Earth, the feature-length version of the BBC’S ‘Planet Earth’ series, is one of the most visually stunning nature documentaries ever to be given a cinematic release. The dazzling high-resolution footage and cutting-edge time-lapse techniques are eye-popping.
Patrick Stewart provides a stately narration, observing a handful of creatures over the course of a year, encompassing all four seasons. We follow grim-fated polar bears, family-valued elephants, majestic whales, gargantuan flocks of birds, and much more. It’s a showcase, but there’s sadly not enough running to cover all the bases (give yourself an uppercut, BBC, for leaving out the great apes).
An environmental message is clumsily tacked on to the end, lending a feeling of manipulation (as does the overbearing score). But nothing is quite as humbling, as mind-blowing as nature and its endless creations. Earth, five years in the making at 200 locations with 30 cameramen, is a big achievement and breathtakingly beautiful.
