Sick Product of a Sick System

Absolutely the worst movie.

Absolutely Brilliant!

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

I was on the edge of my seat the entire documentary. Incredibly well-made, enjoyed the fast pace & entertaining snippets. Loaded with both fun and infuriating facts. Prior to watching this movie, I was already pro-legalization, although a few short years ago I thought marijuana was a very bad drug indeed. I have never tried weed in my life and have little interest in it. However, this documentary really got to me because of the whole governmental conspiracy element, on both Canadian and American fronts. I doubt we will see marijuana legalized or even decriminalized in either Canada or the U.S. in the next decade, ESPECIALLY after seeing this movie!Must-see! You will never forget it.

This documentary is very informative, just like the documentary it was cloned from -- GRASS, 1999. Its a shame so much of the history of marijuana in The Union (2007) was identical to GRASS. I suppose because it's depicting history, duplication is unavoidable. But the number of identical images, and the progression of the story are too similar for comfort. I saw The Union first, and must say it's more polished, more investigative, more to the point and more informative in many areas than GRASS. GRASS had a fair bit of filler. All the more reason it's a shame The Union couldn't have been more original. I particularly liked the exploration of grow-ops in The Union, whereas in GRASS there seemed to be a lot of rather banal footage about Haight Ashbury and the 'psychodelia' of the 60's and early 70's. The Union was definitely more Canada oriented.

I really, honestly believe about 90% of the facts quoted in this movie, however, the reason it grated on my senses was due to the background music. It seemed that no matter what topic was being discussed the music that accompanied the topic was some form of synthesized keyboard repetitive "melody" (not really melodic, just annoying repetition of a few notes) that seemed to have been performed by a bored eight-grader using a home computer.I believe the visual production quality was at least as high as most modern documentaries so I cannot understand what happened with the music, only that it may have been an afterthought. My advice: if the music becomes an afterthought then make it nonexistent. I would have preferred to listen to my own chewing sounds, some street traffic or quiet computer hum, rather than an electronic da da da da, over and over while some narrator droned on about how bad everything but marijuana is, which is really true, I believe...just not with that "music".This brings me to the other point of this production: where did you dig up that mock fifties-style narrator? Why parody the thing you hate with the thing you hate? I was so bored listening to those high school documentaries that I nearly always fell asleep in class, and God forbid it would be a warm day - no escaping a classroom snooze. Perhaps some less sanctimony would be appropriate in this type of factual information documentary.

Recently, we have seen a slew of great documentaries bring important issues to our attention. They are good at giving you the facts, and helping you to question why nothing is done about this. The Union is no exception. It has to be one of the most eye-opening films that I have ever had the pleasure of seeing. What it boils down to is how much the government is stifling something that could do 100 times more good than evil. Pot is a controversial topic; there is simply no debating that. But, this film shows how we need to stop thinking that it is so morally wrong to smoke weed. It has a vast number of uses, all of which can help with make the Earth a better place. However, it has become ingrained in people's heads that pot is a bad thing. This film has great interviews from some of the people behind the legalization movement. It is factual, and it is real. I think everyone should watch this and get behind the movement.