Synopsis:
Disney's attempt at a feature-length version of
the documentary TV series Planet Earth,
following the migration paths of four animal
families.
The Freak's
Rating: D : In 2006, Planet Earth was
brought to the Discovery Channel via the BBC.
It took seven years to create it.
Unrolling over a mini-series length of time, the
show set a new standard for documentary
features. In an obviously rushed effort to
recreate the magic, Disney hired some of the
same videographers to piece together Earth using
some Planet Earth footage as well as some new to
effectively recycle a good product and earn some
cash doing so.
Earth
is an emotionally dry documentary. There
is never a moment in the "film" when you care
about any of the animals enough to spew any sort
of emotion. I found myself rooting for the
wolves and cheetahs as they hunted and killed
their prey. The film, of course, starts
each of these killing scenes showing footage of
the hunter, playing eerie music and attempting
to make them villains. Wolves have to eat
too people!
Made
to appear as if it will tell the story of four
families and their incredible migrations and
survival stories, Earth floats all over the
place instead. At one point in the doc, we
are following a mother and calf elephant across
a desert. They enter a dust storm and are
separated from their herd. We are told
that they are miles away from one another.
When we catch up with the elephants again we are
told they rejoined their herd, yet aren't shown
any footage of them doing so. The editing
is some of the worst I've ever seen, leaving
enormous gaps in "storylines" and drifting
aimlessly to show things having little to do
with our subjects.
Disney-ish dialogue from James Earl Jones
doesn't help one bit. The artful and
informative narration of Planet Earth by Richard
Attenborough (or Sigourney Weaver on the
American version) helped the presentation flow
perfectly. Jones' voiceover seems forced,
obviously attempting to cater to a younger
generation. Take note filmmakers, that
generation you're hoping to hit with this one
will be bored to tears minutes in and quickly
theater hopping to the latest Pixar flick
instead.
The
pacing is awful, narration atrocious and editing
horrendous. With the exception of the two
amazing shots of the great white and the
cheetah, this is completely worthless.
Seek out Planet Earth on Blu Ray and indulge
your senses in a wonderful nature documentary
instead.
Jen's Rating:
D+ : Some of this was interesting but the
movie was all over the place really! They made
it sound like they were going to follow 3
different animals. They showed many different
animals at random times. Disappointing.
click here to review
it yourself!
