuits in U.S. history. (2000)
Winged Migration
Before penguin peregrinations became all the rage, this documentary captured the grandeur of nature by following the migrations of more than a dozen bird species, spanning four years, 40 countries, and all seven continents. French filmmaker Jacques Perrin, working with a 450-person crew, used planes, gliders, helicopters, and hot-air balloons to capture the impressive journeys, which make waddling across ice look like child's play. (2001)
The China Syndrome
Released just two weeks before the infamous Three Mile Island meltdown in Pennsylvania, The China Syndrome tells the fictional story of a reporter who stumbles on a cover-up of safety hazards at a nuclear power plant. The film stars Jane Fonda as the determined TV journalist and Jack Lemmon as an earnest whistleblower, roles that earned them Oscar nominations for best actress and actor. (1979)
Silkwood
More nukes and news outlets: Based on a true story, Silkwood delves into the circumstances surrounding the suspicious death of Karen Silkwood, a metal worker at a plutonium processing plant who was on her way to meet with a New York Times investigative reporter about negligence at the plant when she died in a one-car accident. Meryl Streep and Cher reaped Oscar nominations for their acting, and Kurt Russell got critical acclaim too. (1983)
A Civil Action
Call it Erin Brockovich, East Coast style: A gripping true-life legal drama about polluted water, corporate malfeasance, and one Boston lawyer's personal and professional gambles to take down the bad guys, A Civil Action won over audiences and critics alike, and was nominated for two Academy Awards. Plus: John Travolta as a suave legal eagle. What's not to love? (1998)
Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey
Shedding the shoulder pads of the same year's Working Girl, Sigourney Weaver plays naturalist Dian Fossey in this based-on-actual-events film. Fossey studied and passionately defended Rwanda's mountain gorillas for more than 20 years before she was mysteriously murdered. Weaver won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Oscar for her performance. (1988)
Film Corporation. All rights reserved.
The Day After Tomorrow
Audiences around the world clung to the edges of their seats throughout this big-budget summer disaster flick, wondering if Dennis Quaid would be able to trek through a climate-changed, storm-ravaged landscape to find son Jake Gyllenhaal. OK, that's not true -- they mostly chuckled at the overblown drama and bad script. Nevertheless, the film was a rollicking good ride that acted as a catalyst for climate discussions in the mainstream media two years before An Inconvenient Truth. (2004)
All rights reserved.
Chinatown
A Roman Polanski film-noir detective flick starring Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway, Chinatown was adored by critics, won an Academy Award in 1975 for best original screenplay, and was nominated for 10 other Oscars. In addition to the expected murder, adultery, and deceit, its plot revolves around dams, drought, agriculture, land grabs, and L.A.'s precarious water supply. (1974)
Hoot
Based on a young adult novel by Carl Hiaasen that earned the prestigious Newberry Honor in 2003, Hoot centers on the lives of three kids who are willing to do whatever it takes to save a local population of endangered burrowing owls, facing down crooked politicians, land developers, and bumbling cops. Jimmy Buffett produced the film, and Luke Wilson stars as a bumbling cop. (2006)
The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the American Dream
In a year dominated by the ultimate fantasy film, Lord of the Rings, this clear-eyed, frighteningly prescient documentary took a real-life look at the impending end of cheap oil. The End of Suburbia explores how dry oil wells will impact the U.S. economy and the much-cherished, resource-intensive American Dream. It's enough to make you want to move to Middle Earth. (2004)
Blue Vinyl
This acclaimed documentary begins with filmmaker Judith Helfand discovering a severed ear in a field -- no, wait. Wrong movie. This one starts with Helfand trying to convince her parents to get rid of the blue vinyl siding on their house, sending Helfand and fellow documentarian Daniel B. Gold on a journey to the U.S. vinyl capital in Louisiana, then to Italy and beyond to talk with experts, doctors, and activists about the ubiquitous and harmful plastic. (2002)
Happy Feet
A hit with the kids, this Oscar-winning animated film capitalized on the penguin-mania inspired by the staggeringly successful March of the Penguins. Its heavy-handed message (human activity is messing with the food chain) was made digestible with the help of a whole lotta foot-tappin' fun. (2006)
Sony Pictures Classics
Who Killed the Electric Car?
Narrated by Martin Sheen, Who Killed the Electric Car? is part murder mystery, part documentary, tracing the rise and premature fall of the electric car in the United States. The must-see for alternative-transport enthusiasts features interviews with Tom Hanks, Mel Gibson, ex-CIA chief James Woolsey, and others. (2006)
All rights reserved.
Fire Down Below
A fast-paced action flick starring Steven Seagal and Kris Kristofferson, Fire Down Below features big-time polluters frightening rural townsfolk into shutting up. That is, until undercover federal agent Jack Taggart (Seagal) comes to town to expose the truth and kick some -- um, sense into the dirty corporate scofflaws. (1997)
Runners-Up
Syriana
This disjointed political thriller darts between loosely connected stories with a common theme: the disturbing effects of global oil addiction. Syriana stars George Clooney and Matt Damon; Clooney won an Oscar for his performance. (2005)
All rights reserved.
Over the Hedge
An animated film that touches lightly on the issue of sprawl and its effects on wildlife, Over the Hedge pokes fun at humans and suburbia via animals voiced by Bruce Willis, Steve Carell, and others. (2006)
Soylent Green
A classic film about an environmental dystopia in the now-not-so-far-off year 2022 -- complete with rampant overpopulation and massive food shortages -- Soylent Green stars Charlton Heston as a detective investigating the murder of a food company exec. In the end, Heston's character uncovers profoundly disturbing secrets about the industrial food system. Thank goodness it's just a movie! (1973)
Safe
Starring Julianne Moore, Safe is the slowest, quietest horror film you'll ever see. It follows the story of a woman who develops chemical sensitivities that drive her away from her cushioned suburban life. (1995)
Think this green ode to the silver screen is tarnished? Help polish it up by submitting your own suggestions below in comments.
Todd Hymas Samkara contributed to this list.
Top 25 reasons to give a damn about climate change
Climate Citizen: Mary Stuart Masterson
Reactions to Al Gore’s book o’ solutions, “Our Choice”
Comments
View as Flat
Karen Lee Orr Posted 12:05 pm
29 Jun 2007
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071315/
Nothing's in a league with "Chinatown" but John Sayles's "Silver City" is a very engaging developer movie:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0376890/
It wasn't quite the ticket for me but John Sayles's "Sunshine State" was a hit with many enviros in Florida.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0286179/
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Stanik40 Posted 10:08 pm
30 Jun 2007
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blanetalk Posted 11:18 pm
30 Jun 2007
From IMDB - "The loner crew member of a spaceship harbouring Earth's last nature reserves goes renegade when he is instructed to jettison his beloved forests and return home. Accompanied only by three robots, he ponders the fate of his last pocket of nature and the murders of his fellow crew members in this far-looking speculative film."
http://imdb.com/title/tt0067756/
I can't believe you included the pop-trash "Day After Tomorrow" (which I enjoyed as escapist action-adventure fare but didn't take seriously) or "Fire Down Below" or even "Happy Feet" when this Hugo-nominated film speaks much more clearly to what could go wrong if we human beings who inhabit this planet don't become more active in the care and conservation of our natural resources. Was your list solely based on which films made the most money?
Blane Mather
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AMCSteel Posted 11:25 pm
30 Jun 2007
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Shakota Posted 1:37 am
01 Jul 2007
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apchavez Posted 1:59 am
01 Jul 2007
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tea42 Posted 2:42 am
01 Jul 2007
The Pelican Brief (1993)
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drowninginjello Posted 7:12 am
01 Jul 2007
PHHHTT!!
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haveasliceofpi Posted 7:18 am
01 Jul 2007
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samagri Posted 8:07 am
01 Jul 2007
This film might not be the kind of "green" movie you are looking for, but it certainly shows what our world could come to if we aren't careful.
It is rather difficult to get ahold of, but if you can find this movie, you should definitely watch it. Be warned, however- it is very graphic and depressing. I believe every person on this earth should have to watch it. It might make them care a whole lot more about what is going on in our world.
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emheartsearth Posted 11:49 am
01 Jul 2007
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fireman Posted 11:54 am
01 Jul 2007
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fireman Posted 12:00 pm
01 Jul 2007
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emartin Posted 12:52 pm
01 Jul 2007
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env Posted 1:47 pm
01 Jul 2007
...Attended an advanced preview of a green film: Arctic tale ... will be realeased in the US between 7/25/07 and 8/17/07. It's about Global Warming, and the melting of the Ice Shelves. It's a live action documentary film about a baby Polar Bear, a baby Fox, and a baby Walrus.
Another MUST SEE Green Film: The Power of Community- How Cuba Survived Peak Oil. (2006) The dependency on oil in the Western (developed) countries is comming to a close. This documentry shows what will happen in the economy and society after the crude oil supply is gone.
Since both list are so varied, You many as well add the film about humans living in domed cities due to limited resources and over-population: Logan's Run.
Then there's the aftermath of Biological warfare in the film: Omega Man.
A film that I haven't seen (but probably fits) is: No Blade of Grass, {based on the Novel}
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randino Posted 10:07 pm
01 Jul 2007
Great music from Joan Baez.
