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61 of 65 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the most important documentries you could watch, July 13, 2005
Before I watched this documentry I never heard about 'Peak Oil' and it's implications for our future. I had bought into the common perception that most of us have that oil is resource that possibly may run out sometime in the future but long after my lifetime and my children's lifetime, and that before it does start running out some magical breakthrough will be made in alternative energy sources such as hydrogen fuel cells in time to save the day for our modern lifestyles. But this documentry shook the foundations of my perceptions. I was shocked by the reality that oil is a limited resource that will probably start running low within our lifetimes and also by the extent that our modern lifestyles depends on it. And what is almost more more disturbing is that I had to learn about it for the first time from this documentry - why is information of this importance and magnitude not in the headlines of our media? This is important information that everyone who is a consumer of oil/energy needs to know (that's most of us in this world with maybe the exception of a few of the remaining primitive tribes left in the world these days). For your own sake and the sake of your children you need to watch this documentry, you need to get all your friends to watch it. Only when the majority of us are aware of of this grave problem facing mankind will there be any chance of taking action to save us form the doom that this documentry predicts is in store for us. This is a gripping documentry that will change the way you think about the world we live in today.
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41 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The end of the world as we know it?, September 6, 2005
This documentary raises a possibility with truly staggering implications --that the lifestyle Americans and other wealthy industrial nations have come to take for granted will soon come to an abrupt halt. The basic premise of the film is based on the theory that we have reached --or possibly passed-- the stage of "peak oil." That is, no matter how efficient we are or how many oil-rich nations we invade, there is simply not going to be enough oil in the near future to keep up with the ever-increasing demand. This, combined with an impending shortage of natural gas, which is required for electricity, means that some drastic and painful changes may soon be forced upon millions of people.
The End of Suburbia is definitely a film with a message. There is no attempt to present an opposing point of view here. I suppose interviewing an oil company spokesperson with a dissident opinion would not have added much value. There are, I believe, nonpartisan experts who do not agree with the peak oil theory, but interested viewers can do their own research, which is always a good idea. The film could be criticized for its mainly pessimistic slant, but this can hardly be avoided considering the topic! They do present some possible alternatives towards the end, such as the new urbanism movement, which seeks to create more livable cities in place of sprawl.
The experts interviewed in The End of Suburbia, such as Mike Ruppert and Jim Kunstler are articulate and convincing. Ruppert has a very informative web site where he gives updates on this and other important issues. The film handles its subject in an entertaining way, giving the history of American suburbia from the post-World War ll era to the present. The fact is, America has invested in and subsidized this automobile-centered way of life to the exclusion of all alternatives. The cost of this is something we may only be starting to realize. Ironically, I saw this film a week after gas in the U.S. went above $3/gallon, which would have been unthinkable a short time ago. This may be only the beginning.
The modern suburban landscape is, after all, fairly bizarre if we think about it and stop taking it for granted. Millions of people drive long distances every day, going from cardboard-cutout homes to office cubicles, Walmarts and gargantuan shopping centers. As The End of Suburbia points out, the suburb is an entirely artificial environment, neither city nor country and combining the worst of each. It is, perhaps, a good thing in the long run that its reign is most likely about to end.
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21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Peak Oil - A Turning Point for Mankind..., April 22, 2005
A well done DVD that includes interviews of many of the leading experts on the issue of peak oil. Once oil demand exceeds supply (which is very close to happening), we will be living in a very different world. The peak in oil discoveries occurred in 1962. We are now using some 84 million barrels of oil per day...
Cheap oil is essential to the growth of the American economy. If the US doesn't grow 2% per year, it will no longer be able to service its debt...
From plastic, to agriculture, to heating, to transportation, to the medical industry, we live in an oil soaked world...
If you are new to this issue, goooogle "peak oil" and be prepared to be shocked.
Showing this video to your friends and family is probably the best way to convince them of the coming emergency...
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