'AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH'

	Eric Lee, Paramount Classics Al Gore argues his case about the dangers of global warming in the documentary "An Inconvenient Truth," new to DVD. Click photo for larger image.

If you don't want a political pitch with your morning coffee and DVD review, better turn away.

For the rest of you, I'm just going to say it: Al Gore for president!

This isn't a nostalgic, hindsight-is-20/20 kind of thing vis-a-vis the 2000 election and everything that's happened since. No, this is a pitch for 2008, because it's hard to believe that the man whose intellect is at the heart of "An Inconvenient Truth," just out in an appropriately no-frills DVD, was denied the White House -- Supreme Court aside -- by his cardboard image and a few ill-advised debate sighs.

But enough with the kvetching. It's unlikely he'll give voters a redo.

Instead, do the next best thing and rent or buy this disc (Paramount; $29.99). It's simply the most important film of the year.

Gore's concern about global warming -- indeed, his passion for the planet -- is on full display here. And while opponents have successfully yet incorrectly tarred him as zealot, the case for environmental activism unfolds with such scientific precision that you can't help but be swayed.

Now, some of you are thinking, "He's just sipped the Kool-Aid." More likely, if I appear lightheaded (or just light in the head), it's because the hole in our ozone has robbed me of oxygen.

While mildly political (some of it handled humorously), "Truth" is as apt to score points with true conservatives as with liberals. Gore's classroom-style presentation is even-keeled and shy on hyperbole. But its message about planet Earth -- abuse it and lose it -- is unmistakable. This is a documentary with a point of view and is meant to be taken as a clarion call for a unified response to climate change.

I suppose it's somewhat ironic, if fitting, that the former veep many have described as "wooden" uses mainly charts and graphs to make his assertions. But under the direction of Davis Guggenheim, the documentary flows briskly and winds up being nearly as entertaining as it is informational.

The very slick closing credits alone -- morphing from film crew names to environmental messages -- are not to be missed.

As to why this is a "no-frills" DVD -- how could it not be? An Al Gore bloopers and gag reel? Not gonna happen. But you do get some audio commentary, a Melissa Etheridge music video and an interview with Gore that updates the film and outlines the world's most pressing environmental concerns.

The packaging itself is environmentally friendly -- no jewel-box treatment; rather, 100 percent recycled paper with no inserts, no laminates, no plastics.

But "Truth" does have one conceit, and it's enough to keep this from being a four-star review. The extras include a "making of" documentary, and it focuses a little too much attention on the rather lavish set while also shedding an embarrassing light -- in my opinion -- on the crew, who give the ex-Tennessee senator the rock-star treatment.

Please. As we all know, the "Truth" needs no embellishment.

-- Allan Walton,
Post-Gazette features editor

'ICE AGE: THE MELTDOWN'

Al Gore would approve of this message, which is your chance to talk to your 5-year-old about global warming.

Rather than a lecture, it's illustrated here with crystalline digital animation and a cast of cute and comic characters.

The villain is water. "Ice Age 2" finds Manny the Mammoth, Sid the Sloth, Diego the Tiger and a Noah's ark-full of companions driven from their icy home by the warming of the planet and melting of the ice caps.

Director Carlos Saldanha goes easy on the doom and gloom, though. The news is delivered by a snake-oil salesman of an armadillo trying to sell them supplies for the end of the world. Saldanha says in the commentary, "We tried to come up with a moment where we could talk about the problems of this world, the real dangers of this world, with a comedic character like Fast Tony."

The critters don't believe him until they see the ice start to crack and the water building around the dam (bringing to mind Katrina). There's also the issue of species extinction, but there's good news here in the form of a hot little she-mammoth by the name of Ellie (Queen Latifah). (Warning: It leads to some romantic talk and language -- like one use of the word "pervert" -- that might make some parents squirm.)

While the sequel may not be as involving as the original, which dealt with an orphaned baby, the visuals are still spectacular and the animals are well-drawn characters, as well. Once again, Scrat steals the show as the manic squirrel oblivious to everything but his acorn.

He's also the subject of the best extra, "No Time for Nuts," a hilarious cartoon in which he discovers a time machine that blasts him through history and in and out of peril. At one point, he plops into the first "Ice Age," complete with music by Rusted Root.

-- Scott Mervis, Weekend Mag editor