Product Details

• Actors: Bjørn Lomborg, Hashem Akbari, Joe Barton, Ed Begley Jr., Jagdish Bhagwati
• Directors: Ondi Timoner
• Writers: Bjørn Lomborg, Ondi Timoner, Sarah Gibson, Terry Botwick
• Producers: Ondi Timoner, Joel Lehmann, Ralph Winter
• Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Lions Gate
• DVD Release Date: March 29, 2011
• Run Time: 87 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B004IN75D0
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #60,613 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Cool It" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The documentary Cool It presents itself as the "alternative" view to Al Gore's award-winning An Inconvenient Truth on the issue of global warming. But the reality is that Cool It, which focuses on the boyish and controversial Danish scientist Bjørn Lomborg, presents solutions and theories on global warming that actually complement Gore's position, but without the "scare tactics" that Lomborg believes are breeding worldwide hysteria on the subject. Lomborg, author of The Skeptical Environmentalist, is apparently not skeptical at all when it comes to believing whether human impact and carbon emissions are causing the earth to warm. But Lomborg's proposals steer away from Gore's proposed caps on carbon emissions as being "completely un-cost-effective," and suggest several other tactics world and energy leaders might take. Lomborg is a fan of making alternative energy sources like solar, wind, and even wave power more affordable, and exploring more radical ideas like a revamped approach to nuclear energy. Cool It is slow to get traction, as it first lays the background of how controversial Lomborg's book is and how disliked Lomborg is among certain policymakers and academicians. It's only in the second half of Cool It that Lomborg finally delivers his own proposals about global warming, in lectures to students and in a series of interviews. And once he begins to unveil his suggestions, most of which he makes a fairly strong case for, the viewer becomes eager to hear a third party ask both Lomborg and Gore together what each thinks of the other's ideas, and how they might work on the same team. Whether the viewer ultimately agrees with Lomborg or not, Cool It is a must-see for anyone interested in the science--and politics--of global warming. --A.T. Hurley

Product Description

Climate catastrophe? The end of civilization as we know it? Are the current staggeringly expensive actions now being considered really helping to save the world - or are we just burning money? In this “eye-opening” (Los Angeles Times) documentary, author Bjorn Lomborg (“The Skeptical Environmentalist”) asks us to question the facts and the solutions. Why in the world are we spending so much money on “green” initiatives…for such little gain? Are there better ways to solve the problems? How else could that money be spent? No matter what our opinions are on the environmental movement, Cool It is an “engrossing” film (The New York Times) that asks us to rethink our polarized views. After all, nothing less than the planet is at stake.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional film for those who do not fear honest debate, March 10, 2011

By 

kjl291 "klavender" (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cool It (Amazon Instant Video)

This is a fascinating documentary about Bjorn Lomborg, who wrote The Skeptical Environmentalist, and other books discussing Global Warming (or what is now often referred to as "Climate Change"). Bjorn Lomborg has become something of a Boogyman for the environmental left, which perplexes me. Here are the broad strokes of what he believes, as outline in this documentary:

A.) Global Warming is happening

B.) It is contributed to by man's activity (he doesn't specify how much or how little he thinks man's contribution is).

C.) It is a problem that needs to be addressed.

For this he is routinely pilloried by those that...believe in global warming? Doesn't make sense, right? Well, that is because here are a couple of other things he believes:

D.) While Global Warming is a problem it is not going to lead to the end of the world.

E.) There is too much fear mongering and bad science involved in the current debate.

F.) The most commonly proposed solutions (in large part reducing carbon emissions) have enormous costs and provide almost no benefits (for example, about a 0.1 degree reduction in the projected temperature over a CENTURY, at a cost of 180+ TRILLION of today's dollars).

For this he is attacked and insulted. People try to discredit him and ruin his career.

I have watched An Inconvenient Truth, and now I have watched this. While this movie does indeed easily debunk a number of claims made by Al Gore's movie, I wouldn't consider it the Anti-Inconvenient Truth, but it certainly provides a good counterpoint to that film. I would recommend everyone watch both and decide for themselves where they come down on the issues.

I should also add that this is not completely devoted to global warming. There is an underlying theme that advances the proposition that if we want to generally benefit the planet let's be honest about what we can and cannot do, and what things can be done that have a greater impact and/or a lesser cost per "unit" of impact, as opposed to things which are less effective. For example, see the example of the cost and benefit of attempting to attack global warming above, versus attacking, say malaria, which would objectively save millions of lives over the course of a few short years, and it would only cost a fraction of a penny of every dollar being advocated for combating global warming (and with a return on investment of almost ZERO).

What are the most logical items that we can influence to improve the human condition planet wide? What is the biggest bang for the buck? Global warming ranks second to dead last.

You will see a lot of bad reviews from a lot of people with an axe to grind against the subject of this documentary, and most of them will not have watched the movie. I say if you believe in science and open inquiry then why would anyone object to more voices being present in a debate? Watching this film put me in mind of a few quotes by Burke:

* We must all obey the great law of change. It is the most powerful law of nature, and the means perhaps of its conservation.

* Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods.

* It is a general popular error to suppose the loudest complainers for the publick (sic) to be the most anxious for its welfare.

* The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion.

This is a well made and informative film, and the intellectually honest reviewer should credit that, even if s/he disagrees with the subject of this film. See it and decide for yourself.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Real Solutions, not just throwing money at the problem, April 11, 2011

By 

M. Claytor "Avid Reader" (San Diego CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cool It (DVD)

Fantastic! Lomborg believes in global warming but believes money should be spent where it does the most good. He shows that the usual solutions proposed for global warming (like cap and trade) are extremely expensive (about $250B/yr) but produce virtually no results. He discusses things that can be done to actually help reduce global warming which are MUCH cheaper than the usual solutions. He also discusses many other problems (like malnutrition) that could be solved for far less than we would spend on global warming, but produce a huge result and leave the world a better place. To me the most interesting part was the promising technologies that are in the research & development phase, like fuel from algae. This is a reasonable approach to global warming; its fact-based, sound science. Watch this and you'll come away with a positive outlook for the future. Excellent DVD.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, Honest & Unafraid, Eye Opening, November 21, 2011

By 

Chris Donald "CD" (80231) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cool It (DVD)

Great film-making. Engaging. Thoughtful & thought provoking. This is not really an "anti-Al Gore" film nor narrative, but rather a provocative look at science & the politics that insinuates intself into it on occassion, how & why. Lomborg is a sober & passionate environmentalist who has simply not lost his perspective nor his integrity. A great, open, "global" look at the entire issue of Global Warming. See it with friends- a perfect double-date evening in a box whatever your current beliefs are.