Chasing Ice (2012)

Overrated and overhyped

Fresh and Exciting

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Chasing Ice joins the list of growing environmental themed documentary's (see also An Inconvenient Truth, A Crude Awakening, Who Killed The Electric Car etc) that look to highlight the effect global warming is having on our fragile planet. Ice presents an insightful look into a particular aspect of this issue or non-issue if you see fit that while interesting isn't particularly involving.Ice Centres its story on National Geographic photographer James Balog. Director Jeff Orlowski (who made the fantastic and somewhat scarier documentary The Cove) follows Balog and his crew's quest to document for the first time over a period of years the decline of some of the world's glaciers and ice capped territories from Greenland to America. The journey this crew of men take is a brave and commendable effort but as a film Ice just doesn't feel that structured or interested in making you the viewer feel a part of the mission. A major plus for Ice and an undeniable scary beauty is the images it captures both through Balog's lens and through Orlowski's filmmaking eye. The viewer is in no doubt that what is being captured by these men and therefore witnessed through this film is haunting, one particular segment of night time images is sure to make the most jaded of viewer stand up and take notice. Being nominated in the best documentary category in this year's Oscars ceremony it's clear Ice struck a chord with viewers and critics alike. At a short running time of 70 minutes Ice never outstays its welcome and provides another intriguing look into the Earth as we know it today. 3 and a half icicles out of 5For more reviews and movie opinions check out – www.jordanandeddie.wordpress.com

National Geographic photographer James Balog wanted to test his skepticism about climate change. With his Extreme Ice Survey, he was able to photograph undeniable changes in some glaciers. In this documentary, Balog deploys a series of time-lapse cameras to capture a long term visual record of the world's changing glaciers. The lengths to which this is accomplished is mind boggling.It's a compelling watch and an important work. But it's the shocking final result that will amaze you. The visual of these glaciers actually melting right before your eyes will shake you to your core as it did to me.

Noted photog and National Geographic contributor James Balog leads us on a tour of the glacial north in this stirringly-framed argument against the sins of global warming. It's a three-pronged picture, stuffing a biography, research paper and technical adventure into one seventy-minute package, and often feels scattered as a result. The science makes for interesting brain food and Balog's personal journey is unique, if a bit overplayed, but the real show-stoppers are his long-form time lapses and breath-stealing snapshots of nature at its most profound. The centerpiece of this film, and of his argument, are a series of three-year-long panoramas in which we clearly watch several glaciers shrink and recede at an alarming rate; a convincing testament to both the presence and speed of the global melt. Though Chasing Ice can certainly be accused of getting caught up in its own self-importance (or lost in the data), those lingering tastes of proof are worth waiting for and the constant presence of Balog's powerful photo portfolio makes the ride there especially sweet.

Distilled down, this film is to help convince the world that global warming is not only occurring, but the extent of the warming is being accelerated by man, particularly accelerating the rate at which CO2 and other gases are being added to the Earth's atmosphere. I state that without judging, just to get it out there up-front.James Balog is a National Geographic photographer and in his pursuit of "ice" in general came to a quick realization that glaciers, all over the world, are disappearing at alarming rates, compared to historical rates. His photography projects presented here are supplemented with long standing deep ice core data which show fluctuations in temperatures over the centuries, along with fluctuations in atmospheric CO2 content, as measured in the tiny air bubbles captured in the ice. It is clear in the most recent decades the CO2 levels have increased dramatically, resulting from such processes as burning fossil fuels.All this motivated Balog to devote himself to a very ambitious project, to place dozens of camera rigs in such remote places as Iceland, Greenland, Alaska, and Montana to take time-lapse photos for several years, to provide a visual record of glacier change. The project was not without pitfalls, cameras failing, or being destroyed by falling rocks, and simply Balog's bad knee giving out only to be repaired by repeated surgery.The product of all this, once the technical problems were overcome, is film of these changes in glacier ice in these various places. It is a remarkable achievement, and the 75-minute film documents all this very well and interestingly.I was able to see it on Netflix streaming movies. A nice surprise was actress Scarlett Johansson's deep, sultry vocal rendition of the song during the end credits.