The Cove exposes the dark secrets that underpin the world’s dolphin mania.
The Cove (2009)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:110
Fresh:105
Rotten:5
Average Rating:8/10
Consensus: Though decidedly one-sided, The Cove is an impeccably crafted, suspenseful expose of the covert slaughter of dolphins in Japan.
Theatrical Release:Jul 31, 2009 Limited
Box Office: $619,467
Synopsis:
The Cove is an astounding piece of investigative journalism with the heart of an action thriller. Led by Louie Psihoyos, leader of the Ocean Preservation Society, and Richard O'Barry, an...
The Cove is an astounding piece of investigative journalism with the heart of an action thriller. Led by Louie Psihoyos, leader of the Ocean Preservation Society, and Richard O'Barry, an internationally recognized authority on dolphin training who is best known for his work on the 1960's TV show Flipper, the film follows a high-tech dive team on a mission to discover the truth about the international dolphin capture trade as practiced in Taji, Japan. Utilizing state-of-the-art techniques, including hidden microphones and cameras, the team uncovers how this small seaside village serves as a horrifying microcosm of massive ecological crimes happening worldwide.
The Cove is also directed by Louie Psihoyos, who brings confidence and precision to his insider's account of this life-or-death covert operation. A celebrated photographer who has created images for National Geographic for 18 years, Psihoyos captures the magnificence of the dolphins themselves and the ocean that surrounds them. --© Roadside Attractions
Director: Louie Psihoyos
Director: Louie Psihoyos
Screenwriter: Mark Monroe
Producer: Paula Dupre Pesmen, Fisher Stevens
Composer: J. Ralph
Studio: Lions Gate Films
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Reviews for The Cove
For a generation that grew up with Flipper and The Day of the Dolphin, the tense, powerful new documentary, The Cove, is a horror movie.
The Cove is a thriller in a classical sense. It’s the first of these movies to tell a story with more than stock footage and on-camera interviews. It also smartly refracts a major ethical, ecological problem through the prism of guerrilla events.
A gripping thriller about dolphin trafficking, The Cove is an eco-mentary that's as passionate and persuasive an argument for change as An Inconvenient Truth.
The Cove focuses on that Mission: Impossible more than anything else, and the Dirty Dozen style makes it by far the most exciting documentary to come along in years.
There are many documentaries angry about the human destruction of the planetary peace. This is one of the very best -- a certain Oscar nominee.
Heart-pounding and fascinating ... fearless documentary filmmaking packed with horrifying moments.
In between the exciting sequences of the team setting up equipment and being nearly captured, The Cove includes interviews with persuasive sea life experts and not-so-convincing local Japanese authorities.
An unabashedly activist, one-sided piece of cinema, but a very effective one that probably won't find wide distribution, though it should.
It won't be a big hit in Japan, but this film is easily one of the best documentaries I've seen in awhile. Okay, it's one-sided, but who really wants to defend the slaughter of dolphins? I think this film will be a major contender in awards season.
It´s a sloppy, shamelessly pandering film that will work well as an activist tool.
A real life spy thriller led by marine activist Richard O'Brian that is also a genuine and heartfelt plea for the marine environment.
A bold, captivating, riveting and well-edited documentary that finds just the right balance between entertaining the audience and provoking them intellectually as well as emotionally.
The mysteries at play in The Cove begin at the surface and then, like the dolphin pods the film shows zooming around coastal Japan, go way deep.
Overflowing with research and passion, The Cove is an environmental horror story that exceptionally combines brains and beauty.
Two fins up for The Cove, a documentary that whales on evil Japanese fishermen who kill dolphins for lunch meat.
The Cove's story of a quiet village in Japan that specializes in clandestine dolphin slaughter is quite consciously structured as a thriller by director Louie Psihoyos who won an audience award for it at Sundance.
This film is less a work of journalism than a call to activism; movies like The Cove, to a certain extent, preach to the converted.
Latest News for The Cove
November 19, 2009:
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August 13, 2009:
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June 21, 2009:
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