Tapped
Tapped
G | 31 July 2009 (USA)
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Is access to clean drinking water a basic human right, or a commodity that should be bought and sold like any other article of commerce? Stephanie Soechtig's debut feature is an unflinching examination of the big business of bottled water. From the producers of Who Killed the Electric Car and I.O.U.S.A., this timely documentary is a behind-the-scenes look into the unregulated and unseen world of an industry that aims to privatize and sell back the one resource that ought never to become a commodity: our water. From the plastic production to the ocean in which so many of these bottles end up, this inspiring documentary trails the path of the bottled water industry and the communities which were the unwitting chips on the table. A powerful portrait of the lives affected by the bottled water industry, this revelatory film features those caught at the intersection of big business and the public's right to water.

Reviews
Matialth

Good concept, poorly executed.

HeadlinesExotic

Boring

Stephanie

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

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Francene Odetta

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

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teaparty_man

Being in the bottled water industry, the misinformation spewed out by the people who made this propaganda piece is simply unbelievable and you have to suspend all logic to buy into the hysteria.1.) bottled water IS regulated by "truth in labeling" laws; it must be what the label says it is. Spring water from a "certified spring", purified water must measure 10 parts per million or less of ANYTHING in the water, distilled, etc.2.) they fail to mention why BPA is used in the bottles or in any plastic: to strengthen and keep the bottles from failing part. I've seen bottles over 20 years old, just as solid as the day made. So how can all this horrible chemical be "leaching" out of the container.3.) the overwhelming majority of bottled water is consumed out of bottles that do not contain BPA, they are PETE bottles, no BPA involved.4.) In another anti plastic movie, Plastic Paradise, the cute little Asian chick wants to demonstrate how horrible it is to drink out of plastic bottles, because of the horrific dangers of BPA. SOOOOO, she gets a blood test done to measure her currant BPA levels, THEN she handles a THERMAL STORE RECEIPT, then gets another blood test. Unh? What? Wait a minute. Why doesn't she drink out of a plastic bottle? Because the majority of BPA in people comes from other sources far more insidious than plastic water bottles. Another documentary goes further by locating people who have NEVER drank bottled water and yet they have elevated levels of BPA in their systems.5.) The FDA (the GUVMINT) is trying to kill us by NOT banning BPA, the GUVMINT allows the chemical companies to kill us with pollution from oil and bottle making processes, but we are to trust the GUVMINT when they send tap water to your house? I mean they put CHLORINE in the stuff to KILL THINGS!! But THAT'S OK to drink because the GUVMINT says so? No thanks. I'll stick to drinking bottled water from reliable sources.Ask yourself, where does Coke (Dasani) and Pepsi Aquafina) get the water for their soda? And how come it tastes consistently the same from coast to coast, given that over 700 different containment are found in tap water across the country? Do you really believe they would allow the nasty water say in LA spoil the taste of their magic formulas for their products? Reverse Osmosis is what they use amongst other processes, to make sure the water is a neutral as possible.Just do you homework. In many areas there are water stores, that process city water through Reverse Osmosis filtration systems that remove virtually all contaminants from the water.The GUVMINT and a lot of these "enviro-nazis" are in bed together more than you realize and do not want you to drink bottled water. Period.

