MovieChat Forums > The Cove (2009) Discussion > Why I think The Cove is a bad film.

Why I think The Cove is a bad film.


WARNING: Slight spoilers (if you can consider a documentary having spoilers, and if you can consider The Cove actually being a documentary).

Firstly, let me point something out. If you ask me to rate the importance of the topic The Cove undertakes, I give it a 10/10. If you ask me to rate the film, I give it 5/10. Here are my reasons.

1. The cruel killing of dolphins and other whales is a sensitive and important issue, and instead of handling it professionally and presenting facts and information, we get taken on a ride with emotional fanatics who want to show how 'hardcore' and 'underground' they are fighting for animal rights. Fighting for animal rights is a challenging and very noteworthy cause, when you are actually doing it for the animals. I was NOT interested in how 'cool' you are. I was interested in the topic and the dolphins.

2. Apart from the gung-ho footage of undercover escapades, we are given loose interviews with Japanese 'officials' who can't properly talk English. This already makes any Japanese individual look suspicious in the film and is a very unfair representation of their opinion. Is the dolphin-killing morally reprehensible? Sure (more than cows and other meats we eat? Probably debatable). Should the Japanese be allowed a fair chance to voice their opinion? Of course. Otherwise, you can't really call your film a documentary. You don't have to take extra effort to make certain actions and people look bad. That's not truthful and it isn't necessary if the actions and people are 'bad' to begin with.

3. I understand that documentaries often try to make you feel more for the topic at hand. Personally, I hate this approach. The point is that if someone doesn't care about dolphins, they aren't really ever going to care about dolphins. It is not a documentary's task to try and make you care for a topic (I suppose this could be debated). A documentary needs to inform. The Cove spends a lot of time trying to get you to be emotional about the death of the dolphins. I am and was, without the need for emotional pandering. The slaughter footage alone does the job, which brings me to the next point.

4. By layering the entire "documentary" with so much pandering and Hollywood-style action, the creators of the film under-valued and under-estimated the strength that their footage could have had, especially if presented along with an informative display of the context of the killing. I feel like they should have cut everything down to the main footage of the killings, and added valuable, subtitled/translated interviews with A LOT more Japanese officials and individuals. Right now, I can't really call this film a documentary.

5. The reason they provide for the Japanese killing dolphins and whales seem somewhat ridiculous. I'm not saying it isn't true, but I need A LOT more information in order to believe that the Japanese are too proud and want to rebel against the West by killing dolphins. Perhaps it's true, but the film didn't really provide enough or any information to support that idea. Money and industry seem a lot more likely. On a conceptual level, you need to understand how you piece a film together. If you are trying to prove the Japanese hate the West, 'forgetting' to get a translator to talk to the Japanese is just laughable.

All in all, I just feel the filmmakers botched it. Once again, do not confuse my rating for this film with my feelings about the topic. This issue is important. But this documentary doesn't do it justice. I feel that it scores so highly because people get emotionally blackmailed into rating it better than it is. You shouldn't have to piggyback-ride your emotional topic for ratings.

Finally, I am very open to having a talk about the topic, even though the film is a few years old already. Don't just come here and insult me or my opinion. That is exactly what it is - my opinion.

I'm always up for a discussion.

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I couldn't agree with you more. Pretty much every point you made was exactly what I was thinking throughout the film. I even started to get upset with myself because I was getting so frustrated with the film. I couldn't agree more with the point they are making in the film. Slaughtering a self aware mammal in the way in which we are shown is terrible. Also on point with you is the fact that these images alone speak for themselves. This isn't a documentary, this is one sided propaganda that doesn't even attempt to show an opposite viewpoint.

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I agree with you actually and I'm an activist

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idiot. piss off.

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