Racing Extinction (2015)

A documentary that follows undercover activists trying to stave off a man-made mass extinction.

Director:

Louie Psihoyos

Writer:

Mark Monroe

Stars:

Elon Musk, Joel Sartore, Louie Psihoyos

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 4 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Louie Psihoyos	...	Himself (undercover investigator)
Heather Dawn Rally	...	Herself (undercover investigator) (voice) (as Heather Rally)
Michael Novacek	...	Himself (curator of paleontology)
Christopher W. Clark	...	Himself (Johnson senior scientist) (as Dr. Christopher W. Clark)
Kirk Johnson	...	Himself (National Museum of Natural History)
Ady Gil	...	Himself (protester)
Shawn Heinrichs	...	Himself (marine conservationist)
Paul Hilton	...	Himself (photojournalist)
Charles Hambleton	...	Himself (undercover investigator)
David Doubilet	...	Himself (National Geographic photographer)
Jerry Greenberg	...	Himself (underwater photographer)
John Veron	...	Himself (Australian Institute of Marine Science) (as J.E.N. 'Charlie' Veron)
Elizabeth Kolbert	...	Herself (author of 'The Sixth Extinction')
Synte Peacock	...	Herself (National Center for Atmospheric Research)
Jason Hall-Spencer	...	Himself (marine biologist)

Storyline

Scientists predict we may lose half the species on the planet by the end of the century. They believe we have entered the sixth major extinction event in Earth's history. Number five took out the dinosaurs. This era is called the Anthropocene, or 'Age of Man', because the evidence shows that humanity has sparked this catastrophic loss. We are the only ones who can stop it as well. The Oceanic Preservation Society, the group behind the Academy Award® winning film THE COVE, is back for "Racing Extinction". Along with some new innovators, OPS will bring a voice to the thousands of species on the very edge of life. An unlikely team of activists is out to expose the two worlds endangering species across the globe. The first threat to the wild comes from the international trade of wildlife. Bogus markets are being created at the expense of creatures who have survived on this planet for millions of years. The other threat is all around us, hiding in plain sight. There's a hidden world that ...

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Taglines:

Winning is the only option

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Genres:

Documentary | Adventure | Drama | Thriller

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Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA China Hong Kong Indonesia Mexico UK Japan

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 September 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

6

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Oceanic Preservation Society, Okeanos - Foundation For The Sea, Insurgent Docs

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Anohni was one of two nominees for Best Original Song at the 2016 Academy Awards, along with composer David Lang for 'Simple Song #3' performed by Sumi Jo from the film 'Youth', who were not invited to perform their song during the awards broadcast. Because of this, Anohni boycotted the event, explaining on her website that she recognized the reason for the snub was because she 'might not sell advertising space', and that it felt like 'a sting of shame that reminded me of America's earliest affirmations of my inadequacy as a transperson' and represented 'a system of social oppression and diminished opportunities for transpeople'.

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Quotes

John Veron: When all this gets going we will have what's called a run-away effect. That's run-away climate change. And it's unstoppable.

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Connections

Featured in The Oscars (2016)

User Reviews

Documentary that you'd never think could make you cry...

This wild and cleverly produced documentary is going to take you places and bring tears to your eyes - not once, but on several occasions. There's also a scientific twist, offering an intriguing insight as to how Earth's atmosphere and it's oceans have changed over the many millions of years due to biological evolution, natural events, human interference, and what that could mean for the future.

Indeed, there is a strong focus on protecting endangered species both on land and on sea, however don't mistake this for an average "save the whales" documentary where one flicks over the channel when the end credits roll. This documentary will stir up a rather different emotion that presents a sense of empowerment on a level never experienced before.

The build up to the finale was superb; to coin a phrase, "The icing on the cake."

If you have ninety minutes spare to watch Racing Extinction, it will be ninety minutes well spent.