Release calendarTop 250 moviesMost popular moviesBrowse movies by genreTop box officeShowtimes & ticketsMovie newsIndia movie spotlight
    What's on TV & streamingTop 250 TV showsMost popular TV showsBrowse TV shows by genreTV news
    What to watchLatest trailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb SpotlightFamily entertainment guideIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsEmmysSan Diego Comic-ConSummer Watch GuideToronto Int'l Film FestivalIMDb Stars to WatchSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll events
    Born todayMost popular celebsCelebrity news
    Help centerContributor zonePolls
For industry professionals
  • Language
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Watchlist
Sign in
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Use app
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • FAQ
IMDbPro

Racing Extinction

  • 2015
  • Not Rated
  • 1h 30m
IMDb RATING
8.2/10
8.4K
YOUR RATING
Racing Extinction (2015)
A documentary that follows undercover activists trying to stave off a human-made mass extinction.
Play trailer2:47
1 Video
99+ Photos
NewsAdventureDocumentary

A documentary that follows undercover activists trying to stave off a man-made mass extinction.A documentary that follows undercover activists trying to stave off a man-made mass extinction.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
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    8.2/10
    8.4K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Louie Psihoyos
    • Writer
      • Mark Monroe
    • Stars
      • Elon Musk
      • Joel Sartore
      • Louie Psihoyos
    • 41User reviews
    • 21Critic reviews
    • 81Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 Oscar
      • 4 wins & 8 nominations total

    Videos1

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:47
    Official Trailer

    Photos142

    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    + 136
    View Poster

    Top cast32

    Edit
    Elon Musk
    Elon Musk
    • Self - Tesla Motors
    Joel Sartore
    Joel Sartore
    • Self - Photo Ark
    Louie Psihoyos
    Louie Psihoyos
    • Self - Undercover Investigator
    Charles Hambleton
    Charles Hambleton
    • Self - Undercover Investigator
    Heather Dawn Rally
    Heather Dawn Rally
    • Self - Undercover Investigator
    • (voice)
    • (as Heather Rally)
    Michael Novacek
    Michael Novacek
    • Self - Curator of Paleontology
    Christopher W. Clark
    Christopher W. Clark
    • Self - Johnson Senior Scientist
    • (as Dr. Christopher W. Clark)
    Kirk Johnson
    Kirk Johnson
    • Self - National Museum of Natural History
    Ady Gil
    Ady Gil
    • Self - Protester
    Shawn Heinrichs
    Shawn Heinrichs
    • Self - Marine Conservationist
    Paul Hilton
    Paul Hilton
    • Self - Photojournalist
    David Doubilet
    • Self - National Geographic Photographer
    Jerry Greenberg
    Jerry Greenberg
    • Self - Underwater Photographer
    John Veron
    John Veron
    • Self - Former Chief Scientist, Australian Institute of Marine Science
    • (as Dr. J.E.N. Charlie Veron)
    Elizabeth Kolbert
    Elizabeth Kolbert
    • Self - Author of 'The Sixth Extinction'
    Synte Peacock
    Synte Peacock
    • Self - National Center for Atmospheric Research
    Alan Barton
    Alan Barton
    • Self - Whiskey Creek Shellfish Hatchery
    Bill Dewey
    Bill Dewey
    • Self - Taylor Shellfish Farms
    • Director
      • Louie Psihoyos
    • Writer
      • Mark Monroe
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews41

    8.28.3K
    1
    2
    3
    4
    5
    6
    7
    8
    9
    10

    Featured reviews

    10Reno-Rangan

    A small contribution by everyone matters a lot.

    The organism survives only if the surrounding environment favours. But it takes thousands of years of evolution to find its right place. Its existence is only to restore the balance in the nature as much as fast it can. Because the organism moves one place to another and help elements to meet one another which can't do themselves, in a result the reaction happen. The extinction happens when the balance between naturally existing elements and living organism was disturbed. The Earth has seen such five mass extinctions and now on the verge of sixth only because of one species, the man. There's no one in this universe to question his supremacy, but himself in the form of scientists, environmentalist et cetera. This documentary talks one of that small topic, analysing its root cause.

    From the Academy Award winning director for the documentary 'The Cove', once again, his focus came to bring the awareness about marine species that disappearing due to excessive hunting. From Japan's dolphin hunt to now the focus is on the Chinese's misbelief that causing animals like tigers, rhinos, marine animals to face the threat.

    In this film, the Oceanic Preservation Society followed the source to find how and where it all begins. Since it is related to marine life - shark fin and manta ray gill trade markets were the target. That leads the crew to travel all the way to Indonesia, where a small coastal village is one of the major supplier to the Chinese consumer.

    "We have this illusion that it's the big things in the environment that count. But if you lose the small things... Everything else fails."

    For the Chinese population density, just think what might cause if they believe in something that is not right. Since the rise of China's middle class, they can offer anything from anywhere in the world. Because of this demand the rich in biodiversity like India, Africa, Indonesia is affected due to poaching and other illegal activities. What they need is proper scientific education about their misbelief. Make the Chinese immigrants to mingle with the rest of the world, not to live and die in their own den called 'China city'.

    I am not a Chinese hater, but their misbelief is outrageous, especially for their population strength, it is 5 to 10 times faster than what the rest of the world's misbelief causing threat. Every nation has its own negatives, today it is China, tomorrow it will be India and then United States followed by Europe and Africa. Now it is not only up to the world leaders, but every citizen has to care, even a small contribution means a lot. The recent Paris climate conference has brought only a small halt, especially on the natural resourcing, yet other similar fields have to come into the force in a similar treaty.

