Nature documentaries are dime-a-dozen-type things, as any bored elementary schooler can attest. But advances in film technology have possibly impacted no other sub-genre quite like they have our pursuits of chronicling the animal kingdom, rendering laughably obsolete the 16mm Ciba Geigy filmstrips of yesteryear. Earth, which debuted Disney’s nature programming arm when it bowed theatrically this spring, is the latest documentary offering to offer up a snapshot of our changing planet, and animals’ place in it, and it’s a beautiful, engaging film, full of footage the likes of which may never be seen again.
Earth positions itself as somewhat of a macro docu-snapshot, but also smartly hones in on several storylines that help anchor and root the movie for younger viewers. In the Arctic, a mother polar bear trailed by her two cubs awakens from hibernation and searches for food as their icy hunting grounds melt away, and the father polar bear (above) swims further out to sea in search of food. A herd of African elephants slowly traverses the arid Kalahari Desert toward the water-rich Okavango Delta. A humpback whale and her calf, meanwhile, take part in a 4,000-mile, epic migration that takes them from tropical waters all the way to Antarctica. Remarkable high-definition footage captures these creatures in places that human beings rarely see, providing an enthralling glimpse of unique worlds.
A big part of this success must be credited to award-winning filmmakers Alastair Fothergill (The Blue Planet) and Mark Linfield, the latter of whom was also involved with the superlative Planet Earth miniseries, which was commissioned by the BBC and subsequently broadcast Stateside by the Discovery Channel. They obviously have a grasp of arresting natural visuals, but also figure out a way to weave together story strands in a manner that gives Earth a bit of an artificial narrative pull. Earth does toss in a few facts for narrator James Earl Jones to dole out, too, but the movie is chiefly driven by its stunning imagery, and in fact some of its writing (“This creature is the essence of wilderness” is the description of a lynx) comes across as silly and a bit indistinct. The only other big strike against the movie is its overly Disney-fied score, from composer George Fenton. The noise, only occasionally grating, can’t cancel out the power of the visuals, though.
Available in a two-disc Blu-ray/DVD combo pack, Earth includes a small slate of bonus features that offer viewers an in-depth look at the making of the movie as well as an opportunity to learn more about our planet and its myriad fascinating inhabitants. Earth Diaries is a 45-minute making-of special that chronicles in exhaustive detail the five-year production of the film, which touched all seven continents, 62 countries, over 200 locations and spanned over 2,000 days in the field. This footage is often just as fascinating as the footage in the finished product, as is the case with watching the filmmakers deal with the challenges of navigating a low-flying hot air balloon around clusters of tree branches. Richard Burton, the movie’s aerial director of photography, speaks interestingly about the Cineflex camera used in the film, and co-director Linfield aptly points out regarding the production, “Things don’t go right all the time. And if they do, then you’re not trying things difficult enough.”
Given the stunning vistas on display, Blu-ray is definitely the way to go for this title, which maximizes the 1080p high definition and 1.78:1 widescreen presentation. (A single-disc version of Earth is also available, mostly targeted for rental.) Optional English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles are included; exclusive Blu-ray bonus features, meanwhile, consist of a set of filmmakers’ annotations that appear as pop-up facts, VH-1-style, during a viewing of the movie. Animated chapter stops and an array of trailers are also included, which slows down the disc’s tracking just a bit. To purchase the combo DVD-Blu-ray release via Amazon, click here. A- (Movie) B+ (Disc)