Planetary (2015) Reviews

• Disappointment

  HIRanD2015-04-23

  There is much about this film to like - beautiful images, thought provoking commentary, the intention to provide a visual meditation and context to develop a personal planetary world view. Yet the thoughts moving to my attention while watching the film were "preaching to the choir," "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing," and most of all "please be quiet." The last is especially ironic since I am notoriously "talky," yet I felt this film really needed moments of ZEN quietness. Instead of leaving the film meditating on my connection with our planet, I came away feeling assaulted by words. The opening sequence was powerful and moving with images from space exploration and commentary from astronauts but then the film seemed to bounce around with commentary about the environment, economics, nature, meditation, indigenous cultures, etc. becoming a jumble of images and comments from philosophers who rambled on and on. Yes, there were moments of truly thought provoking statements - our bodies contain a small number of human cells and a larger number of viruses and microbes which help us survive; "we will never reach resolution," "we are all indigenous." But if the message is that "the answer to the world's problems exists inside of each one of us" the message was significantly hampered by too many voices. There were also moments of disconnect - instead of evoking respect for indigenous peoples, a lovely image of a Hopi shaman made both my husband and I think "how many dead animal parts is he wearing?" (neither of us is a vegetarian). As someone who identifies as Buddhist and appreciates the diversity of images, I couldn't help but notice the exclusion of Jewish, Christian and Moslem imagery and scripture supporting environmental stewardship. There are people of these faiths who believe they must live in harmony with God's creation. We are trying to find balance, but if everyone is talking, no one is listening. In their next film, I hope the filmmakers will recognize the power of silence.

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• Beautiful except for Fatal Flaw

  rusty-113262015-04-23

  The film offers many profound points made that need to be perceived by a wider audience, yet the film is badly tainted - and its revolutionary credentials essentially revoked - by the omission of the role of animal exploitation, enslavement and consumption in the degradation of our planetary systems. Indeed, not only is this crucial dysfunction not specifically pointed out, the issue is glossed over, even glorified in the scene with the bucolic cowboys herding their "happy cows" on a pristine prairie. What utter disinformation! The film calls upon us all to become environmentalists... yet you simply cannot be a good environmentalist and continue to fully buy into the corporate/industrial, animal-based food conspiracy! The truth is animal factory farming is the No. 1 cause of rainforest, habitat and species loss, the No. 1 cause of ocean life depletion, the second- leading cause of global warming, high on the causal list of water pollution, water resource depletion, and the perpetuation of human hunger. It is implicated in ALL of the most serious health threats, including cancers, heart disease, diabetes and obesity. It is the most inefficient, most unhealthy (for us and the planet) and most unsustainable way of feeding ourselves. Far worse, it is a system of utter non-virtue and violence that our very cultures are based upon. We enthusiastically imbibe in this evil three times a day, and it goes directly into our bodies and souls! If we are to realize the vision of the producers and voices of Planetary, then this crass dysfunction should be right along side the prodigious use of fossil fuels as targets of elimination, Unlike weaning ourselves off fossil fuels, however, turning away from the holocaust of animal enslavement, exploitation and murder may actually help us to become more peaceful, more compassionate, more actualized Homo sapiens in the process. Radical revolutionaries? That's a laugh, as long as you are you are mindlessly enslaved to the conformity and "tradition" of meat and dairy eating. The film is also very slight on actual solutions. Meditation? Please! If you are meditating three times a day and still eating animals, you remain spiritually shallow and possibly doing absolutely nothing to effect change in the world. You're not bonded to the All and the One, you're bonded to your taste-buds. To change the world, we don't just sit down and meditate, we take action! And the one action that is the most revolutionary, the most radical and the most effective at truly changing the individual and the collective is to cease harming animals! NOW! Alas, I'd like to recommend the film, but simply cannot as long as it contains this absurd flaw.

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• Great, Transformative makes you reconsider

  lashmarc2015-04-05

  We live in a world well poised for a change. Our path up until this point has been one of a Take, Make and Waste society. Planetary draws our attention to the behaviors of the past and ask's what are we do do now. The behaviors of the past, if they persist, will lead us to an inevitable outcome. However we have a choice to treat each other and the beautiful world we share with the respect and consideration that each of us deserve. It is beautifully done, never placing blame or condemning past actions. It simply shares the beauty that is planet earth and our share connectivity. I enjoyed it immensely and will watch it again. marc

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• Beautiful, inspirational film

  div-959542015-05-03

  This beautiful film shows how we have gained self awareness of our planet, especially when first looking at ourselves "in the mirror" from outer space in the 1960s. The film presents a rather Buddhist viewpoint, which is fine by me. However, the talking heads in the film are mainly American, and since this is a film about our planet the cast could have been more international. Perhaps the Haida Gwaii nation in Canada could have been interviewed, as well as a nod to Marshall McLuhan with regard to our self awareness as a species (the "global village"). Well worth seeing, over and over again, to remind ourselves of our place in nature.

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• lots of pontificating

  SnoopyStyle2019-02-17

  This is documentary with lots of unknown experts pontificating about the environment, spirituality, and the world. Quite frankly, I don't know these people. Their philosophy talk is a nebulous crossword puzzle kumbaya singalong. There are moments of clarity about our connection to the world except it keeps repeating the point or that it meanders around in a subject which is too vast to document. There are some cool visuals of people, nature, and the world from space. This is compelling for the crystal crowd and important for the environmental warriors amongst us. This is not going to convince any non-believers. It doesn't lay out any facts for their case. This is a marriage of the all-one-world-doctrine and the flashiness of nature documentaries. It's like a boring diner party where everybody talks above their heads and you're forced to pretend to be interested. It's way too long and I got the point the first time around.

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