To me, this movie is perfection.

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Your doco changed my life, I am now an active in doing something about climate change, as we here in New Zealand are affected just as the rest of the world are. The Fox Glacier in the South Island of New Zealand has shrunk by nearly half and we endure floods like never before and droughts. And unfortunately our government goes on like nothing is critical, but we are all at a tipping point and I find still the human race is walking with blinders on (for the most part) and don't part attention to this wonderful planet as it is all about the bottom line with money, I am 54 and I hope and pray that a revolution of change with all on board, and I believe until it touches all in a way that we can't avoid it might have to take place, and we are getting there, but what scares me is are we going to leave it too long for all the amazing species that didn't ask for this, and for humans well we just might be the player in us going extinct. Thank you to you and all that participated in making this wake up and take notice documentary. And to your family for their sacrifices.

This is one of those documentaries that sets out with good intentions but ultimately fails to make a convincing impression. It would be vastly improved if it were about 30 minutes long, if all the irrelevant stuff about Balog were excised and if it focused on a single and simple message. As it stands it's unclear if the picture is primarily intended to show its auteur as a hero, to illuminate the alarming speed with which global warming is causing glaciers to recede, or to demonstrate what a rugged, challenging and difficult business it is to try to get direct photographic evidence of the glacier recessions (for all but rugged disbelievers in the impact of global warming, competent annual maps would do just as well).What we're given is a curious admixture of all three elements. Balog starts by telling us how beautiful he finds ice as a photographic subject, yet we're shown only a small handful of his ice pictures. One quickly gets the impression that the cinematographer brings home such superb images Balog's still pictures don't compete particularly well. The business of Balog's knee I found just plain tiresome. A handful of the shots showing what a difficult operation it was to set up the time-lapse cameras would be sufficient to make the point that the task is not one for wimps.The time-lapse photos of the glaciers receding are impressive; so too the shots of huge chunks of sheet ice 'calving' icebergs the size of Manhattan. But the long wait to see the time-lapse photos is not justified by the intervening material. I liked the comment that the glaciers are the planetary equivalent of the canary in the mine, giving early warning of a change that needs to be taken seriously. If this had been the clear emphasis of the movie, without all the subsidiary and — candidly — dull stuff about Balog's knee, the picture would have made a far stronger impact.At one point someone makes the comment that filming and camera placing leaves you realizing you've spend months of your life just looking at ice. It's the responsibility of the director and editor NOT to convey that feeling to the audience!

Chasing Ice This documentary meets art feature and Sundance select for Excellence in Cinematography is visually breathtaking! This had been on my watch-list for months & thankfully the Environmental Protection Agency (Great organisation which deserves more recognition for their excellent reports, which were the backbone for my thesis on environmental issues last year!) Organised a special one-off free screening in the Irish Film Institute last night and the first of a partnership series hopefully. It was great to see a full-house with an applause at the end.The documentary follows National Geographic photographer and Extreme Ice Survey founder James Balog and his passionate team across Greenland, Iceland, Alaska and the Arctic as they installs custom-made time-lapse cameras to document never before seen glaciation at an extreme. The resulting photography is both frightening and breathtakingly beautiful.The issues that many people seem to have with this film are that it doesn't engage in a political argument and that it doesn't provide a solution to the problem. Balog stated that this isn't a political problem, it's a universal problem. The point is he's delivering a message with his photography and he's letting the photographs do the talking, not tarnishing the message with politics. & the aim of this film is to spread awareness not to provide a solution.This is an eye-opener and a visual reference as to how much climate change is immediately effecting our plant. At one point we witness footage of the largest ever recorded glacier calving, an iceberg larger than the island of Manhattan calves from a glacier in about 75 minutes. Politicians and energy corporation executives should be made sit a mandatory viewing of this. Seize any opportunity you get to go see this on the big screen.You can now apply to host a screening on the Chasing Ice website!

Ever wonder how the Titanic iceberg got there? It's believed it broke off of a specific glacier in Iceland. "Calving" continues, only it's happening at a faster pace than ever before. These days ships aren't the main object of concern -- but rather the survival of everything that needs air to breathe.That's the message of this visually dazzling documentary from National Geographic photographer James Balog. He argues that rising levels of carbon create atmospheric warming that is destroying the world's great ice sheets.Softening, receding glaciers are raising sea levels so rapidly it's believed that 150 million people -- roughly equal to half the population of the United States -- will become displaced this century.Balog presents awe-inspiring pictorial documentation for the shrinkage of ice shelves in Greenland, Iceland, Alaska, and Montana. At one point, we witness a vast and craggy terrain collapsing into a roiling cauldron of ice soup. Balog and his team put their lives at considerable risk to capture such amazing sequences. Part of the interest in this film is the somewhat obsessive personality of Balog, who battles extreme weather conditions to complete this self-imposed task as well as a bum knee that doesn't take well to clambering up ice mountains and rappelling back down.Balog wants the world to know that radical environmental changes are happening as you read this. The time is past, he argues, to debate whether global warming is real.His message is urgent, and everyone should take heed.