Collapse: Critic Reviews

It's not a pretty picture, but it is not a naive one either. The grippingly articulate Ruppert is like Noam Chomsky as a wry pundit of doom.

Not just sobering; it's a full-on assault.

Chris Smith's documentary centres on a long and disquieting interview with Michael Ruppert, a radical American activist on a mission to expose the "peak oil" cover-up...

Ruppert unexpectedly breaks down, weeping openly for the lost future of humanity, and at that moment I was startled at how bad I felt for him -- and how nervous I was, suddenly, that this contemporary Cassandra might just be right.

By faithfully documenting Ruppert's long-simmering analysis, Smith lets us experience the feeling of a world gone to pot, whether or not the claims are factually accurate.

It would have been helpful had Smith put his words into some sort of context, allowing others to assess his theories. Instead there's simply Ruppert, talking, raging and warning, as if his very life depended on it.

There is controversy over Ruppert, and he has many critics. But one simple fact at the center of his argument is obviously true, and it terrifies me.

Collapse is boring. But what do you expect from a one-sided movie about a kook, who, at the time the film was shot, faced eviction from his home because he hadn't paid the rent?

It's only when he starts to weep for the future of a population that won't heed his warnings that Ruppert shows his humanity. It's made him abandon his cause and quit writing.

Collapse" is a grueling peek at a doomsday prophet's rigorous mind but in a sly way also a compassionate look at the strain Ruppert endures from knowing he has only ever been right.

If he's even half right, the world our children and grandchildren will inherit doesn't bear thinking about.

There are clear parallels with former US vice-president Al Gore's arguments in An Inconvenient Truth, only Smith's film makes less use of showbiz-style graphics.

Unearths the flawed humanity behind the apocalyptic theorising.

Smith treats Ruppert both as exhibit and patient, and he comes across as an angry yet compassionate man, secure in his convictions but lost in his emotions.

Perhaps he's worth listening to? Well, up to a point.

Intelligently probed by director Chris Smith and always compelling to watch, the chain-smoking Ruppert's vision of the future should be on everyone's viewing list.

Rich on rhetoric, if sometimes a little loopy in the ideas beneath.

Take Michael Ruppert with several thousand grains of salt, but take him seriously, at least for 80 minutes. Chris Smith does, and thats what makes Collapse so riveting.

Chris Smith and his documentary team smartly focus their attention on the world fuel crisis, leaving many other issues discussed by [Michael] Ruppert to the deleted scenes portion of the DVD.

The only problem with "Collapse" is Smith's failure to prod Ruppert a little harder, especially on the subject of his 9/11 Truther status.

Ruppert's deep sighs, dramatic pauses and a slight sneer on his lips say that he doesn't care what you think because he knows he's right, but he forgives your ignorance.

You might disagree with every point made during Collapse but it's unnerving all the same.

His theories start to live up to the title of the film but he does raise some interesting points of discussion that aren't a part of the international discussion nearly as much as they should be.