Chasing Coral (2017) Reviews

• Touching, funny, relevant

  re_incarnate2017-06-03

  This is my first review on IMDb. I got a chance to see this film at Sundance London and it was so incredibly inspiring that I felt this film must be seen by people. Sadly this screening coincided with Trump pulling out of the Paris climate change deal, which makes this film even more important. The director Jeff Orlowski and his crew embark on a quest to document and show the audience how quick and devastating the effects of global warming are on the coral reefs around the world. The documentary has funny laugh-out-loud moments, takes us on an emotional journey where we see how deeply the filmmakers care for this subject, but most importantly it brings the message home - that things are changing and something needs to be done. A fantastic, motivating and hopeful film that is 100% relevant to the issues we face today, not to mention the stunning cinematography 10/10

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• The 6th Mass Extinction has begun

  karlealdinger2017-07-16

  This important documentary serves as a wake up call to deniers of man made climate change and also to those who just don't see the need for concern. It takes the time to teach us about basic coral anatomy, their reliance on zooplankton, and then chronicles the surging ocean temperatures and the direct correlation with the death of entire swaths of reef. This film will make you cry as it makes you come to grips with the reality of climate change. Watch it, and then share it with others too, to help educate those too distracted to understand the calamity we're witnessing. While it doesn't go into ocean acidification, that is where I'd challenge the viewer to explore next. It's not a counter theory, but rather the two are interrelated.

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• Save the coral!

  ferguson-62017-04-21

  Whether you have spent vacation time snorkeling, watched the National Geographic channel, or even paid a bit of attention during high school science class, you likely have some level of understanding of what a vital ecosystem coral reefs are to Ocean life. Director Jeff Orlowski has a track record of important environmental documentaries with his 2012 Chasing Ice. Both of these movies have been well received at Sundance and other film festivals, as well as by scientific experts. Mr. Orlowski was contacted by underwater photographer Richard Vevers once the Vevers team recognized the accelerated breakdown of corals as the ocean water temperature rose slightly. The film takes us to such places as The Great Barrier Reef in Australia, the Florida Keys, American Somoa, Hawaii, Bermuda and the Bahamas. The obvious message is that concern exists around the globe, not just in one particular locale. The film does an excellent job of defining and explaining the importance of coral, and once Zach Rago is introduced, the energy and passion jump significantly. A charming, self-described "coral nerd", he is also an extremely knowledgeable and committed scientist dedicated to saving this ecosystem that he worships, and he understands the important role it plays to all life. Little doubt exists that those involved fully believe carbon emissions are to blame for the warming waters resulting in coral bleaching and finally coral death. They also believe that by reducing said emissions, there is still time to prevent the total global coral destruction predicted for the next quarter century. If the film has any misguided moments, it would be related to the screen time spent on the challenges and frustrations associated with underwater time-lapse photography, especially from a hardware standpoint. As viewers, we are far more interested in the coral endangerment and the photography shots that do exist … especially some of the stunning before/after looks as coral reefs are quickly destroyed. A trip to the Coral Convention provides us a glimpse at how research and information is shared by those who are working on this and other environmental issues. With limited resources, it's crucial that access to information is available to those who need it. Finally, the film leaves us with a reminder that forests, reefs, and other ecosystems are all vital to our lives; and while the current path is quite saddening, there is optimism that we have time to stop the damage if we act now.

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• Let's just destroy everything on this planet and just don't do anything about it.

  deloudelouvain2018-06-16

  Chasing Coral should be an eye opener for everybody, but that would only work if everybody watched it, especially influent people that have to take big decisions. For people that continue to deny global warming is going on. Unfortunately those influent people, like are so-called 'world leaders', could not care less about all this, because greed, destruction and world domination is their only goal in life. The documentary starts slow, with some good footage but also some blurry archive footage. It's all interesting to watch though. But the best part, if I can say best in this case, is the ending, and i's not that colorful anymore. We, the humans, the so-called smartest specie on earth, are in fact the parasites of our planet, destroying everything at high speed. If the coral reefs are bleaching it's all our fault, and if this eco system dies in the next decades it will be our fault as well. The end of the documentary wants to give us a bit of hope, but honestly I don't believe in it. We are doomed to go from bad to worse, as greed and selfishness are the only goals of us humans. So Chasing Coral is a good documentary, but a sad and emotional one. It should be mandatory in schools or for everybody to see, so that maybe we would change our attitude, but that's just wishful thinking. The future generations will pay the price for our neglect and destruction of our once lovely planet.

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• Excellent and eye opening

  billgailhi2018-01-09

  I saw this film recently at the Waimea Ocean Film Festival. It was the documentary I most wanted to see. The Big Island of Hawaii has coral reefs that have suffered from bleaching. If things do not change, we will lose our coral reefs and many fish will disappear. That will affect our fisherman and tourism. I fervently hope people will WAKE UP!

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