    The civilisation happened when human thought he does not fit with the natural habitat anymore for his excessive brain power and left it once for all behind other species by creating his own world alongside. Animal and plant farming is the way he discovered to cope with his hunger. But what we don't know is these farming is still occurring on the face of the earth that contributes whatever the changes the planet sees. But that does not it, overpopulation is another bigger issue. There are more consumers than farmers and farm products, thus leading us to go back to wild to hunt which is seriously causing imbalance in chemical and biological world.

    "So, this is really the last line of defense, keeping animals that are extinct in the wild in a captive situation."

    Focusing on the marine was their prime intention, but the discussion led to many other sub-topics. Unlike the director's previous film, it did not stay on one issue, but kept rotating on the various subjects by revealing the causes and the solution. At some point it lost its track, and started to advertise a fancy stuff. But that is a major way getting the attention of today's people in the digital world. Whatever you might think of me, but the truth is I was heartbroken several times while watching this film and had tears. This film is not a masterpiece, that's why it did not get an Oscars nominee except for an original song, nevertheless the voice it raised against is a true commitment.

    Recently I stopped to visit zoos, the place I consider is a prison for animals who have committed no crimes. But in todays world situation, looks like the captive is the final line of defence. If there is a another world, people with much more vigilant about their natural world, I would definitely like to go for it. But earth is what we all have and we're failing to take care, when it comes time to run, you will have no place to go. Just look at the recent reports of pollution in the Chinese cities, it is what I had seen in movies like 'The Mist', 'The Road', is all coming true. The apocalypse is not too far from reality. Like in this film say, it is not too late to join hands for good.

    10/10
    10facebook-29-405847

    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.
    7MuviFan73

    Clear, Fairly-paced, to the point n stunning visuals make this an awesome treat.

    Racing extinction is a documentary about how, human interference have directly or indirectly eliminated most of the species in recent years. It describes at this pace we will be eliminating 50% of the known species by 2050.

    The documentary presents us with options how we can deal with this. It shows how mindset of people can be influenced for good and right. It gives us the message of lighting a candle instead cursing the darkness. At the end it is shown how pictures or a film can prove out beneficial in making the role of human to realize their responsibility.

    Change is always resisted. People don't like change. We may be fault at many things, but it's never too late to correct ourselves and in this case, it is high time!
    10ludobrockway-948-826622

    A 'MUST' watch documentary for 'TODAY,' not tomorrow!!!

    An incredible factual documentary, delving into the destruction that human beings are having on our precious planet.

    The documentary is incredibly insightful! The creators have gone to great extent to backup their scientific facts.

    This is a stunning documentary that will change the way you view your life and our fragile planet.

    Like the documentary Black Fish that had a great effect and change on the way the public perceive animals in captive for human entertainment, Racing Extinction shines the same light but on the world over and the effect mankind is having on it......

    THE WORLD MUST SEE THIS FILM 'TODAY'!

    Congratulation to the Racing Extinction team and thank you. We need more people like you on this stunning world of ours!
    10claudia-04393

    use your brain

    The documentary is excellent. The mentioned the main reason for global warming, however it feels like it is just a mention. It is good in a way. People who pay attention to every word in this documentary, will feel the need to watch more, to get more knowledge. I consider this to be a excellent starting point for someone who is disconnected. Most humans don't make the connection because of the media propaganda. I really like that it doesn't have a lot of graphic content. if you want graphic content and you are ready you can watch Earthlings. The best ideas from this movie is the ways they implement to change the world. There are 2 approaches that changed my hopes when i do activism. I will not spoil the movie for you. i am just going to say the video technique used in the restaurant and then in New York and then the guy who changes a whole town in Mexico business structure for a sustainable new way to earn a living.

    More like this

    Cartel Land
    7.3
    Cartel Land
    3 1/2 Minutes, 10 Bullets
    7.2
    3 1/2 Minutes, 10 Bullets
    How to Dance in Ohio
    7.6
    How to Dance in Ohio
    Call Me Lucky
    7.5
    Call Me Lucky
    The Hunting Ground
    7.4
    The Hunting Ground
    Finders Keepers
    6.8
    Finders Keepers
    City of Gold
    7.2
    City of Gold
    Being Evel
    7.2
    Being Evel
    Best of Enemies: Buckley vs. Vidal
    7.6
    Best of Enemies: Buckley vs. Vidal
    The Cove
    8.4
    The Cove
    Seaspiracy
    8.1
    Seaspiracy
    Milked
    8.3
    Milked

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • 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'.
    • Quotes

      Louie Psihoyos: When you factor in everything, the clearing of the land for grazing, feeding, transporting, livestock causes more greenhouse gases than all the direct emissions from the entire transportation sector.

    • Connections
      Featured in The Oscars (2016)
    • Soundtracks
      Manta Ray
      Written by J. Ralph and Anohni

      Performed by Anohni

    Top picks

    Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations
    Sign in

    FAQ17

    • How long is Racing Extinction?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • September 18, 2015 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • United States
      • China
      • Hong Kong
      • Indonesia
      • Mexico
      • United Kingdom
      • Japan
    • Official sites
      • Official Facebook
      • Official site
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • 6
    • Filming locations
      • Los Angeles, California, USA
    • Production companies
      • Oceanic Preservation Society
      • Okeanos - Foundation For The Sea
      • Insurgent Docs
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $1,500,000 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 30m(90 min)
    • Color
      • Color

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
    Follow IMDb on social
    Get the IMDb App
    For Android and iOS
    Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • License IMDb Data
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2025 by IMDb.com, Inc.