Earth 2100 Blu-ray delivers great video and solid audio in this overall recommended Blu-ray release
It's an idea that most of us would rather not think about -- that within the next century, life as we know it could come to an end. Our civilization could crumble, leaving only traces of modern human existence behind. It seems outlandish, extreme, even impossible. But according to cutting edge scientific research, it's a real possibility -- unless we make drastic changes now.
When she was fourteen, my wife was freaked out and didn't want a root canal. She tells me this
while we're talking about Earth 2100, a speculative documentary on the effects of climate
change, which we had just finished watching. I know, it seems like a strange aside, and you're
probably wondering why I'm relaying it here. I'll let her finish: "I didn't want a root canal, but the
dentist told me that I had two options. I could let the tooth rot, slowly and painfully, and eventually
it would fall out, leaving a permanent gap. This was one solution. Or, I could have the root canal—
which would only hurt for a few hours—and save myself from all the pain and suffering down the
road. It was only after he explained the consequences that I was able to understand why I needed
the root canal. And that's basically what the documentary does." What can I say? When she's right
—which is, let's face it, all the time—she's right. Earth 2100 shows what could happen if
we sit back and do nothing about global warming—the toothache we're trying to ignore—and then
reassures us that if we just put in a little effort now, while we're still able, we can save
ourselves from a lot of potential hardships in the future.
This is how it starts...
Originally aired by the ABC television network on June 2, 2009, Earth 2100 is a far cry
from your average timely but inevitably predictable nightly news special. Meaning, there's no
perfectly coiffed anchorperson asking "probing" and "insightful" questions in a head-to-head
interview that ends in tears. The program envisions what might happen to life on Earth
throughout the 21st century if we act too late in addressing human involvement in climate
change. Instead of simply featuring one expert testimonial after another, interspersed with stock
footage and, I dunno, pie charts and bar graphs, Earth 2100 takes a novel approach.
Specifically, a graphic novel approach. In between talking head segments with a bevy of cerebral
superstars—including scientists, professors, and think tank thinkers—the documentary weaves a
fictional narrative told in the now-popular "motion comic" aesthetic. Think Watchmen: The
Complete Motion Comic. Whether this is to cast the problem of global warming in a new light
or just to appeal to a younger audience, it's an effective choice. The limited motion animation is
fantastic, with lots of great depth effects and an edgy visual style.
The story follows the life of Lucy, who has the unfortunate fate of being born in 2009, when the
world is not nearly as concerned as it should be about global warming. Civilization is at the
proverbial crossroads, and by failing to enact any new policies at a 2015 global summit on climate
change, we collectively take the path of least initial resistance. The effects are subtle at first.
Young Lucy remembers the summer of the dragonflies, when a species native to Cuba began
migrating north to her home in Miami. Soon, gas prices reach $5.45 and shortages are rampant.
By 2030, when Lucy gets married, there are 8 billion people on Earth, two thirds of them without
a stable supply of fresh water. In 2050, the planet's now 9 billion inhabitants are fighting over
resources that are increasingly scarcer. A flu pandemic sweeps the globe. Golf courses turn to
dust. Land pirates stalk America's interior highways. It's not Mad Max, not quite yet.
Lucy's husband Josh gets a job as an engineer on The Great Barrier Project, an unsuccessful
attempt to protect New York City from rising tides. Meanwhile, melting ice caps release vast
quantities of trapped methane, which only expedite the global temperature hike. Essential
services and utilities are shut down in 2084. The world's population has collapsed under its own
weight and America has splintered into a million shards. Cities are now walled fortresses with
enclaves for the rich. The central government has failed. "Hell," as one scientist puts it, "is truth
realized too late."