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ironhorse_iv

The great debate of bottle water vs tap water got bottle up and release as a well-structured awe-inspiring documentary call Tapped. Directed by Stephanie Soechtig & Jason Lindsey, the movie shows the environmental injustice aspects of bottled water. While the movie is indeed one-sided, and can seem biased. The movie does give a chance for bottle water supporters to defend their product. It was deeply surprising to see representative from these big companies, as in most documentaries, they mostly refuse to speak. I do think, their interviews was edited a bit, to make them look dumbfounded to certain questioning or expose them as spin doctors. It was bit too trickery. The movie had a lot of good amount of evidence sources. The way, the documentary told it, through interviews, music, data/graphs, and video footage made watching the film, very entertaining. While, the movie did indeed had a bigger budget, there were little to no slow lectures parts, here. It's clear that tap water is indeed better for you than bottle water. The movie shows us why, but you can clearly go research it, yourself, and you find yourself with the same results as the movie. I think a lot of people need to watch this film, as one of the big reasons why people purchase bottled water is due to the old wives tales inaccuracies. These claims are often create by companies, to set fear into the public, so that the community would purchase overprice water, over nearly free drinking water. This is a great example how fear can somewhat dictate somebody's life. While, yes, there are some proved facts that some tap water in certain areas are contamination. For the most part, even for the low-income & minority households, tap water is deed safer than bottle water in developed countries like the US & Europe. Bottled water are believe to reduce amounts of copper, lead, and other metal contaminants since it does not run through the plumbing pipes where tap water is exposed to metal corrosion, however, this varies by the household and plumbing system. Bottle water often carry similar or worst off chemicals such as PET, PETE, and BPA (bisphenol A). Of these, BPA is the deadliest. This is because due to the lack of regulated by the company. It's not as regulated as often as tap water. One thing the film also forgot to mention is the alarming rate for bottled water in poorer developing countries. Sales of bottled water in Mexico, China, and parts of India, are rising steeply, due to fear of contaminated water. In my viewpoint, bottle water and tap water have the same health risk in those countries, due to the fact, that most bottle water are indeed tap water. While, I don't believe people that should buy bottle water, I do understand the reasons why certain people choice to. The lack of safe drinking water in certain areas should be the only reason to buy bottled water. Even so, I have to agree that plastic tax has be put into place to help recycled the plastic and stop wasteful trashing. Better yet, people should learn how to purification their own water supply, which the film also left off. The movie also left out, the religious questions of if the 'privatization" of water is ethical. One thing that the movie should explore more is the myth is the taste of water because it was one of the contributing factors to the marketing success of bottled water. Pure water has no taste. However minerals and impurities can alter or add to the taste, but it's not very noticeable. Most bottle waters misleads its consumers with this false advertising. While the movie gave a lot of information that can be useful for years to come. It's somewhat already dated. If you want more information about the debate of tap water over bottle water. Watch 2003's Penn & Teller episode on bottle waters to get more information about this. Also check out, 2008's Blue Gold: World Water Wars, 2010's Water on the table and 2008's Flow: For Love of Water. All of them are very good, and worth the time, watching. Overall: I would recommend this documentary to anyone willing to sit down, and think about their future. Indeed, water will play a big role in that.

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caughtintherain15

Yes, you do get mostly one side of the argument. Is this a bad thing? No! Bottled water companies have had YEARS AND YEARS and MULTIPLE PLATFORMS to spew their arguments about why their product is great, so what's so wrong about one little movie trying to counter their claims? People have a tendency to attack individuals rather than corporations, and its just not fair. This movie brings up MANY different arguments and reasons why bottled water is bad. You will most definitely learn something from watching it, and most likely, you will learn a lot. They hit on everything--chemical pollution, plastic pollution and the mile-wide plastic pools in the oceans, water privatization/community water rights, and so on. This isn't just about the environment, and it isn't just about people--it's about both. Great documentary hits on many issues surrounding bottled water, and is well filmed. Watch it!

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TheEmulator23

Now it's not that film is anything great it just presents a lot of facts that you would think most people would already know about. I have probably bought bottled water maybe a dozen times in my entire life. It was only when there was no other option to get any other sort of water or I needed a bottle to fill up w/ god forbid tap water! I cannot understand for the life of me why Bottled water is a business at all. It is after all nothing more than a giant scam. It simply amazes me that this is a $10 billion dollar or more industry. How is this possible? There is a great "Penn & Teller Bull-Sh*t" that proves just what a joke it really is. They test a bunch of people drinking bottled waters against regular ol' tap water & guess what 8/10 of them went for the tap water! The thing that will upset you the most is the way the "Nestle" company continued to bottle water in Maine, while they are in the middle of a drought! So basically these people all had to ration there water so that "Nestle" could continue to bottle their water. Now I understand to a certain extent the companies side too, because it's a huge boon to them considering they are upping the price by 9,999% so it's an obvious cash cow. Plus you have to imagine even if it is a joke people are buying it & it must help w/jobs & w/the local economy too. Overall it seems really stupid, but there are good arguments on both sides of the fence.

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