Search - Oil On Ice (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge) on DVD

Amazing film about one of the few latest paradises on earth

N. Rossier | USA | 09/26/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This film made me want to travel to Alaska and meet the natives and have a look at them one last time in shame. We don't own this land. This land owns us and if we forget that the human race will vanish very soon. A striking photography and beautiful music will make this film an unforgettable experience. The impact of oil drilling on natives is well explained and very well understood after watching this film. The impact on all of us on the long run becomes quite clear after watching the film. This film is a must see.


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Ok, but out of focus.

Jessica | Hunter, NY, USA | 08/04/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I expected a bit more from this documentary, especially as far as the HISTORY of oil conquest in Alaska is concerned, oil spills (I think just throwing in Exxon Valdez is insufficient) and I didn't think that the natives going to Washington DC was much proof of activism either. There was a lot of narration, a lot about the caribou and how their population will decrease if oil is drilled for in ANWR. It went through the migrations and the wildlife and some of the history of ANWR but it didn't go through a whole lot of legislation.

There's also not a lot of dialogue between people in Alaska or the rest of the US. The documentary covers a fair amount of native sentiment and also that of some lawmakers in Alaska, but why didn't they ask Alaskans about their opinions? What about the rest of the country? The whole thing was wayyyy too one-sided. This documentary should have been great. It should've shown the real controversy throughout the country, the impact of Alaska on the people who live there (not just the natives), tourists, how important that enormous chunk of land is to people and what it means to America. It would have been so much more interesting to have people from around the US interviewed -- NJ/NY motorists, tourism-based businesspeople in Maine, people from the Midwest, people from Houston and other oil-rich cities, people from the Canadian Arctic....it could have been better. In the end, these people who made the documentary don't get it. A vast majority of people who will even listen to the ANWR issue won't care a whole lot about the people who live there. The documentary does a poor job of appealing to people in the lower 48. It doesn't offer too many alternatives, either

I will say that the camerawork was nicely done. The footage of ANWR, of the reserve, the wildlife, even some of the people interviewed were very good. A lot more emotion than thought was invested into this DVD. Hey, I guess not that many people can really complain. There hasn't been a lot released on this issue thus far, at least in full documentary format. It's a good start -- I just hope more films follow in its footsteps, perhaps explaining the issue more and putting it in perspective."

Wayyy one-sided

P. Johnson | 06/24/2008

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Extremely biased. Many beautiful shots of the Brooks Range area nowhere near the proposed drilling area (1%) of the whole ANWR area. Little of the proposed drilling area (and nothing in winter.)

Nothing (!) seen of the existing north slope drilling area to actually see what the effect would be on caribou, polar bears etc...

The Gwich'in natives who don't live in the area (opposed) get wayyy more time than the Inupiat (balanced pro/con) who do live there.

And how about this news item :"The Gwich'in tribal council in the Northwest Territories has signed a memorandum of understanding with a Calgary-based exploration company to search for oil and gas on 350 square kilometres of land east of Inuvik, N.W.T." Of course we don't hear anything about this hypocrisy.

The former Alaska Governor gets a few seconds of airtime. Otherwise nothing from the other 99.9% of Alaskans.

The radical enviromentalists - yes. Regular Americans - no.

Biased to the max!

(But Peter Coyote's narration voice is the best in the world.)

"

Very educational

Joanna DeMars | Iowa City, Iowa | 03/26/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a very good, informative film... it was very good to start a discussion about environmental policies."