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Planet Earth II Review

The BBC’s latest nature show, Planet Earth II, is not only incredible television, but also a cinematic masterpiece.

It has been 10 years since the first Planet Earth was released and the differences with the latest adaptation are staggering. Planet Earth was a breath-taking nature show, but that’s exactly how it felt, like a nature show.

However, Planet Earth II grips you like no other nature show has, because it is a fully-fledged cinematic experience. Whether you’re following monkeys zipping through the treetops, or watching an iguana flee from an army of snakes, at times it feels more like an action film than a nature documentary.

From the first episode’s opening panoramic shot of the islands of Panama, to the hyperlapse journeys through bustling Hong Kong, the technological advancements are clear. The transition to filming in 4K reveals stunning detail, waves of starlings are no longer seen as a single black mass flowing through the sky, but thousands of individual birds performing an intricate dance.

Combined with the advancements in thermal imaging and night vision cameras, the show offers extraordinary insights into the lives of animals, that were up until now impossible to capture on film. Seeing a jaguar prowling the parks of Mumbai, lit up by military grade thermal cameras with every hair visible as it stalks wild pigs, all within striking distance of the visitors wandering through the park.

The return of Sir David Attenborough does not disappoint either. His smooth and comforting speech weaves rich and relatable stories of the struggles in the animal kingdom, without personifying or taking away from the raw animalistic brutality of nature.

All of this is underscored by original music from renowned composer Hans Zimmer, and while the soundtrack is substantially subtler than Hans Zimmer’s more famous works (Gladiator, Inception), it goes a long way in supporting the cinematic feel of the show.

Planet Earth II is an evolution and much needed transformation of the nature documentary genre. It provides an intensely emotional and exciting journey throughout all six stunning, feature length episodes and is a much watch for not only fans of the genre, but for everyone.

Planet Earth II was released on Bluray and DVD on the 29th March 2017.

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