Fat: A Documentary 2 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

Fat: A Documentary 2 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman April 27, 2021

2019 saw the release of Fat: A Documentary, a film that challenged the status quo of harmful food myths born of everything from industry lies to consumer ignorance, from misleading science to mistaken concepts about what "healthy eating" really means. Fat: A Documentary 2 has been released some two years later and...it challenges the status quo of harmful food myths. While there may be a "pendulum swing" away from the established dietary science and towards the idea that healthy fats, eggs, and red meat are in fact healthy rather than harmful, there's still a long way to go, the filmmakers believe, so here's another opportunity to add some new ideas from familiar contributors and reinforce many of the ideas introduced in the first film that have since gained public traction and, in some cases, scientific favor in the months since the first film's release.

Tasty...and good for you!

90s thinking declared that people should kick eggs and meat, but the anti red-meat trend dates back to the 1970s. Now, the pendulum is swinging back to a “bottom up revolution” that is turning the classic food pyramid upside down. This film explores the role of misleading data with particular attention given to Harvard University and the vegan movement and the downright false diet data being fed to the public, notably in the battle the big “plant” oil companies are waging against coconut and palm oil. The film explores how forward-thinking doctors are healing people with food. It explores the truth behind the role of exercise for health and weight loss and the fallacy of “counting calories” alone as a surefire method of losing weight (less in, more out) and, more broadly, the obesity epidemic that is being worsened by terribly outdated data at best and deliberately falsified data at worst.

Essentially, the film's contributors implore viewers to seek out alternatives by turning established medical advice on its head. More red meat. More eggs. More "healthy fats" like avocados and coconut oil. Butter is OK. So is bacon. The ketogenic diet has gained a good deal of traction in the last couple of years, and many are finding success on it, and not just on the scale and in the waistline: it's revolutionizing the way people feel. It's boosting mental clarity, energy, and a desire to be free of sugars, carbs, and processed junk foods. The film doesn't go so far as to promote the carnivore diet -- essentially a zero-carb, all-meat diet -- but there's no mistaking that the ideas presented in the film are not so crazy as they might have sounded 20, 10, maybe even five or even two or three years ago.

And why not try something different. The "obesity epidemic" is certainly real. And one can only ask why. Why, in a culture so obsessed with self image and weight and size and with so many people predisposed to health awareness, are people heavier, more fatigued, less healthy than ever before? The correlation seems pretty clear, and it's not just that people are so busy that fast and processed food convenience is driving the epidemic. There's got to be something to the idea of faulty science that, maybe, really is being driven by corporate dollars and not the public's best interest. The film hits these points, passionately and succinctly and with both scientific support and a healthy dose of common sense behind it. For anyone interested in health and wellness the film, and its predecessor, are must-sees if only for their eye-opening new perspectives.

Fat: A Documentary 2 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The 1080p picture quality is perfectly fine for this style of production. The digital shoot yields well defined details across all of the interview subjects, though to be sure there's a variance in lighting and perspective that can introduce a little bit of noise on occasion. But viewers should expect to find, predominantly, a solidly detailed core image: sharp faces with high yield for pores and hair, nicely defined clothes with fine fabric definition, and clear backgrounds. Color reproduction is fine, too, appearing right down the middle for contrast and temperature: never lightened, never made overly warm. Some vintage video clips come with obviously lower resolution and some compression issues, but the image cannot be judged on its inclusion of outdated sources that are vital to shaping the story. It's the new interview content that counts here, and in that regard the Blu-ray presentation is just fine.

Fat: A Documentary 2 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Fat 2 features a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack. The soundtrack is primarily dialogue heavy. While it images well to the center, it's a bit loud and piercing at reference level. There's really not much else here. Some light background music delivers decent clarity but occupies a centered position rather than a spread along the front. The track misses the enhancement to balance and definition a lossless track would have afforded the material. As it is there's a feel that it's unkempt and unregulated but it's basically effective for this style of Blu-ray presentation.

Fat: A Documentary 2 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of Fat: A Documentary 2 contains no supplemental content. The main menu screen only offers options for "Play Film" and "Subtitles." No DVD or digital copies are included with purchase. This release does not ship with a slipcover.

Fat: A Documentary 2 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Here's the real life skinny on the sort of reverse thinking diet this film touts. Since September 2020 this reviewer has been on the carnivore diet as prescribed by a forward-thinking doctor (with one period of "cheating" over Christmas…and all the horrible after-effects to go with it) to great physical and emotional result. Easy weight loss, vastly improved body composition, practically perfect blood work as of just a couple of weeks ago, and a greater sense of well-being speak to such a diet on an anecdotal level, at least. But here is the bottom line: one should listen to his or her own body. There are certainly some hard and fast rules in the dieting world but what works for one person – "works" not meaning a temporary reduction in the number on the scale but that improvement to quality of life in several areas – may not work for another. For this reviewer, it's carnivore. For someone else, a different diet. The only expert that matters is the expert within. For this reviewer, Fat 2 is preaching to the choir but for anyone interested in some alternative thinking on food and its impact on the body it's well worth a look. The Blu-ray is fine for it A/V quality. Recommended.