The Giants (2023) User Reviews

Inspirational!

[carlmartens · 9/10 · 1 May 2023]

I detected three strains in "The Giants' and what impressed me most was how they blended together so well.

More than anything else, the movie is about Bob Brown's personal journey, from humble beginnings to someone who's played a 'giant' role in Australia's conservation movement and in founding a successful political party based on his beliefs. His coming out as gay well before it was socially and politically acceptable is another major aspect of his life's journey.

'The Giants' is also an encapsulation of Australian political history for the past half century. Perhaps we have progressed politically and socially over the past few decades! Let me add here that, if I could fault it in any way, I'd say the movie sometimes caused confusion by not making clear the distinction between State and Federal politics.

Finally, 'The Giants' is a lesson in ecology, doing this via astounding photography and other visual effects that educate as well as impress.

What an uplifting experience!

An interesting movie, but entirely unbiased...

[timothymarkcadman · 7/10 · 16 May 2023]

I enjoyed this movie, as a participant in many of the events described, and to see the evolution of a small 'l' liberal into Dr Bob Brown, a global environmental figure, and founder of a political movement that became one of the early Green parties. Bob's homosexuality, abuse as a child, and defence of his identity by his father, a policeman, and ultimately his whole family, helps explain why he has become the figure he is today. He is an everyperson. Hence his, and his party's, appeal. That story was beautifully told. The computer generated graphics of the trees were overblown, as was the political panegyric, as Bob, like all us, has feet of clay - he is a politician, first and last. Some of Bob's party's stumbling, like the privatisation of Telstra, the national communications carrier, and the critical error of destroying Australia's emissions trading scheme (condemning the nation to ten years of 'climate wars') were completely ignored. But well worth watching. Bob is not a god, nor a guru, but the Planet he speaks for, are, and we love him.

Do please watch this - with grain of salt

[sps-70659 · 7/10 · 1 July 2023]

Fine production, world-level environmental figures, a must watch, for anyone anywhere, at all interested in environmental politics. You'll learn lots. Don't mind the music.

Brown is a world figure, and saving the Franklin was the stuff of legend. But don't you believe that other Australian legend. That his Greens knocked over a genius scheme that would have driven Australian emissions down, down. As if.

Compared with the early days of Milne and Brown, the position of women and gays is much improved in Australia. We wish we could say the same about the environment. Or indeed, equality.

At 2023, Australia practises ~ 2% population growth, dodgy climate laws, enthusiastic logging and land clearing, ongoing native species crashes, wild west irrigation, and so on. Plus ca change...