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- 2009
- Unrated
- MPI Home Video
- 1 h 22 m
- 2009
- Unrated
- MPI Home Video
- 1 h 22 m
Summary Meet Michael Ruppert, a different kind of American. A former Los Angeles police officer turned independent reporter, he predicted the current financial crisis in his self-published newsletter, From the Wilderness, at a time when most of Wall Street and Washington analysts were still in denial. Director Chris Smith has shown an affinity f...
Directed By: Chris Smith
Written By: Michael Ruppert
- 2009
- Unrated
- MPI Home Video
- 1 h 22 m
- 2009
- Unrated
- MPI Home Video
- 1 h 22 m
Collapse
71
7.7
Where to Watch
Summary Meet Michael Ruppert, a different kind of American. A former Los Angeles police officer turned independent reporter, he predicted the current financial crisis in his self-published newsletter, From the Wilderness, at a time when most of Wall Street and Washington analysts were still in denial. Director Chris Smith has shown an affinity f...
Directed By: Chris Smith
Written By: Michael Ruppert
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 15 Critic Reviews
71
67% Positive
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
27% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
7% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 15 Critic Reviews
71
67% Positive
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
27% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
7% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
I don't know when I've seen a thriller more frightening. I couldn't tear my eyes from the screen. Collapse is even entertaining, in a macabre sense. I think you owe it to yourself to see it.
There are many layers to the man and the movie, and it’s hard not to leave the theater shaken.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 15 User Ratings
7.7
73% Positive
11 Ratings
11 Ratings
27% Mixed
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 15 User Ratings
7.7
73% Positive
11 Ratings
11 Ratings
27% Mixed
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]
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Don't let the fact that Micheal Ruppert is a crackpot, semi-lunatic stop you from watching this movie. He has a lot of important things to say about things that should get more attention than they do, and he is as articulate as he is thoughtful. But do not, for one moment, forget that he is an outsider with an axe to grind, and a fully formed, uncompromising world view. I doubt very much that if he came across information that contradicted that world view, which he has cultivated over several decades, he would trust it, or consider it. He states as much when he confesses that "I won't debate with people anymore", and that's one of the problems I have with this guy. Bad science lies in forming ideas, and then cherry picking supporting data, discrediting any non supporting data that inconveniently pops up. Ruppert also happens to be a died-in-the-wool gold standard, anti-federal reserve guy. BIG RED FLAG right there. I was surprised when he didn't launch into the Bilderberger society, or the "lizard people run the world" rant. Really surprised. Ruppert is also a little self-important, touting credentials that really don't amount to much. I have a degree in Poly Sci too, and I can tell you, it doesn't qualify you to do a damn thing. I wasn't an LAPD officer, but I was in the Air Force, and I didn't get kicked out either. All that aside, this movie is totally worth more of your time than some POS romantic comedy, or other such Hollywood schlock. These are important issues that will be impacting your life soon, and in a really big way. But the world is not ending, the sky is not falling, and at the end of the day, Ruppert is an obsessed pessimistic populist who benefits from his predictions being inaccurate as well as accurate. Guess who doesn't give a **** when someone says "I was right all along about impending disaster?" Everyone who didn't make the prediction, that's who.
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Ruppert makes a compelling argument that the world is approaching a paradigm shift unlike anything in human history.
If any of what he says makes sense to you -- and even if it’s only a small piece, it’s terrifying -- then you’ll want to invest in gold and organic seeds and friendly relations with your nearest neighbors. You know: JUST IN CASE.....
Think of Collapse as the anti-"2012." Not because this dour doc is any more optimistic about the future than that recent apocalyptic spectacular but because its vision of disaster is delivered not through expensive special effects but by a talking head.
Smith lets Ruppert's plainspoken autodidactic skepticism get gradually shriller until his arguments dissolve into tears of grief and frustration. There's an element of Errol Morris in the film, which implicitly psychologizes its subject and watches as he talks himself deeper and deeper into the hole.
Boring.
This slight film is an interview with journalist/activist Michael Ruppert, jazzed up with some stock footage. Ruppert's view is similar to that of James Howard Kunstler, the Black Swan guy, and others. He talks about rampant corruption and how the end of the oil economy is coming soon, and the destruction that would bring. His personal story is interesting - the son of a couple of people involved in top secret government work, he went to college and became a Los Angeles cop before becoming an activist and drawing a lot of negative attention. Unfortunately it seems very likely that he is speaking from a place of paranoia.
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Collapse is, to say the least, a well filmed film, which tells us the point of view and thoughts of a sole man. The director has rather clearly shown the psychological instability of Mr.Ruppert, and that is to the credit of the film maker. However, on the other hand, it is problematic for it defeats the purpose of the film in a way - why would people want to listen to a guy who is obviously full of resentment, anger, and has some 'messiahical' ideas about his role in society (despite the fact that he disputes that in the film). Despite that he claims that he is going to live the rest of his life a "happy and free" man, one can clearly see all the anger built up in him. Be it as it may, his theories are rather interesting and something to ponder on, but they do not provide any sort of viable solutions. Basically, what he is arguing is that EVERYTHING (and I do not kid you) exists because of oil today, and there will be a huge cataclysm once we run out of oil. Yes, that is quite possible, and his argumentation seems rather plausible, except of the fact that he does not provide for any alternatives. Not that that is necessarily his job, but after watching the film one feels confused about why he wonders people see him as an "alarmist." What else could one possibly see him as? That is also problematised in the end with the director's decision to point out that by the premiere of the film, Mr.Ruppert has been largely ignored by the media and his book becoming a flop, and him fighting to keep his home since he's without money. Be it as it may, he raises interesting questions, but as the director asked him in the film why people should believe him, or even as much as listen to him - that question, after watching the entire film, remains sadly unanswered. There, really, is no point in watching the film, and that is the sad truth. Interesting idea, but ultimately failed and deeply flawed documentary.
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Production Company
Bluemark Productions
Release Date Nov 6, 2009
Duration 1 h 22 m
Rating Unrated
Genres
Tagline From the acclaimed director of American Movie, this portrait of radical thinker Michael Ruppert explores his apocalyptic vision of the future, spanning the crises in economics, energy, environment and more.
