Powered By "Earth," the first theatrical release from the new Disney Nature label, was originally reviewed by Variety on Oct. 2, 2007 at the San Sebastian Film Festival.
Since that time, the docu has grossed more than $80 million in bigscreen engagements in Europe and Japan. Originally bought for domestic release by Lionsgate before Disney took it on, the pic is set for an Earth Day bow. The biggest change for the U.S. version is the replacement of original narrator Patrick Stewart with James Earl Jones, whose deep vocal timbre and warm resonance does all it can with a text -- largely unchanged, per directors Alistair Fothergill and Mark Linfield -- that is informative, sometimes humorous but nonetheless "overly bland," as reviewer Jay Weissberg assessed it.
All the same, the G-rated film remains "a landmark achievement utilizing the latest tech advances as it follows the cute and the cuddly across multiple hemispheres and seasons. A ravishing distillation of the BBC/Discovery series "Planet Earth," the docu brings to the large screen memorable images that cried out on TV for the full moviegoing experience."
Praising the exceptional images of wildlife captured in 68 countries on all seven continents over a period of five years, Weissberg noted that, "Definition is so crystal clear, the colors so true, that anything other than a spotless and seamless screen will be annoying -- docu cries out for complete Imax treatment." That, it will get now, in a version that sports a somewhat happier, more upbeat ending than the original. Directors said very few, and only minor, editing changes were, creating a handful of new music cues. Any trace of mankind is limited to just one shot of a waterfall in India, where a few buildings below are discreetly visible.
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Posts: 5433 | Location: "Stay Classy San Diego!" | Registered: June 15, 2006
By Lisa Schwarzbaum Lisa Schwarzbaum is a film critic for EW
With its cozy references to animal ''moms'' and ''dads'' and its delicate avoidance of disturbing imagery in the depiction of life and death in the wild, this super-duper deluxe nature documentary (the first title from the new Disneynature label of environmentally conscious crowd-pleasers) clearly aims to recruit young viewers as conservationists. The pitch works for adults, too. Earth, a showpiece from the BBC team that made Planet Earth, is spectacularly photographed, gracefully edited, and effectively matter-of-fact in demonstrating the effects of of climate change. James Earl Jones narrates with the authority of Adam naming the animals. A–
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Film Reviews Film Review: Earth By Stephen Farber, April 17, 2009 03:00 ET
Bottom Line: Visually rich but banal look at animals fighting to survive.
Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! These creatures and many more are on vivid display in "Earth," the first feature from Disney's new division, Disneynature, that aims to revive the tradition of nature documentaries that Walt Disney pioneered in the 1950s.
This initial entry from a team of British filmmakers tries to add an environmental slant to the animal footage that Disney favors, but the effort seems halfhearted compared with more politically charged documentaries like "An Inconvenient Truth." The film makes a few remarks about melting ice caps but spends most of its energy chronicling the exploits of polar bears, caribou, elephants, humpback whales and other exotic species. Disney probably is hoping for another "March of the Penguins," but this film is too diffuse to match the boxoffice success of that film.
"Earth's" main virtue is its consistently spectacular cinematography. From the opening shots of white snow against a crisp blue sky, the images are rendered with dazzling, crystalline clarity. The camera gets remarkably close to polar bear cubs emerging from the ice and to birds in flight. But the verbal side of the film does not equal the visual eloquence. Although the narration is provided by James Earl Jones, the words he utters in his rich, stentorian tones rarely reach beyond platitudes about the "circle of life."
Another problem is that the film tries to cover too much ground. Just as we are getting absorbed in the story of the polar bears' struggle to survive, the film shifts to elephants trekking across the Kalahari and then surveys whales migrating thousands of miles. There are asides to birds of paradise in New Guinea, leopards and gazelles in Africa, even a brief visit to the penguins of Antarctica.
Directors Alastair Fothergill and Mark Linfield skim briskly across the globe, but their approach is too bland. While the film observes wolves stalking caribou and lions pursuing baby elephants, it discreetly cuts away from the actual kill. This obviously was meant to shield tots from any frightening images, but the fastidiousness undercuts the drama.
Although "Earth" falls short of its potential, it still contains enough glorious photography to please its target audience. George Fenton's lush musical score enhances the spectacle, and the sound recording also is first-rate.
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Culled from the BBC's staggering 11-part documentary series Planet Earth, Disneynature's Earth demands to be seen on the biggest screen possible. Fundamentally a condensed trailer for the BBC's portrait of the globe's myriad habitats, the film offers a skimpy but reverential portrait of the intertwined relationship between the environment and its inhabitants. Loosely structured around the changing of the seasons and three animal families (polar bear, humpback whale, elephant) embarking on arduous journeys of survival, Earth begins its circular trek in the Arctic North and then wends its way south through, among other locales, the scarcely populated Boreal forests (as large as all the rain forests combined), the North American woodland forests, and the African deserts, capturing in each location a view of nature's fierce, rapturous majesty as well as the means by which birds and mammals engage in instinctive mating rituals and navigate eons-honed migration routes. Throughout, the repetition of innate patterns and the closeness of family and community—here, primarily between mother and child, and the individual and the herd—are shown to be imperative. And though a G rating means that the natural world's viciousness is somewhat mitigated in presentation, with scenes of predatory hunts cut short before bloodshed occurs, the film persistently imparts a sense of looming peril posed by carnivores, hunger, and environmental transformations, the last threat touched upon just enough—with regard to the melting polar ice caps—to provide subtle recognition of dawning climate change. Earth exhibits awe in the face of the planet's wonders and terrors, from the sight of two polar bear cubs emerging from hibernation to catch their first glimpse of the sunlight, to that of a great white shark bursting from the water with a seal clenched between its teeth. Although too brief and cursory to be comprehensive, it nonetheless remains an appetizer sure to stoke viewers' hunger for the BBC-produced main course.