Randy Cunningham
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llois Posted 3:10 am
02 Jul 2007
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davidconnell Posted 3:11 am
02 Jul 2007
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VeJenn Posted 3:21 am
02 Jul 2007
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caniscandida Posted 4:21 am
02 Jul 2007
But pace EMartin, I agree with Blane Mather that "Happy Feet" was disappointing. Hopefully it works for kids.
On the other hand, I very much prefer "Over the Hedge," an excellent parable on the physical and moral corruption caused by the suburban lifestyle. It deserves better than "Honorable Mention," and ought to bump "Happy Feet" if there is any justice in the world.
On other recent feature-length cartoons about confrontations between humans and non-human animals:
"Open Season" is so-so;
the story of "Madagascar" is weak, however instructive it might be on the wildlife of that island, and however delightful its casting of penguins against type (which Nick Parks had already done in "Wallace & Gromit in The Wrong Trousers"), and we New Yorkers hated all the NYC-bashing jokes at the beginning;
but "Brother Bear" is wonderful;
and Nick Parks' and Aardman's "Chicken Run" is an animal-rights and anti-industrialized-agriculture epic;
and animal-welfare issues are central in the same artists' "Wallace & Gromit in A Close Shave," which introduces the heroic and resourceful Sean the Sheep, and "Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit."
Two might-have-beens:
"March of the Penguins." I have nothing against Morgan Freeman, but the text that he reads is miserably disappointing. The same spectacular, laboriously made film should be re-released, with a scientifically more challenging soundtrack, including references to the effects of global warming on Antarctica and its wildlife.
"Blade Runner." The story by Philip K. Dick on which it is based, "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?," makes a great deal of the circumstantial die-off of nearly all animals on the planet, and the consequent desire, on the part of the humans, to replace them even by artificial means. But all that is pretty much tossed out of the movie.
Thanks to Stanik40 for remembering "Born Free." I did indeed spend much of the 1960s immersed in the world of Joy Adamson and Elsa. Her books have no doubt had a great role in stimulating the interest of many people such as myself in wildlife, as well as in cultivating our affection for animals.
But in fact I recently saw the movie again, after decades, and I am afraid it did not age at all well. For one thing, the way the Adamsons tried to return Elsa to the wild comes across as positively inhumane. You cannot just abandon a sweet-tempered, all-trusting adult lioness overnight in the vicinity of real wild lions, and expect to find her alive in the morning. No doubt the actual Joy Adamson was not nearly so naive and thoughtless, not to say flakey, as the air-headed character played by Virginia McKenna.
The stories of the separate murders of Joy and George Adamson, of her by a young former employee (and not by a lion with a sense of irony, as was initially reported), and of him by Somali poachers, might in fact be decent material for a pro-conservationist movie, along the lines of "Gorillas in the Mist."
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tboggia Posted 5:09 am
02 Jul 2007
The whole movie is a parody of GM's buy-out of LA's public transit system, and it is done in an ingenious way! I highly recommend you all to watch it again if you never noticed its environmental undertones!
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Bleugene Posted 5:39 am
02 Jul 2007
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seneca510 Posted 6:27 am
02 Jul 2007
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pagost Posted 9:58 am
02 Jul 2007
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GRBABOB Posted 2:00 am
03 Jul 2007
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guade00 Posted 2:15 am
03 Jul 2007
Bambi. Man destroying innocence of nature.
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. Clear man vs. nature, man respecting nature story.
For All Mankind. Mostly a celebration of NASA's space program, with a clear message that the earth is but a tiny speck in a vast universe, deserving our protection.
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Thystle Posted 3:17 am
03 Jul 2007
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kimdel Posted 5:35 am
03 Jul 2007
Having lived through TMI and seeing the China Syndrome in the theater afterward that movie is too close to my reality for me to see it objectively. I urge others to rent it and then think if you lived next door to TMI and had to evacuate for 10 days not knowing if you would ever be able to return home and see those family members and friends again who didn't leave (farmers mostly who stayed with their animals).
Someone should make a documentary of what us evacuees went through - our story has never been told. I moved away 2 months later because of TMI and have never moved back, but too many of my friends back home have strange cancers and their children have strange cancers (cervical cancer age 2? eye cancer age 3? 2 cases of sarcoidosis-cause unknown, but no one wants to hear about it.
When that documentary or film based on actual events is made it will make this list.
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caniscandida Posted 7:24 am
03 Jul 2007
"Finding Nemo" is similarly two-edged. One would have hoped it might teach something about the fragility of the ecosystems of coral reefs, and about the injustice of keeping aquariums of tropical fish. And yet, what happened?: All these kids who saw the movie wanted to get aquariums of their own, with clownfish as the main attraction!
