DamNation

This is a film that will delight folks who think that technology is ruining the world. Its basic premise seems to be that ALL dams are bad. And much of the time this documentary talks about how awful dams are. The film talks about how they kill people when they burst but most importantly they impede salmon from breeding. While there have been a few dam breaks (mostly a long time ago and talking about the Johnstown Flood of 1889 seemed WEIRD and disingenuous since it IS the 21st century) and it's undoubtedly true native salmon populations have been decimated, the film rarely explores the POSITIVES about dams or discusses whether SOME mitigating projects actually work (such as salmon hatcheries in Alaska). While a few folks are shown with contrasting views, mostly they seem like idiots and are overruled by the all-knowing narrator in the movie. The film also doesn't interview the right people--people with informed and scientific facts instead of emotions. I would have loved to have heard from biologists, geologists and the like--but mostly you have Native Americans, park rangers and activists--all people you might want to include ALONG WITH EXPERTS-- not in place of them.

The bottom line is that "DamNation" is clearly a film with a preconceived notion and it does all it can to support it and ignore things to the contrary (such as cheap and clean energy, jobs, increased farm production, etc.). It's a shame in a way, as technically this is a nice looking documentary. The graphics are great and the look of the film is lovely--hence why I give the film a 3 overall. For content, I would only give it a 1.

All of this is very sad, as I am a guy who probably would be towards the middle of this debate. I am an avid fisherman and feel we need to think and re-think many of the dam projects and other projects that negatively impact the environment. But, I think everything should be case by case. Dams are neither always bad or always good- -and anyone wanting to really learn more about this debate would be better advised to read some books instead.

Should not be blocked by so many dams. The rivers are exactly like the veins in human body, once clogged, the heart suffered and the body died consequently. When I first read the review of spanatko12 July 2014 before I watched this documentary, I somewhat agreed what he said 90%. But after I've watched it, his review and his opinions on the necessity of the dams just to generate stable supply of electricity has suddenly became a "Yes" and "No" conclusion, and the "No" seemed to get the upper hand of my feeling. But to emphasize the importance of the salmon fishery and the salmon back-home journey culture, or salmons long ago were one of the main food sources for the Indians, building the dams impaired their incomes or salmon catching tradition, neither was what I considered the dams were not right; the only thing that I think important was the rivers, as long as they flow, should not be blocked whatsoever. All the rhetoric reasons or excuses simply won't stand. You block the flow of the river, you ruin the natural balance of the environment. "If I could choose between birds and airplanes, I'll choose birds", that's a very intelligent remark by Charles Lindbergh. Some elements of the nature should be improved by humans but building dams definitely is not one of such endeavors.

"Dams, irrigation and now climate change have drastically run the once-mighty Colorado River dry. "rom its source high in the Rocky Mountains, the Colorado River channels water south nearly 1,500 miles, over falls, through deserts and canyons, to the lush wetlands of a vast delta in Mexico and into the Gulf of California.

That is, it did so for six million years.

Then, beginning in the 1920s, Western states began divvying up the Colorado's water, building dams and diverting the flow hundreds of miles, to Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix and other fast-growing cities. The river now serves 30 million people in seven U.S. states and Mexico, with 70 percent or more of its water siphoned off to irrigate 3.5 million acres of cropland.

The damming and diverting of the Colorado, the nation's seventh-longest river, may be seen by some as a triumph of engineering and by others as a crime against nature, but there are ominous new twists. The river has been running especially low for the past decade, as drought has gripped the Southwest. It still tumbles through the Grand Canyon, much to the delight of rafters and other visitors. And boaters still roar across Nevada and Arizona's Lake Mead, 110 miles long and formed by the Hoover Dam. But at the lake's edge they can see lines in the rock walls, distinct as bathtub rings, showing the water level far lower than it once was-some 130 feet lower, as it happens, since 2000. Water resource officials say some of the reservoirs fed by the river will never be full again.

Climate change will likely decrease the river's flow by 5 to 20 percent in the next 40 years, says geo-scientist Brad Udall, director of the University of Colorado Western Water Assessment. Less precipitation in the Rocky Mountains will yield less water to begin with. Droughts will last longer. Higher overall air temperatures will mean more water lost to evaporation."

Dams only give you a dead pool of water, it clogged the natural flow of the rivers. It's just like the veins in the human body, when the blood circulation is blocked section after section, the human body will be dead. The Earth is like human body, the rivers are the veins of the Earth, once they are blocked, the Earth soon will be dead. And we are seeing it happens now.

Damnation was very well-received in its world premiere at Austin's SXSW Film Festival. The film is a thoughtful, well-supported argument to significantly reduce the thousands of damns in the U.S. This issue has been almost invisible as part of the wider environmental debate and certainly deserves more discussion. I was surprised that this movement has begun to have some success despite being quite low-profile in much of the media. Some parts of the film seemed a little overly idealistic in terms of the argument that preservation of salmon runs and fish species could justify the elimination valuable hydroelectric resources. The overall argument about preserving natural beauty also seemed a little unrealistic in terms of adaptation to modernity. Still the filmmakers made a solid case that some damns had outlived their usefulness. The historical part of the film was very interesting since it is an economic transformation that is rarely discussed. The interviews and the photography were really well-done and they managed to throw in some interesting characters and some humor.

The film had far more depth than the other film about river preservation, Yakona, which also ran at SXSW. While similar politically, the two films were dramatically different in terms of style. Yakona was a wordless meditation without any real substance. . Damnation was well-filmed very informative and detailed and, in the end, makes a rational case rather than emotional one for its point-of-view. I hope the film gets some distribution, because it is an issue that deserves more serious political discussion.

Excellent documentary. From the beginning of this film, the history and juxtaposition of MAN vs. Nature is present. The cinematography and the use if imagery by the videographer is impeccable and bold. The narration is wonderful and the interviews are actually very well done and humorous. The non-censored and comical yet serious nature of the narration really gives the film the added push, thanks to Ben Knight, director.

The film generates awareness and also captures these brilliant yet detrimental accomplishments of man; and goes to show the areas affected by this phenomenon. The takeaway message is: "take away the dams that are not useful". Find me someone that disagree's with this statement and i'll show you an individual that has not seen this film.

DamNation really surprised me - very fascinating, very compelling, and I didn't go in already converted. An excellent film - hats off to Travis Rummel and Ben Knight and also to Yvon Chouinard. The film is a real eye-opener. It avoids didactic, but makes you feel the power and importance of rivers to America. Who knew we have 70,000 dams in the US, most doing nothing useful at this point? I want everyone to see this film - it is really good, really exciting and really important. It is hard to make fish truly sympathetic, they are cold, scaly and expressionless. But this film has me convinced that anything able to swim 900 miles deserve our support, and the removal of a few dams doing nothing useful at this point.