Dwelling in the shadow of Davis Guggenheim's slick, compelling An Inconvenient Truth, the HBO documentary Too Hot Not To Handle treads slightly more alarmist ground, relying less on the practiced, professional presentation delivered by a well-rehearsed politician and parading an endless series of doctors, scientists and researchers before the camera, all of whom utter a variation on the same glum refrain: global warming is upon us, whether you like it or not, and further inaction will only intensify what is rapidly becoming a crisis of epic proportions.

Produced by Laurie (wife of Prius-driving and Seinfeld/Curb Your Enthusiasm-creating Larry) David, Too Hot Not To Handle clocks at less than an hour, yet manages to feel longer; not to return to inevitable comparisons, but An Inconvenient Truth flowed more fluidly as it wove a mini-biography of Al Gore in among the startling images of glaciers disappearing and ferocious hurricanes — you weren't pummeled with dire information for its entire duration, which is mostly the case here, as Too Hot's directors Maryann De Leo and Ellen Goosenberg Kent eschew narration and let the experts on hand guide the film. Loosely fragmented into sections dealing with particular aspects of global warming — heat waves, the greenhouse effect, rising sea levels — Too Hot Not To Handle marches through the same sobering set of facts that scientists (to their credit) tirelessly repeat for audiences that only just now seem to realizing the extent of this rapidly escalating crisis.

While the film is by no means an amateur production (although a few of the title cards seem straight out of an Eighties PBS special), it still suffers when held up against An Inconvenient Truth — it's hard to keep from comparing and contrasting the two films and those who would claim that one is different from the other would be right — to a point. While Guggenheim's film is split more evenly between biography and science, and Too Hot Not To Handle is more heavily weighted towards the facts and figures, it's not the most compelling presentation. It's the cinematic equivalent of brussel sprouts vs. chocolate: one is good for you and certainly something of which everyone should partake, but the other is definitely tastier and more appealing. Only those with an intense interest in this subject should seek out Too Hot Not To Handle.

The Video:

Presented as originally broadcast on HBO, Too Hot Not To Handle arrives on DVD with a perfectly clear 1.33:1 fullscreen transfer, richly detailed with the slightest hints of video noise (mostly in the archival footage) and great sharpness. As expected for a recently filmed documentary, this is a very clean image.

The Dolby 2.0 stereo soundtrack isn't flashy, but gets the job done, rendering all the dialogue cleanly and clearly, with no distortion, drop-out or other aural defects. No optional subtitles are included.

Despite the lack of bonus material, Too Hot Not To Handle is an interesting case of the filmmakers putting their money where their mouths are: the packaging is made from recycled cardboard (and is quite sturdy!). There are also package blurbs touting Laurie David's book "Stop Global Warming – The Solution is You!" and the Web site www.stopglobalwarming.org.

When it comes to 2006 and its global warming docs, consider it the cinematic equivalent of brussel sprouts vs. chocolate: Too Hot Not To Handle is good for you and certainly something of which everyone should partake, but An Inconvenient Truth is definitely tastier and more appealing. Only those with an intense interest in this subject should seek out Too Hot Not To Handle. Rent it.