"The Lion King" is an example of a cartoon-movie with lots of animals, which really has nothing to do with animals. Of course there is some very good animation based carefully on the movements of animals. But the story is really a beast-fable, about humans in animal-form trying to acquire power and sexual fulfillment, and possibly including racist and homophobic elements.
Thanks to those who recommend "Koyaanisqatsi." It is a mystery why I have never seen it. From everything I have heard about it, I would like it very much.
Thanks also for the Miyazaki recommendations. "Spirited Away," the only one I have seen, is so creative and complex that I was overwhelmed, and a bit nauseated. But perhaps I shall give "Princess Mononoke" a try.
The selection of #3 in the original list above, "Winged Migration," should be heartily affirmed. It is phenomenally good. The spectacular beauty of the birds, and of many of the landscapes through which they pass, joined with the totally unsentimental witnessing of the deaths of many of them, is breathtaking. This is a classic.
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biogrrl Posted 7:40 am
03 Jul 2007
I heartily second previous commenters' nominations of Princess Mononoke and Ferngully. Finally, I know it's short, but can we ignore The Lorax? It teaches millions of kids to speak for the trees!
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Green Jack Posted 10:40 am
03 Jul 2007
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tlpayne Posted 2:54 am
04 Jul 2007
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thefreshlist Posted 3:06 am
04 Jul 2007
You should also check out Bob the Builder: Bob's Big Plan. Bob enters a design competition for a new town and wins with very progressive green design. The local architect's scheme would have destroyed the landscape and valuable habitat. Bob proposes earth sheltered buildings and wind farms.
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Underdog Posted 7:20 am
04 Jul 2007
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Thornton Posted 12:13 am
05 Jul 2007
I show it to my classes every year.
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caniscandida Posted 12:53 am
05 Jul 2007
In Steven Spielberg's "Artificial Intelligence: AI," there is a great deal of coastal inundation, and NYC is submerged to half way up its tallest skyscrapers, but there are still inland regions that are dry. So while it is not what I would call a "green" movie, the scene of NYC under water is powerful.
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soaked Posted 4:27 am
05 Jul 2007
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zacaroni Posted 8:03 am
05 Jul 2007
Also try Instinct, with Anthony Hopkins.
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rorycox Posted 3:12 am
06 Jul 2007
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Buckywunder Posted 2:00 am
08 Jul 2007
http://imdb.com/title/tt0116329/
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hopedance Posted 5:49 am
08 Jul 2007
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Delay And Deny Posted 3:48 am
09 Jul 2007
Oh, the horror of having to be 14 and sit through such bad eco-television as "Apple's Way":
http://www.tv.com/apples-way/show/3201/summary.html
Los Angeles architect George Apple decides to leave the hustle and bustle of big-city life and return to the small town where he grew up, Appleton, Iowa, which was founded by his ancestors. He drags along his wife Barbara, their four children, and Grandpa Alton, all of whom had some difficulty making the adjustment. The idealistic George often increased their difficulties by getting involved...
http://images.tvrage.net/shows/3/2634.jpg
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aliciabaylaurel Posted 8:46 pm
17 Jul 2007
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amc89 Posted 4:07 am
19 Dec 2007
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Sage W Posted 10:44 pm
21 Dec 2007
Shark Water (http://www.sharkwater.com) is a Canadian film, just recently released in the US. It explores how the eco-system of oceans affects oxygen production, and therefore, climate change. It's beautifully shot in places. I had the chance to see the director speak. He didn't intend to make an entire movie, but got caught up into something bigger when hitching a ride with a Greenpeace boat and getting arrested with them. His editing needs some work, but definitely see it. (Like Blue Vinyl - which could be a much better film.)
Dawn of the Dead - what better way to explore the issues around mass-consumerism than with zombies!
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Sage W Posted 11:03 pm
21 Dec 2007
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BSchott Posted 1:25 am
02 Jan 2008
THIS IS A CLASSIC
...and hilarious
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javaearth Posted 2:25 am
17 Jan 2008
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Roz Cummins Posted 2:41 am
05 Apr 2008
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Concerned4mykids Posted 3:25 pm
24 Apr 2008
the very new release of the Leonardo DiCaprio effort "The 11th Hour". Note that it comes packaged in a cardboard sleeve made from 100% renewable resources instead of the usual plastic box.
the movie "Phenomenon" with John Travolta. After he gets smart, he starts to develop his own solar projects, his own organic fertilizers and alternate fuels. His message is that everything is connected. A funny movie with a green message. I highly recommend it.
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lex Posted 6:38 pm
13 Jul 2008
any takers?
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maladapted Posted 3:09 am
02 Oct 2008
Mal
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