Posts: 27256 | Location: Phoenix, AZ | Registered: February 02, 2003
I was really excited about seeing this on the big screen until I learned it was an edited version of the amazing BBC production "Planet Earth" which I have seen multiple times. Not sure if I want to pay money for something I have already seen. And a softer version of it no less with the more violent aspects of the "Circle of Life" edited out for the kiddies.
Posts: 27256 | Location: Phoenix, AZ | Registered: February 02, 2003
I've had mixed feelings about Earth since I first heard about it. A big part of me is afraid to watch it, "cleaned up" or otherwise. Yes; and I AM an "intervener" when it comes to Earth. Just like, I wouldnt walk away from people in need, neither would or do I with our fellow creatures. On the other hand, part of me is afraid (again) that films like these may be the only things we have left to remind us of Mother Earth. There's a good chance, I'll skip seeing it in theatres, but would buy the video for myself, and for other, like-minded people no matter their age. Also the "Ben's" said they liked it, so...that's not a motivator for me.
Posts: 13961 | Location: canada | Registered: December 22, 2005
Originally posted by babypook: I've had mixed feelings about Earth since I first heard about it. A big part of me is afraid to watch it, "cleaned up" or otherwise. Yes; and I AM an "intervener" when it comes to Earth. Just like, I wouldnt walk away from people in need, neither would or do I with our fellow creatures. On the other hand, part of me is afraid (again) that films like these may be the only things we have left to remind us of Mother Earth. There's a good chance, I'll skip seeing it in theatres, but would buy the video for myself, and for other, like-minded people no matter their age. Also the "Ben's" said they liked it, so...that's not a motivator for me.
What do you mean "intervener"? Do you mean just helping the planet in general ways or you would specifically "intervene" if you saw say a lion about to kill an antelope?
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Posts: 27256 | Location: Phoenix, AZ | Registered: February 02, 2003
Planet Earth is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen on television. I fear this film version "Earth" would be nothing more than a pale imitation.
And really, Disney is "cleaning it up"? Isn't this the studio that made "Bambi"? Different times, I guess.
Originally posted by babypook: I've had mixed feelings about Earth since I first heard about it. A big part of me is afraid to watch it, "cleaned up" or otherwise. Yes; and I AM an "intervener" when it comes to Earth. Just like, I wouldnt walk away from people in need, neither would or do I with our fellow creatures. On the other hand, part of me is afraid (again) that films like these may be the only things we have left to remind us of Mother Earth. There's a good chance, I'll skip seeing it in theatres, but would buy the video for myself, and for other, like-minded people no matter their age. Also the "Ben's" said they liked it, so...that's not a motivator for me.
What do you mean "intervener"? Do you mean just helping the planet in general ways or you would specifically "intervene" if you saw say a lion about to kill an antelope?
It's an issue I've pondered for most of my life, and I have had many discussions with many people, often with specific backgrounds.
The scenario you mention above would really depend. I wouldnt intervene in a hunt. They're predators. They have young to feed. On the other hand, if I knew that particular antelope, and was fond of it and it also had a young family, I'd intervene. But, I wouldnt just let the lion go hungry. It's my nature. I've lost count of the numbers of creatures and plants I've rescued.
I also have Planet Earth. And, although it is beautiful, I have mixed feelings about THAT series as well. For starters, kudos to the staff and crew for all their accolades. But, did they do more than travel the world and take those shots? What about that male polar bear? Was that, fun for them? Because, if it were me, I'd have dropped as many pounds of fish I could onto that floe. Whatever anyone's arguments for or against it, like I said. I've probably heard it. I prefer to remain, true to myself.
Thanks for asking pacinofan.
Posts: 13961 | Location: canada | Registered: December 22, 2005
April 22, 2009 Our Planet, Pole to Pole, Cold to Hot
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS Published: April 22, 2009
Leave it to Disney to make global warming as soothing as a full-body massage. In the grandiosely titled “Earth,” plundered largely from the BBC Natural History Unit’s magnificent “Planet Earth,” the filmmakers Alastair Fothergill and Mark Linfield take the temperature of our planet and conclude that it is rising. Blame James Earl Jones’s insistently cozy narration if the film makes that elevation seem as natural a phenomenon as the turning of the tides.
But this is nature defanged and declawed for kiddie consumption, so the emphasis is on awwww-filled moments — mandarin ducklings flapping adorably from nest to forest floor, polar bear cubs slithering on ungainly paws — captured in spectacularly high definition. Even when the fangs are visible (a great white shark gobbling a sea lion in balletic slow motion) the blood is not, thanks to tasteful and customer-sensitive editing. There are no creepy-crawlies on this earth.
Following the tilt of the planet from pole to pole, “Earth” records the expanding deserts and shrinking rainfalls with well-meaning diligence but without explanation. The plight of the thirsty African elephants (every dehydrated fold lovingly captured) and starving humpbacked whales seems as removed from human action as a solar eclipse.
As a result, you may leave the theater feeling as fuzzy — and ultimately as powerless — as those doomed polar bears.
EARTH
Opens on Wednesday nationwide.
Directed by Alastair Fothergill and Mark Linfield; narrated by James Earl Jones; edited by Martin Elsbury; music by George Fenton; produced by Sophokles Tasioulis and Alix Tidmarsh; released by Disneynature Films. Running time: 1 hour 30 minutes. This film is rated G.
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