A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash poster & wallpaper
Get movie widget Recommend it Add to Favorites

Basil Gelpke and Ray McCormack's nonfiction treatise Crude Awakening joins Maxed Out, An Inconvenient Truth, and other recent documentaries devoted to unearthing and exploring forces that are untying ... read more read more...the connective threads of contemporary society. The subject at hand is crude oil - specifically, the depletion of petroleum from the Earth, in an era when consumption threatens to exceed supply. The overtone of the film is speculative but admonitory; Gelpke and McCormack suggest that if western society fails to reinvent itself altogether (via such innovations as hydrogen-powered autos, and a decreased reliance on fiscally unsound Middle Eastern nations), economic cataclysm is not simply likely but inevitable. To underscore this point, the filmmakers contrast obscenely naïve shorts from the 1950s that promise depthless oil supplies, with contemporary warnings from geologists who suggest that the bottom of the well is close at hand. McCormack and Gelpke also interview such subjects as former OPEC secretary general Fadhil Chalabi and Bush advisor Roger E. Ebel. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Flixster Users

84% liked it

3,138 ratings

Critics

79% liked it

14 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 25 min.

Directed by: Basil Gelpke & Ray McCormack

Release Date: April 17, 2007

Invite friends to see

DVD Release Date: April 24, 2007

Get It:

Stats: 383 reviews

report incorrect info

Photos

A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash
Upload a Photo | View All A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash Photos

Your Rating


clear rating

Flixster Reviews (383)

  • SteveStrange
    October 15, 2009
    SteveStrange
    If you haven't figured out that this is going on yet, not only are you not awake, you're dead.
  • ileo
    June 8, 2008
    ileo
    Phenomenal!!
  • KLFilmmaker
    May 9, 2007
    KLFilmmaker
    Scary stuff that everyone should see. We as a race have to smarten up. "oil is the excrement of the devil". They should show this in schools along with 'An Inconvenient Truth'.
  • fb35906603
    January 29, 2012
    fb35906603
    Good, informative and a varied opinion from intellectuals within a short time frame. However, not too much I didn't already know and lots of random imagery of cars and cartoons that could've been edited. I think the organization and detail could've been better, for instance givin... read moreg a more definitive time frame as to when it would run out, although it did mention once 2050. In that sense and inconvenient truth is done much better for an environmental documentary and more interestingly. Also, the movie made it obvious that it didn't like Bush which I felt was kind of unnecessary and no president has really done anything about the situation alike. Kind of just leaves it as a hopeless problem. Interesting to learn that US used to be the biggest oiler producer and that most other energy sources are either inefficient or are nowhere near being developed. Hard to imagine a world without transportation or what that would really mean.
  • LittleMissBloodAndGuts
    June 18, 2009
    LittleMissBloodAndGuts
    Here's another good muckraking documentary that reveals some information that the so called "news" does not.
  • gameingod2000
    February 25, 2009
    gameingod2000
    While it detailed the issue that I already know we face, it also shed a lot of light on just how much we use oil and what the reality is as far as alternative fuel sources go. No matter how you look at it we're screwed, because eventually all fossel fuels will run out and we have... read more no freaking idea what to do when that happens since we're in denial or just don't want to deal with the enormity of what it would take to change society to handle such a catastrophic event. I also love that they mixed in old propoganda film about how great oil was and the "then and now" comparison of some of the worls leading oil producers of yesteryear. Worth seeing but kind of sucky since it makes you feel like you can't do anything about this inevitable catastrophie.

View All A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash Reviews

Critic Reviews

Geoff Pevere
March 9, 2007
Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star

You leave a viewing with a sense of utter defeat. I can envision a future DVD special edition that comes with a razor blade, to facilitate wrist slashing. Full Review

Rich Cline
November 9, 2007
Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall

The facts in this documentary are astoundingly sobering, and yet society continues to keep its head buried in the sand. By avoiding any political slant, the filmmakers forcefully get the message across. Full Review

Derek Malcolm
November 9, 2007
Derek Malcolm, This is London

All sorts of experts testify with some conviction, but the film's jerky structure and lack of complexity don't help. Full Review

Xan Brooks
November 9, 2007
Xan Brooks, Guardian [UK]

A horribly enlightening documentary. Full Review

Kevin Maher
November 9, 2007
Kevin Maher, Times [UK]

An informative and unashamedly apocalyptic documentary about the world's obsession with oil that makes An Inconvenient Truth look positively chipper. Full Review

Daniel Etherington
November 9, 2007
Daniel Etherington, Film4

A compelling documentary, wrought with a dry rationalism and presenting the horrifying case of the stuff that's both "the bloodstream of the world economy" and "the excrement of the devil". Full Review

Jamie Russell
November 9, 2007
Jamie Russell, BBC

A chilling picture of coming global crisis fuelled by our lack of fuel. Full Review

Tom Charity
November 9, 2007
Tom Charity, Total Film

Depressingly compelling. Full Review

Patrick Peters
November 8, 2007
Patrick Peters, Empire Magazine

Slick, striking and sobering. Full Review

Steve Watson
November 7, 2007
Steve Watson, Little White Lies

Simple message is powerful and compelling. Full Review

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Cast

No information available.

More Like This

Click a thumb to vote on that suggestion, or add your own suggestions.

  • Crude Impact
    Crude Impact (0%)

More Movies like A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash

Facts

No facts approved yet. Be the first

A Crude Awakening... : Watch Free on TV

Movie Quizzes

Create a Quiz |

All Quizzes

Video Clips

No video clips yet. Want to upload one?

Meet Other Fans

Add A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash to favorites

Recent News

No recent headlines. Got one?

Recent Lists

Make a List |

View All Lists

Most Popular Skin

No skins yet. Interested in creating one?