The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the American Dream (2004)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Gregory Greene

Writer:

Gregory Greene (written by)

Release Date:

5 May 2004 (Canada)

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

We're literally stuck up a cul-de-sac in a cement SUV without a fill-up

Plot:

The modern suburbs have ultimately become an unsustainable way of living. They were originally developed in an era of cheap oil...

Plot Keywords:

Suburbia | Fuel | Fossil Fuels | Oil | Wealth

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Barrie Zwicker	...	Himself - Host
James Howard Kunstler	...	Himself
Peter Calthorpe	...	Himself
Michael Klare	...	Himself
Richard Heinberg	...	Himself
Matthew Simmons	...	Himself
Michael Ruppert	...	Himself (as Michael C. Ruppert)
Julian Darley	...	Himself
Colin Campbell	...	Himself
Steve Andrews	...	Himself
Ali Samsam Bakhtiari	...	Himself
Kenneth Deffeyes	...	Himself

Runtime:

78 min

Country:

Canada | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Company:

The Electric Wallpaper Co.

Trivia:

The producer/editor makes a cameo appearance. He can be seen eating a watermelon in the 8mm home movie footage.

Quotes:

Interview: Future growth is not possible.

Movie Connections:

Features In the Suburbs (1957)

The beginning of the end

A friend of mine works at an engineering company and has shown this to her office. She also holds a masters degree in energy efficient buildings (!).

This documentary focuses on energy issues, but there is so much more to counteracting suburbia (anti-social issues, global warming, etc).

I've read some negative reviews out there claiming there is a "junk science" to this documentary, but these reviewers do not provide any of their own "science" to back up their claims. Where is their documentary, "The Bottomless Well"? It's just as Kunstler says in the interviews - people will be very resistant to the idea suburbia will end. People tend to get hostile when their whole lifestyle has been put into question, and The End of Suburbia does that with efficiency and style.

Intead of changing lifestyles, many suburb dwellers will simply force the status-quo, and become very hostile to those like EOS blowing the whistle. Sad.