Freightened: The Real Price of Shipping

At first glance this looked as if it might be an interesting, educational documentary. I gave it away after ten minutes as it rapidly became obvious this was an anti-globalisation, anti-business propaganda piece. When you have the producer quizzing a shop assistant if she knows where a "Made in Bangladesh" item comes from you know this going to be an anti-transport tirade. Subsequent interviews confirmed this in short order: earnest people opposed to shipping and international manufacturing.

What is sad is how few people watch documentaries like this, much less review them...and apparently some who did watch a little bit of it missed the entire point. Shipping has destroyed worker wages worldwide. It is also destroying the environment worldwide. Sure, bringing us cheap goods, but if all workers were paid better than a pittance wouldn't we be able to increase sales worldwide? Create a higher standard of living for everyone? The gullible believe that the government is out to get them and reduce their "freedoms" but the truth is if most people are kept desperately poor they never have any choice to begin with.

This documentary presents the shipping industry as if transporting something from A to B is a crime. Don't bother.

A usefully documentary to show the scoop of modern freight shipping, and the size of the industry. It does present a good eye opening of the ecological cost of shipping, as well as the pollution, but sometimes feels a bit doom and gloom toward the entire thing. The interviews and film of the shipping infrastructure make it worth seeing. In the end, it presents the negative side of shipping, which comes mostly from the longevity of ships and drive for cost saving; but, it could have done more to show the positive aspects of the shipping industry as well.

basic and educative documentary,with an objective look at how goods are being freighted around the globe,and a very subjective negativism,almost fatalistic view on the use of containerships,their owners, international governance and the ominous use of containers.the lack of presenting better alternatives is a drawback that makes it an 8.