The Case for the Planet

Earth is a farily beautiful planet. And the dominant species on it, while helping destroy hundreds of species on the planet's face, are not always that humble about it.

But with a movie / documentary like this, that is not altogether surprising. Patrick Stewart adds his soothing tones as the presenter of a trip from the North Pole to the South, and then quickly back to the north again. We follow elephants and humpback whales and birds of paradise and penguins and lions and tigers and bears (oh my) in their more G-rated rituals. This is not a brutal, blood and guts version of existence, but nor does it shy away from death and paint every animal as living in harmony with every other.

Earth is beautiful to behold, the shots of the planet from space particularly spectacular. But I feel the "green" message would have been better served had they actually demonstrated man's influence on the environment. It is one thing to show cute furry animals in their natural, pristine environment, but it is quite another to see deforestation, oil slicks and busy shipping lanes.

Verdict: Taken as a kiddie nature doco, Earth is wonderful. Taken as a message for saving the planet... well, you definitely want to preserve what they show, but there is a disconnect between that and what we can actually do. 6 seas out of 7.