GamerTab That was an excellent one.

Executscan Expected more

Console best movie i've ever seen.

RipDelight This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

fesayao Wow. I am truly speechless. I had postponed watching this documentary several times until I finally took the time to sit down and give it a go. The term "Virunga" did sound familiar, but apart from that, I was oblivious to any plot details of this wonderfully shot, touching and at times surreal account of heroic personages trying to save the last mountain gorillas whilst preserving the environment they inhabit. It was more than refreshing to see such a well-portrayed polarization of the good and evil visages of human nature, which allows the viewers to distinctly identify with one of the contrasting sides of the tale: not unlike your typical superhero movie, we have the villains and the heroes.Orlando von Einsiedel does a magnificent job of introducing us to a sensible subject often approached by reputed wildlife organizations on the most superficial of levels. We are taken on a journey which accompanies the workings of a few individuals determined to make a change by fighting a seemingly lost battle against overmighty corporations and corrupt government. This unique documentary manages to transmit powerful notions of how our unending and reckless ambitions effectively drive many other species to the brink of extinction, which most people apparently don't care about or don't care about enough to do something about it. Fortunately, the movie focuses on the huge impact a tiny group of creative, resolved and motivated conservationists can have, all the while remaining entirely unbiased, a rare feature in today's non-fiction motion picture canon. My first criterion in judging a movie is whether it provokes any kind of emotional response on my part - in this instance, I felt hope. Hope that we can actually do what we put our minds to and repair some of the damage previously thought irreversible, caused by our incautious and negligent industrial expansion. We share our existence with many creatures on this wonderful planet. Their lives matter too. Add in shocking undercover footage, fantastic editing and beautiful shots of Africa's landscape and you have got yourself a masterpiece. This is why we make films in the first place. Bravo!!!

Nicole of ArchonCinemaReviews.com Virunga is a well intentioned documentary that will hopefully garner attention for the clashes occurring in the Congo.The Oscar nominated documentary Virunga explores the conflict for natural resources in the Central African country of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the unintended but deadly consequences for the UNESCO-designated Virunga National Park, a World Heritage Site, caught in the middle of the skirmish.The documentary, directed and written by Orlando von Einsiedel, says Virunga is about the brave individuals that act as an army to protect the Virunga National Park from poachers. In reality, the film not only explores the protection efforts of the mountain gorillas but the harmful effects of civil unrest on the DRC. Along with journalist Melanie Gouby, von Einsiedel's Virunga goes undercover to reveal the negligent motives of British oil company SOCO International.As a documentary, Virunga is interesting, eye-opening and concerning but not necessarily novel nor especially comprehensive. The information relayed to audiences is not from experts or top players in the controversy of the park, wild life or even political landscape. Instead, most of the information highlighted and showcased are simply from first hand experiences as the civil war reignites and from a few key figures who are employed by the Virunga National Park.Virunga is well intentioned but ultimately slightly faulted documentary. It is informative, but not substantially so. There are plenty of filler shots of babies crying and the beauty of the African landscape but these scenes add no significance. Virunga ends up feeling like a History Channel or National Geographic special – not a bad thing, but not the same caliber as a feature documentary film.The lack of hindsight and conclusion of the civil siege in the Democratic Republic of the Congo makes for an unstructured film where it appears that the filmmakers were learning the story as they went – leading to a lack of vision and inability to edit the film into a cohesive non-fiction narrative.Please check out our website for full reviews of all the recent releases.

john_seater Virunga does a good job of showing the grave difficulties facing conservationists in Africa. Virunga is about a park in the Congo, but the situation is similar in many African countries. War breaks out frequently, violence is commonplace, corruption is rampant. Perhaps even more serious, many people have an economic incentive to plunder the national parks. Many people live in extreme poverty, so poaching wild animals is not merely a good business deal, it may be the difference between starving and surviving. The same is true of exploiting the minerals in the park. Virunga lays out all that in an unflinching way.Where I fault Virunga is that it somewhat makes a muddle of things, confusing various issues, and it has an unrealistic view of what is going on. An example of the first problem is that Virunga gives the impression that the mineral companies are the root of all evil. They are not. They don't poach elephants, for example. That's a different issue. An example of the second problem is that Virunga gives the impression that the mineral companies are the reason there is corruption. In fact, corruption is rampant throughout Africa and indeed much of the rest of the world (try to get your ferry ticket stamped in Greece without paying the clerk a bribe, for example). If Africa had no minerals, it still would be rife with corruption.Despite the flaws, Virunga is a very good movie, well worth watching.

gavin6942 A group of brave individuals risk their lives to save the last of the world's mountain gorillas; in the midst of renewed civil war and a scramble for Congo's natural resources.We start with a broad overview of Congo history, and how outsiders helped ruined it. Unfortunately, as we soon find out, this is not just ancient history. We also see a British oil company's disregard for a World Heritage Site, and the human-gorilla interaction of those pledged to save it.Sheri Linden described Virunga as an "urgent investigative report and unforgettable drama... a work of heart-wrenching tenderness and heart-stopping suspense". Beautifully put, Ms. Linden. Few people know much about the Congo, and this should open their eyes to how the people (and animals) are still being affected by colonization today.