Garbage Warrior (2007/Morningstar Entertainment DVD)

 

Picture: C     Sound: C+     Extras: C     Main Program: C

 

 

I wondered what I was getting into when I watched the recent documentary Garbage Warrior (2007) about a man named Michael Reynolds, who has what he considers innovative takes on how to build structures and with often recyclable materials.  This became controversial because he was considered ignorable, his rough demeanor contributed to that and that his buildings might collapse or the like.

 

The idea was to build whole communities of these structures where people were more self-sufficient, but between big money real estate interests and reactionary ideas that what he was doing was somehow subversive, this is why few have heard of him.  Director Oliver Hodge tries to correct that with this 84 minutes culmed from taping over a four-year period.  Unfortunately, it is very uneven, does not make Reynolds look good, if he or Hodge even care and the final result feels too much like a run-on when it could have been a 60 Minutes segment considering what we learn.  The points are worth seeing, but expect it to drag just the same.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is very soft and this was very likely shot in low-def digital video, while the Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is only so good, trying to stretch out the location sound much more often than it should.  Extras include deleted scenes, director interview and Dennis Weaver talking about his Earthship house.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo