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List Price: $27.98 | | Label: Lions Gate
Salesrank: 800
Released: December 8, 2009 |
| Our Price: $16.33 |
| Used Price: $41.87 |
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
In a sleepy lagoon off the coast of Japan, behind a wall of barbed wire and "Keep Out” signs, lies a shocking secret. It is here, under cover of night, that the fishermen of Taiji engage in an unseen hunt for thousands of dolphins. The nature of the work is so horrifying, a few desperate men will stop at nothing to keep it hidden from the world. But when an elite team of activists, filmmakers and free-divers embark on a covert mission to penetrate the cove, they discover that the shocking atrocities they find there are just the tip of the iceberg.
Description of The Cove:
Maybe you've seen it all, and maybe you're already steeped in outraged, activist documentaries. But you haven't seen anything quite like The Cove, unless you can visualize a disturbing combination of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, Free Willy, and the killing of Bambi's mother. The Cove is directed by the experienced National Geographic photographer Louie Psihoyos, who sets about to uncover a shocking (but regular) ritual on the Japanese coast: the herding and slaughter of thousands of bottlenose dolphins in the town of Taiji. A few dolphins are saved during this process, and sold off to aquariums so they can perform in water shows. The rest are crowded together and--away from prying eyes--stabbed to death, their meat sold as food. (Interviewing Japanese people on the street, they apparently have no idea that the "whale meat" on sale in stores is actually mercury-saturated bottlenose dolphin.) It's not that this mass killing is secret, exactly, but the fishermen of Taiji have done a proactive job of keeping cameras and other observers from getting a good look. Psihoyos wants to change all that, and he assembles a swashbuckling squad of scientists, filmmakers, and nerds (including movie F/X people who design fake rocks for hidden video cameras) to extra-legally smuggle recording equipment into the cove. The team's spiritual and emotional captain is Richard O'Barry, the man who helped popularize dolphins as cuddly animals as the trainer of TV's Flipper back in the 1960s--and who, horrified by the way dolphins have been used in public displays, has been an anti-captivity activist for decades. The footage that results is so shocking it should cause seismic reactions in viewers, and when O'Barry attends a meeting of the International Whaling Commission (portrayed by the film as ineffectual and/or bought off by Japanese interests) armed with video of the slaughter, he's like Rocky Balboa climbing into the ring for one more big fight. After what we've seen in the film at that point, it's unlikely many viewers won't be rooting him on. -Robert Horton
The Cove Reviews:
16 years of having the same favorite movie is now over. 
2009-12-21 - I received Food Inc. and The Cove as early Christmas presents. I watched Food Inc first, and would give it a 3 out of 5. I watched The Cove late the next evening, and twice more before i went to sleep that night. The last 3 mins of this film is the best 3 mins of any film I've ever seen. This movie replaces "The Last Of The Mohicans" on the top of my list. From start to finish this movie never lost my attention.
A Must See Film
2009-12-20 - Very inspiring film. After watching this film, I knew that my environmental and animal rights focus would be the ocean and all life in it. Thanks Ric, Louie and everyone else who participated in the making of this film!!!!
DOCUMENTARY FAIL 
2009-12-20 - I was left unimpressed by this documentary and the claims made.
Again and again the narration keeps repeating that 23,000 dolphins a year are killed for human consumption but fail to back up this figure with a source. In addition to this, the documentary fails to acknowledge the fact that even despite if the figure is correct, the dolphin population in the world's oceans continue to increase every year. This despite the fact that the producers do their best to try and convince that dolphins are dangerous toxic lagoons(mercury).
The producers narrate again and again that dolphins are depressed in captivity and sad like they are dolphin psychic mind readers. We see obviously ridicules personal testamonial of such like claims someone was being charged by a shark but saved by a dolphin ! A dolphin commits suicide in the arms of its trainer on the set of Flipper !
No objective facts are given- the dialogue jumps all over the place from sentimental personal testimony to such ambiguous claims that dolphins are whales, dolphins are toxic, dolphins suffer in captivity.
The emphasis on this being some kind of a high risk endeavor for the producers is lauphable- it amounts to being followed around by the chief of police. Getting caught means you will get kicked out of the country. Some lady gets chest bumped by a Japanese fisherman (LOL). Really pathetic keystone cops type scenarios.
Because of all the claims being made, especially the fear tactic of toxic poisoining, I was left not trusting anything of this documentary and left unconvinced that going on a messiah complex to save the dolphins is a worthy endeavor. When the emphasis is on emotion instead of objectivity a documentary of this nature is not worth watching.
I thought it hilarious that the documentary stated that if we continued to fish then there would be a world crisis due to stock depletion because 40% of the population relys on fish for protein. So, if we don't fish then what ? This was not a clever documentary.
I would have liked to seen a logical argument that goes something like this, "Although the dolphin population continues to increase every year despite human consumption one reason for saving the dolphin would be... ?"
DOCUMENTARY FAIL.
Prepare for shock, anger, and tears.
2009-12-20 - Some brave men and women stood in the face of evil and shouted "No More!" But they didn't shout with their voices or with guns. They were followed, threatened, lied to and pushed around but fought back only with their convictions and cameras. The result is a revelatory masterpiece that will simultaneously madden and sadden you, and ultimately make you cry.
I say that because I cried as if I lost a dear, dear friend.
Two images are burned in my mind. One of a dolphin blowing air rings like a veteran cigar smoker blows smoke rings. The dolphin blew the ring in front of him and followed it then, like a magician, sliced off a piece to make a new air ring. And he did it again. And again. Then the ring broke into bubbles and floated away.
The other image is of the aftermath of the dolphin slaughter. I would describe it but stealing its thunder would be as criminal as the act it portrays.
You must see this movie. You will be shocked, angry and moved; yet buoyed by the fact that a handful of people can make a difference. So can I. So can you.
Wow. Incredibly Powerful Film.
2009-12-18 - This is truly a film everyone must see. Incredibly powerful. The World Community needs to come together to stop what is going on in Taiji, Japan.
Incredibly well-executed and riveting documentary filmmaking.
