Ehirerapp Waste of time

Konterr Brilliant and touching

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Bessie Smyth Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

david-sarkies Well, I finally got around to watching the film, though it hadn't been one of those films that had really been on my radar all that much, at least until I read about it in Naomi' Klien's book 'This Changes Everything'. I guess the main reason that spurred me on to watching this film was when Klein talks about the scene where people set their faucets on fire and I have to admit that was something that I really wanted to see (and it's pretty disturbing when you actually see them do this).I remember when fracking became all the rage back in the lead up to the Global Financial Crisis. Basically the price of oil had gone through the roof and all of a suddenly there was this rush to look for alternate means of generating energy. While renewables were on the cards, when the extractive industry developed a new way of getting gas out of the ground, all of the sudden the idea of using the sun and the wind to generate our energy literally went out the window. Obviously this has now had an opposite effect resulting in the price of crude going through the floor since the world is now awash in natural gas.Industry promotes gas as a new, cleaner fuel that doesn't produce the carbon that petroleum does, however what Fox sets out to do in this film is to demonstrate that while the use of gas may be a lot cleaner than petroleum, the means of getting it out of the ground, and to process it, isn't. In fact what he pushes throughout the film is how one of the nasty byproducts of this process is that the water supplies are poisoned, and people who live near fracking wells are no longer able to drink the ground water.The thing with shale gas is that there are huge reservoirs located under the United States, which means that by extracting this energy source means that they no longer have to rely upon foreign sources of oil, much of which is located in some of the most unstable regions in the world. However Fox argues that the catch is that the process to extract the gas is far from being clean, and much of the byproduct is not only kept hidden from the world, but there is little to no regulation forcing the companies to dispose of the waste in a clean manner. In fact the residents who do complain about the toxic waste are either thrown up against an army of lawyers, or are paid to remain silent about the whole process.Certainly a confronting movie, though I probably should get around to watching Fracknation just to see what the opposing view is.

Lucy van der Ham Gasland effectively conveys how serious the threat to the environment is from fracking without confusing the viewer with complex statistics. The facts and figures it does contain are presented in ways that allow the viewer to fully digest what the implications are while also capturing the audience's attention as the facts associated with environmental risks of fracking would astonish any viewer. The visual aid that a documentary brings is also helpful in encouraging the audience to have a specific point of view. It allows the viewer to witness firsthand the environmental effects that fracking is having, such as water contamination, land destruction, alteration of the geological formations and aesthetically displeasing drilling pads. Visual evidence is extremely powerful at convincing the viewer of what is fact, Josh Fox uses this to his advantage by providing recordings, from numerous households, of tap water being lit on fire after a fracking drilling pad caused a contamination in the water source. The style that the documentary is made in (a road trip diary) lets the viewer become immersed in the story, as though they are travelling with Fox on this adventure through South America. It allows them to experience the interest, shock and devastation that Fox goes through in this documentary, connecting the audience to the issue of fracking on an emotional level. The interview aspect of the documentary portrays the personal experience of those affected by fracking and of those associated with the process, which builds confidence in the viewer that the information they are gaining is genuine.

Dennis Littrell This is a Michael Moore kind of documentary, that is, before he became rich and famous. There's all the down home kind of people being featured and they're fighting, in this case, Big Gas, which means ExxonMobil, Halliburton and various and sundry others. I really don't know enough about the situation to pass judgment on the central accusation of the film, namely that hydraulic fracturing causes long-lasting environmental damage and the poisoning of water supplies. The fact that film maker Josh Fox shows several homes with water that can be set afire at the kitchen sink tap is however a bit disconcerting to say the least.The problem seems to be that the methods used for fracturing employ a number of chemicals that are carcinogenic and, most significantly, there is no way to control the spread of those chemicals to areas around the wells including into the atmosphere. It's clear to me that there is not one executive at ExxonMobil or Halliburton that would want any hydraulic fracturing done anywhere near his home. Not in my backyard or across the street or even several football fields away is the how just about everybody feels about this technique for getting oil and gas economically out rock/shale formations.But there is a lot of money to be made and there is the argument that using such techniques can alleviate our dependence on foreign oil. The amount of natural gas and oil that can be fractured out of the rocks in the United States is enormous with some estimates claiming the supply is over a hundred years at current energy consumption levels. But Josh Fox's point is, at what cost? What personal and environment cost? What this film pinpoints is another example of how the economic interests of a few large corporations trump the lives of countless number of people and how the real environmental and human costs of production are dumped onto the public, especially the public that is our children and our grandchildren to come. The sad fact is that energy is relatively cheap today because the real cost of that energy is being given to coming generations to pay in a kind of Ponzi scheme. Since ExxonMobil, Halliburton, et al., have a shareholder horizon of the next quarter's earnings numbers, it is impossible for them and their execs to give a flying you-know-what about tomorrow's children or the world they will face. The future can take care of itself is the position that they are embracing. Meanwhile they personally are not polluted directly or inconvenienced or made cancerous since they live far, far away from the effects of hydraulic fracturing, and presumably with all the money they are making they can provide for their children and grandchildren to continue to live where they are (relatively) safe from the pollutants that are being expelled.But I have to say that this is not a great documentary. Its budget is obviously quite a bit short of what some other film makers can afford, yet Josh Fox makes his point very well and does a great public service in calling to our attention the dangers associated with hydraulic fracturing. I notice that there is a lot of advertising on television paid for by e.g., ExxonMobil that is trying to make this kind of natural gas and oil production as sweet as Tupelo honey with smiley faces and fields of flowers and greenery in the background. It's nice to see a counter to that, even if the film's budget is probably a fraction of the cost of one ExxonMobil commercial.It is gratifying to note that the positive reviews for this movie greatly outnumber the negative ones. It's clear that the industry's attack team has taken a pass on this one, hoping, I guess that it will go away from lack of interest. Take a look and see why this issue is not likely to go away; in fact I predict another more powerful film to come, which WILL be viciously attacked. Stay tuned.--Dennis Littrell, author of the movie review book, "Cut to the Chaise Lounge of I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!"

saniat Perhaps you wondered what the fuss about fracking is about. Watch GASLAND and find out. A shattering, important documentary that all should see. Before it's too late.In person interviews and thorough research make this personal documentary an important step in beginning to reconsider the complete lack of environmental oversight and wanton disregard for human health, and life, of this energy sector. A shocking, appalling revelation. Kudos to the filmmaker for this important insight into the practices and impacts of the gas fracking industry.