How to Blow Up a Pipeline

How to Blow Up a Pipeline

A crew of young environmental activists execute a daring mission to sabotage an oil pipeline.

  • Released: 2023-04-07
  • Runtime: 104 minutes
  • Genre: Crime, Drama, Thrillers
  • Stars: Ariela Barer, Kristine Froseth, Lukas Gage, Forrest Goodluck, Sasha Lane, Jayme Lawson, Marcus Scribner, Jake Weary, Irene Bedard, Olive Jane Lorraine, Melissa Chambers, Giancarlo Beltran, Mariel Martínez, Jasper Keen, Halle Charlton, Adam Wyatt Tate, Loren Anthony, Mary Kay Riley
  • Director: Daniel Goldhaber
 Comments
  • KazimirKharza - 7 May 2024
    Fun, but potentially dangerous
    Inspired by Andreas Malm's book by the same name - it even appears in one of the scenes - , How to Blow Up a Pipeline is a potentially dangerous film, but not for the reasons you might expect.

    The plot follows a ragtag group of individuals, all with their personal grievances against the fossil fuel industry, who decide to team up and destroy an oil pipeline in Texas. The movie does a good job at portraying the harm done by the extraction, refining of, and use of fossil fuels, and ergo successfully argues that action against these operations constitutes self-defence. Xochitl, for example, loses her mother to a heat wave and now she's about to lose her friend Theo to cancer caused by the pollution emitted from a local refinery. The only regrettable thing is that climate reductionists like Malm and by extension Daniel Goldhaber, don't seem to realise that other operations necessary for the continued existence of industrial civilization have pretty much the exact same adverse effects. Mining, for instance.

    It works well as a thriller. The pacing is good and tension is maintained decently throughout. No complaints there. It's obvious, however, that it aims to be more than a way for couch potatoes to forget about the dullness of their lives for an hour and forty minutes. Everything, from the plot to the accompanying website with a full map of the US oil pipeline network, screams: "DO SOMETHING!" I'd typically be overjoyed, as most environmental films don't go nearly as far, which frequently results in the audience not "getting" the message. I'm hard pressed to find a person who watched James Cameron's Avatar (2009) and thought to himself afterwards, "man, I reall need to wage war against mining corporations!" Of course, I'm fairly sure that wasn't Cameron's aim, though it certainly is the logical takeaway for anyone who isn't there just for the CGI. But there's a reason I'm weary of HtBUaP and its director.

    So long as people are merely inspired by the movie and don't see it as being instructional on a technical level, it's all good. Goldhaber, though, put in the effort to show in considerable detail the manufacture of explosives. The audience can see more or less the whole process, the ingredients, and the hardware used. Any guesses who Goldhaber consulted on the art of bomb-making? (Let's be fair, he probably doesn't run an ordnance lab in his backyard for fun.) Thankfully there's no need to guess. "We did have an expert consultation on the movie," he said at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2022, "there's a technical adviser [...] who's very high up in counterterrorism in the United States military, who's requested to remain anonymous, but who we worked with to get everything accurate, and also to make sure we weren't doing anything dangerous." I hope you can see the big fat elephant of a problem in the room. A movie sympathetic to what governments call "eco-terrorism," full of 'hidden' instructions, but overseen by a high-ranking counterterrorism officer? It's not a stretch to say that if the actions performed were imitated, they'd likely lead to disaster. Since I have practically no knowledge of chemistry, I can't provide any substantial analysis of their manufacturing process, but even someone like me can tell that dripping hot candle wax on a detonator is not a great idea. Not, if you value your face and fingers. Can't say it'd be out of character for law enforcement to want to deceive would-be saboteurs into hurting themselves.

    Furthermore, the operational security displayed by these eco-warriors is awful. The most obvious instance of this is that they let Rowan, who is an informer for federal law enforcement, stick around. With her help they manage to deceive the FBI, who are portrayed as incredibly naïve and clueless, into thinking the entire operation was the work of Xochitl and Theo. This is not to say that the FBI et al. Are omnipotent all-seeing superhumans, but it's never wise to underestimate an enemy so arrogantly. "They just want to look good," Xochitl says dismissively. Her character is obviously unfamiliar with the Green Scare and what ludicrous lengths many governments, especially the US, are willing to go in order to get anyone even remotely threatening to their economic interest behind bars. A short look at the crime scenes likely would've foiled all their efforts to hide the number of participants.

    Further example of poor op-sec includes them letting Rowan and her partner Logan, who both frequently use heavy drugs, on the team. Using mind-altering substances can make people very unreliable both during and after the operation. Just ask all the imprisoned Earth Liberation Front members, who only got caught because one of their former comrades, Jacob Ferguson, gave in and agreed to become an informant at least partially due to drug-induced paranoia. It's also miraculous that Michael, the indigenous bomb-maker, wasn't caught sooner. For one, he records Tik Tok videos experimenting with IEDs just outside a local refinery. Then later Xochitl is seen messaging him on the app, "Hey - you're getting really good, can we talk about a project?" I hope I don't need to say more. If Xochitl wasn't shielded from her recklessness with several thick layers of plot armour, she'd be the worst imaginable organiser and likely everyone would've been jailed far sooner.

    Before the credits there's one last scene that I find troubling. Some other group of activists, inspired by the protagonists' action against the oil industry, decide to enter a yacht harbour with a time bomb. They place the device onboard one of the yachts, vacate the area and leave a note explaining their reasoning behind what was about to happen. Don't get me wrong, I don't care about the yachts. But from a strategic point of view this was immensely stupid. If one is going to go through the hazardous process of manufacturing an IED, risk a substantial prison sentence in case of capture, etc., then why blow up a target of such little strategic value? Both the book and the film make it clear that the goal is to hurt the fossil fuel industry to the point where it's no longer possible to profit from oil, coal, and natural gas extraction. Sure, it can feel good to destroy a toy belonging to a member of the elite, but it does just about nothing to destroy the elite's power.

    All these things make me suspicious of the movie's intentions. The actions of all the characters are so hopelessly naïve that I can't help but see the film as some kind of attempt at entrapment. Whether this was due to Daniel Goldhaber's own malevolent intent or his ignorance is almost beyond the point. A seasoned or studious activist might recognise the aforementioned issues, but to all the passionate, idealistic youths, itching to strike back this movie presents a danger.
  • cliftonofun - 19 December 2023
    Couldn't take my eyes off it
    Electric feels like an understatement here. This movie absolutely crackles from beginning to end. It seamlessly weaves together a propulsive action story with the kind of character development that actually explains everybody's want and why (while moving the plot forward). I didn't just buy it...I couldn't take my eyes off of it or stop thinking about it. I watched a lot of solid action movies this year, from new stuff to classics, but this feels like a new category, a cross between blockbuster action and indie drama that draws from the best of both, even though I was never quite sure what to cheer for. Goldhaber is one to watch, and so is this entire cast.