Earth (**½)

Directed by: Alastair Fothergill & Mark Linfield
Narrated by: Patrick Stewart
Seen: October 15th 2009

**½ Out of ****

Show me a penguin and my spirits are lifted; a penguin running or sliding along on its stomach by kicking itself forward on snow or ice, and my spirits are soaring. The same goes for pretty much any of the multitudes of beautiful animals, interesting birds, and stunning natural landscapes on earth. This movie literally took my breath away on more than one occasion, most notably when a Cheetah hunts down a Lechwe in extreme slow motion, the Lechwe losing its footing and having the most spectacular tumble and fall you could imagine, and also as a Great White breaking the surface fast enough to be suspended completely in the air as it jaws closes around the seal it just caught, but in such beautiful slow motion that you are presented with every detail, you don’t miss as much as a splash of water.

Earth is the feature length version of the BBC miniseries Planet Earth, and it shows a selection of some of the best material from the mammoth ±550 minute miniseries. It is gorgeously filmed, vividly displaying the best nature can offer. It does however, also harp on global warming and our destruction of the planet too harshly (not trying to play this down, I’m also concerned about the planet). When the only thing the viewer wants to hear should be a deft celebration of nature and the trials the animals survive with now and then a small foray into the negative (unfortunately, sometimes dark things happen in nature), Earth cannot get to the following piece of melodrama (for a documentary, of course) fast enough. This animal will die if this. That animal is suffering of this effect as a result of global warming, or deforestation, or anything that endangers nature. I’d much rather hear more about the animals’ behaviour and characteristics, something just too easily set aside for tragedy in this documentary.

The Polar bears (cubs included), the Lions and Elephants, the tropical birds, the Humpback whales, the Caribou, the White Wolves, the Dolphins (magnificent aerial view of huge group of dolphins gliding through the ocean), and many more are brilliantly displayed in their natural habitat, and seeing them going about their own natural ways makes you want to move to wherever you can see this beauty for itself. Earth is a good documentary, but in my mind that laurel rests primarily with the fantastic visual onset. If you go see it, make sure you rather just watch the documentary and take it all in as opposed to being distracted by the sometimes slightly disjointed or manipulative approach, rather enjoy some of the best things nature has on display for us. Today…