Planet of the Humans

Rumble Media | Release Date (Streaming): April 21, 2020

4.0	USER SCORE Mixed or average reviews based on 15 Ratings

USER RATING DISTRIBUTION

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Watch Now

Stream On

Buy on

Stream On

Expand

Review this movie

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Please sign in or create an account before writing a review.

Check box if your review contains spoilers

0 characters (5000 max)

User Reviews

User score By date Most helpful

rsmith02Apr 26, 2020

I was really looking forward to a new Michael Moore documentary to shed light on our failure to do more on global warming. Unfortunately this depressing manipulative movie had more howlers than a jungle, with glaring factual errors andI was really looking forward to a new Michael Moore documentary to shed light on our failure to do more on global warming. Unfortunately this depressing manipulative movie had more howlers than a jungle, with glaring factual errors and misrepresentations in almost every scene.

Moore and Gibbs had an important point to make about the urgent need to reduce our consumption and live differently, and why we can't simply switch to clean technology and do everything else the same way. Sadly, they didn't know enough to make that case poignantly and Gibbs got stuck trying to make his case for big changes by claiming that no technology can actually reduce emissions with blatant lies about solar, wind, batteries, and electric vehicles. They then smear various environmental leaders and show nothing positive of how ordinary people can band together and build a movement to fight back. In their worldview we are doomed. But are we?

The film suggests renewable energy is just as bad as coal given how much energy is used to make solar panels and wind turbines. The US National Renewable Energy Lab (Dept. of Energy) reviewed many independent studies done to date of the total emissions from these technologies and paints a very different picture:
https://www.nrel.gov/analysis/assets/images/lca_harm_ng_fig_2.jpg
“life cycle greenhouse gas emissions from solar, wind, and nuclear technologies are considerably lower and less variable than emissions from technologies powered by combustion-based natural gas and coal.”

I don’t know why the film spent even one minute on solar thermal- that technology died a decade ago as solar PV ate its lunch. Deserts and high water use don’t match, either, making it very challenging to site even if it were affordable.

Despite a misleading slide with lots of pinpoints, biomass power generation is small (~2%) and on the decline in the US. It has been for years- it’s not competitive against wind, solar, natural gas or efficiency. Despite another misleading slide, Germany actually relies on wind more than biomass, though does burn wood for heat (not power). That said, the discussion of biomass is maybe the best part of the film and he’s right this issue falls between the cracks for many environmental groups who are focused on fighting coal and gas or promoting cleaner renewables. I have seen NRDC and Dogwood Alliance quite aggressively oppose industrial forest biomass despite the narration’s insinuations otherwise. Many other groups like Rainforest Action Network, Friends of the Earth, Mighty Earth, and more are fighting palm oil, working to change government policies and pressure corporations to stop using it for fuel or power, with recent successes in Europe.

The electric vehicle part is confused, as if the filmmakers never heard of using a lifecycle analysis to compare apples to apples with production and operation emissions vs conventional vehicles. Multiple analyses show EVs pay off their carbon debt from manufacturing quite quickly and then reduce carbon for the rest of their useful lives. Electric motors are so efficient than even in coal-heavy regions they reduce pollution compared to similar gasoline vehicles (which waste most of their useful energy as heat).

Much of the footage from this film appears to have been shot around 2012 (also the publication year for the related "Green Illusion" book), leading me to wonder if no distributor wanted to touch such a flawed film leaving it to languish until Moore released it on his own YouTube channel.

As to what we can actually do, sadly the film has no time to show this but we can organize, build power and fight to change the systems that are destroying our environment and hurting our fellow humans. No technology will save us. It’s fine to focus efforts locally to build community and power for the long-haul. Gibbs’ narration sounds lifeless and depressed, and if he believes the bleak message of his film, I can see why.… Expand

3 of 5 users found this helpful32

All this user's reviews

JackONeill69May 7, 2020

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Unfortunately, this "documentation" is full of misinformation, it is, so to speak, propaganda by climate change deniers. For example, it is claimed that Germany obtains 60% of its energy from biomass, but in reality, according to data, biomass only makes up 5.19% of the electricity mix in Germany. In addition, it is claimed that Germany has an LNG terminal and imports gas there to generate electricity, you can even see an LNG terminal in this scene, but Germany has no such terminal at all.

Furthermore, it teaches that renewable energies such as wind and solar energy are not suitable for the supply of a country and that one should rely on "conventional" energy production, i.e. on coal and gas. in the third quarter of 2019, more energy was generated in the UK from renewable energy sources than from gas and coal combined, so why is this "documentation" claiming that renewable energy is useless?
It is a film full of half-truths and misinformation.

It is a fictional film that is marketed as a documentary.… Expand

2 of 4 users found this helpful22

All this user's reviews

CustodianMay 9, 2020

Michael Moore always going for controversy no matter the cost to the truth. Another example of him picking a goal making cherry picked cut outs to compile his goal.
Gets people talking and he gets attention.

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

All this user's reviews

Mf2005May 12, 2020

Full of outdated, misleading and false information. A deeply dishonest and irresponsible film.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

All this user's reviews

LadyFireMay 14, 2020

The movie, which came out in 2019 is a litany of complaints against renewable energy industry and environmental movement from a decade before, without admitting that they used out-of-date videos and factoids. Some of the information is simplyThe movie, which came out in 2019 is a litany of complaints against renewable energy industry and environmental movement from a decade before, without admitting that they used out-of-date videos and factoids. Some of the information is simply false, and a simple phone call to an expert would have avoided those mistakes. Examples of outdated info/mistakes: the energy cost of renewable energy, the efficiency of solar panels, claiming that Germany has a LNG terminal (showing a terminal in Turkey instead), the life time of solar and wind technology and way more.. It is a shame to see such a big audience for fact-free doomerist 'documentary' coming from the left.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

All this user's reviews

sardsyrinxJul 7, 2020

Includes a lot of already-debunked information. Michael Moore apologized for his involvement in the film.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

All this user's reviews