Review of The 11th Hour (2007) by Ping L — 25 May 2008

An impressive array of expert opinions from scientists, environmentalists, specialists of their fields, and what have you; against a backdrop of spectacular visuals. Such is indeed all very well and good but seems to carry forward the misconception that the average person would actually watch the film in the first place. Similarly, this is a commendable effort by Leonardo DiCaprio (narrator and producer) but it is somewhat optimistic to hope that he would be taken entirely seriously.

Also, this exposes itself to speculation by not being quite as effective as "An Inconvenient Truth" in stating the facts of the matter and providing an evidence base before presenting its many conclusions.

Nevertheless, this is an honestly compelling piece and the message reams true.

Here are just a couple of the shrewd insights given:

Stephen Hawking (Lucasian Professor of Mathematics, Cambridge University) - "Human exploitation of the planet is reaching a critical limit, but human demands and expectations are ever increasing. We cannot continue to pollute the atmosphere, poison the ocean, and exhaust the land; there isn't any more available".

James Hillman (psychologist) - "We're psychically numbed; we numb our senses from morning till night: whether it's with noise, or loud music, or light at night. So nobody sees the beauty. And as we've lost the feeling of the beauty of the world, we find ourselves looking for substitutes. Eric Hoffer said: "You can never get enough of what you don't really want", meaning we rush around permanently needy, but the feeling of loss is that we don't know what it is we've lost. What we've lost is the beauty of the world, and we make up for it by attempting to conquer the world; or own the world; possess the world".

...and the world, us included, suffers at our expense.