Obviously, there's a fair share of fear-mongering here, a lot of bleak speculation. Earth
2100 is like a Scared Straight video for gas-guzzlers and the environmentally
unconscious. While the end of the program does address some potential solutions—both for
individuals and global policy makers—the bulk of the documentary is devoted to the
consequences of our current apathy. This is doubtlessly important, but it's always depressing to
realize that there are great swathes of the population who dismiss the idea of human impact on
global warming as a bunch of liberal scientific hokum specifically generated to hoodwink the
government into placing restrictions on free-market capitalism. Even if that were true, who
wouldn't be in favor of placing caps on emissions and generally insuring that our planet
has air that's at least healthier to breathe? I mean, besides big business. I've never understood
the arguments of the opposition. Earth 2100 may seem melodramatic, but it just wants
to impress that we are at a crossroads, where we can choose to hold on to the status
quo—
burning and drilling our way to oblivion—or, we can embrace new technological innovations and
try to make the world a cleaner, more verdant and bountiful place for everyone to live. One
talking head sums it up with grim precision: "One of our political leaders said not too long ago
that the American way of life is non-negotiable. We're going to discover the hard way that when
you don't negotiate the circumstances that are sent to you by the universe, you automatically
get assigned a new negotiating partner named reality, and then it will negotiate for you. You
don't even have to be in the room."
While the actual Earth may look bleak at the beginning of the next century—let's hope not—
Earth 2100 looks excellent, with a 1080i/AVC-encoded presentation that's clean and
colorful. The talking head interviews are filmed on high definition video, and they appear fairly
sharp, with strong facial detail and bright, realistic colors. Skin tones can look a bit ruddy, but hey,
some people actually are ruddy. The real highlight here is the fantastic "motion comic" animation.
The artwork is frequently arresting—so much so that I currently have one of the screencaps set as
my laptop wallpaper—and it's superbly reproduced on Blu-ray with bold watercolor splashes
overlapped with detailed line drawings. It's a very vivid and stylized look, and it works perfectly in
conjunction with the storytelling. And though some of the lines in the animation are very fine, I
didn't notice any overt aliasing or stair-stepping. Blacks are appropriately inky and there's a great
sense of contrast, depth, and color separation. The program also uses footage from a variety of
sources—clearly, not all of them high definition—and so the quality here really varies. As such, you
will notice some of the usual up-convert culprits—ringing, aliasing, etc.—but there's nothing truly
distracting here. For a documentary commissioned by a nightly news program, I was really
impressed by the aesthetic and production level of Earth 2100.
While I always experience a slight twinge of disappointment when a film or TV program arrives on
Blu-ray with a lossy audio track, the truth is, Earth 2100's Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 mixes
are more than adequate considering the nature of the production. First and foremost, all of the
dialogue—from the talking head interviews to Lucy's narration and journalist Bob Woodruff's
interludes—is
clear, prioritized, and easily understandable. The message comes through, so to speak. The rest of
the audio is subtle, but occasionally surprising and even impressive. During the motion comic
sequences the rear channels are frequently occupied with ambient noises and impressionistic
flourishes. All of this plays second fiddle to the narration, but if you actively listen you'll pick up on
some moody sound design. The music sometimes reminded me of John Murphy's haunting,
appropriately post-apocalyptic score for 28 Days Later, and though it's rather low in the
mix, it's panned nicely into the surround speakers and sounds full and detailed, all things
considered. The 2.0 mix is also nicely balanced, for those that don't have a surround set-up.
While I would've appreciated a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of Earth 2100's
artwork, there are no supplementary features included on this disc.
Earth 2100 follows in the vein of similar global warming warnings, like In Inconvenient
Truth, Home, and even The World Without Us, but it humanizes the often
vague and impersonal sounding threats—I mean, who gasps aloud at the mere thought of 3 feet of
rising tides—by giving us a fictional pair of eyes through which we can see the consequences of
inaction. Not only is the message pertinent, but it's told in a fresh, visually engaging way. While I'm
not sure if Earth 2100 warrants a purchase—I don't know how often I would re-watch it—
it's certainly worth a rental.
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