Writer-Director:
Chris Paine
Featuring:
Mel Gibson”¦”¦”¦.Himself
Tom Hanks”¦”¦”¦.Himself
Peter Horton”¦”¦”¦.Himself
Alexandra Paul”¦”¦”¦Herself
Alan Lloyd”¦”¦”¦.Himself
Chelsea Sexton”¦”¦”¦Herself
Ira Ovshinsky”¦”¦”¦.Herself
Stan Ovshinsky”¦”¦”¦.Himself
Martin Sheen”¦”¦”¦.Narrator
Sony Pictures Classics presents Who Killed the Electric Car? Rated PG (for brief mild language). Running time: 92 minutes. Available on DVD: November 21, 2006. MSRP:$26.96.
For a short while Americans were content with steady gas prices, no fluctuations from day to day. Recently, though, the price for a gallon of gas has gone up. It may be only a couple of cents more a gallon, but if the price skyrockets expect to hear more groans from those who own Hummers or other gas-guzzling vehicles.
How convenient it is then that while gas prices increases Who Killed the Electric Car? makes its arrival to DVD. (When it had a limited theatrical release this past Summer, gas prices were reaching epic proportions.)
The electric car was a reality, albeit for a short while. Back in the 1990s Tom Hanks was making the talk show rounds promoting his latest project; he went on Letterman and talked about his electric car. Of course, Hanks acknowledged that it ran on electricity, not gas, and only went as far as 60 miles when fully charged. Fine by him, as driving mostly consisted of getting to the movie set and back home.
These sporty, eco-friendly two-seaters were developed in compliance with California’s zero-emissions law. Passed in 1998, the law required that a percentage of all new vehicles produce no exhaust. Such a mandate forced auto manufacturers to make EV (electric vehicle) models until the California Air Resources Board, yielding to legal pressure from the Industry, altered the law. The consequence: the electric car was unplugged for good.
Even stranger, all electric cars were taken from their owners. General Motors leased their EV1s rather than sell them to customers. So when the large transport trucks came to take the cars, the drivers had no claim.
Through investigative work, that involved tailing the trucks to their final destination, director Chris Paine and a number of vocal EV supporters went to great lengths to spread the gospel of electric cars. This includes holding a mock funeral, in which former owners morn and give eulogies about their beloved battery-powered car.
Such a stunt is not nearly as convincing as a parking lot housing 78 EV1s, or the aerial shots taken of big machines crushing almost-like-new electric cars; demolished at the behest of GM.
Who Killed the Electric Car? is probably less vindictive than the Inventor of the Internet’s diatribe about cataclysmic consequences as a result of increasing temperatures (see An Inconvenient Truth). Paine’s aim is to show how this technological innovation could have lowered our dependence on foreign oil and curtailed fuel emissions.
He employs all the usual documentary tricks: voice narration (by Martin Sheen), archival footage (including electric cars that date as far back as the 1930’s), talking-head interviews (entertainers like Peter Horton and Mel Gibson; consumer advocate Ralph Nader) and imagery that fuels debate — pun intended.
And just who is the killer? Usual suspects proliferate this whodunit documentary, as Paine identifies Big Oil, the auto industry, lackluster marketing, government intrusiveness, and a big push behind hydrogen-fuel-cell research. None of these culprits have been punished and probably won’t. Oh, the horror to environmentalists around the world.
We are given these different reasons, but what about effects? The biggest casualty was the demise of the EV1. It died but electric technology lives on in the development of hybrids. Other victims were those who developed the EV for their respective companies only to be fired, um, find better employment elsewhere.
An unsuspecting populace is somewhere in the gray area between cause and effect. Most had no idea about General Motors’ EV1. Ads appeared in magazines like Scientific American, but such a publication reaches too few to warrant interest. The auto industry wanted this project to fail; if not, commercials would have run during prime-time television and sporting events. Though we, being the consumers we are, may have not embraced the EV1.
Gas prices were at a reasonable price — $1.20 per gallon or thereabouts — in the 1990s. Automobiles got at least 20 miles to a gallon. Yet, with electric cars there is no internal combustion engine. Hence, no need for oil filters or cartons of oil. Nope, every 5,000 miles just change the tires and add washer fluid. It’s probably a little more complicated than that, though a testimonial like this would make many rethink the EV.
As gas prices steadily increase, the oil supply lessens. We may have to wait until 2020 until hydrogen-powered vehicles (HV) become an alternative means of transportation. Until that day occurs prospective buyers can purchase test models right now for the low, low price of $1,000,000.
Better start saving today!
THE VIDEO
(Presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen)
The transfer for this doc is okay, not striking in anyway. The interviews that are properly framed and conducted with the likes of Mel Gibson and former EV1 owners is picture perfect. The utilization of stock footage from the thirties to recent years is hit or miss. But you have to take what you can get. Then there’s the filming on-location, whether it is at a protest or discovering where the EV1’s are being housed, the picture alters.
THE AUDIO
(English 5.1 — Dolby Digital)
Don’t expect to be wowed by the audio, because there’s only so much you can do with sit down interviews, voiceover narration, and audio taken on-location. Who Killed the Electric Car? has decent 5.1 surround sound and comes with optional French subtitles.
SPECIAL FEATURES
On the main menu you have the option of selecting Special Features or Previews. Clicking on “Previews” you will find multiple pages of trailers, some are Sony Pictures Classics titles, which Who Killed the Electric Car? is, while others spotlight other Sony Pictures releases. Included are: Curse of the Golden Flower, David Mamet’s The Winslow Boy and The Spanish Prisoner, Ride Alone for Thousands of Miles, Secret Ballot, Lagaan, Not One Less, The House of Mirth, The Whole Wide World, Persuasion, documentaries Sketches of Frank Gehry, Winged Migration and Why We Fight, and theatrical trailers for The Pursuit of Happyness, The Holiday, and Casino Royale.
In the Special Features heading, you will find deleted scenes, a music video, and an epilogue to the documentary.
The ten deleted scenes (16:37 total) are mostly scene extensions, though “Are EVs Less Polluting?” is a short PowerPoint presentation that details the air affects from the electric vehicles. Also, “Who Killed the Electric Street Car?” is an excerpt from Heartbeat of America directed by Stephen Talbot — a 1993 entry from PBS’s Frontline series.
Jump-Starting the Future (15:08) is a small epilogue to the film that documents the ways to get electric cars. If you have the money, you can convert your gas-guzzler to electric. The process can take about three days to a week and cost anywhere from $17,000 to $30,000. Other alternatives include hybrids, cars that run on Biodiesel, and community activism.
The last extra is the music video “Forever” by Meeky Rose.
THE INSIDE PULSE
Who Killed the Electric Car? is a good documentary of what could have been — and what should be today. With rising gasoline prices, electric cars would be a viable means of alternate transportation. But with all the backscratching and under-the-table-dealings with the auto and oil industry, as well as government officials, the cost of driving will continue to increase exponentially. People should wise up to the fact that they don’t need vehicles with poor miles per gallon. As for the DVD, the feature plus minimal extras makes this an easy rental recommendation. So if you have a friend that drives a Hummer, entertain them (or bore them) with this.
