'Earth' stuns
Kristy Kibler
Issue date: 5/1/09 Section: Features
By Kristy Kibler
Features Editor
Want an inside look at the hottest new movie to hit theaters? Well, just take a look around - you're on the set.
In "earth," the first feature-length nature documentary produced by Walt Disney Studio's new film label, Disneynature, viewers follow three different animal families in their search for food and survival.
A mother polar bear and her two newborn cubs make the dangerous trek from their wintertime den to the ocean to hunt seals, trying desperately to make it before the ice breaks up and can't support their weight.
Meanwhile, an elephant and her calf make their long, dusty way across the Kalihari Desert in search of water and food. In the depths of the ocean, a humpback whale teaches her baby how to breath and reluctantly leaves the safety of the tropics for the more plentiful, but far more dangerous, seas of Antarctica.
In between it all, the audience is treated to glimpses of the smaller, but no less entertaining, dramas unfolding from the bustling woodlands of North America to the tropical rainforests of New Guinea and everywhere in between. Schools of fish and great white shark attacks, cheetah chase scenes and tobogganing penguins: "earth" contains it all.
Now, even though I've wanted to see "earth" since I first heard about its premise, I had my doubts about whether a nature documentary would be worth the nine dollars I shelled out to see it. Well, I needn't have worried - it was far more ticket-worthy than many movies out right now.
A big part of the success of "earth" is the fact it's narrated by the legendary James Earl Jones, whose vocal talents have made characters like Darth Vader from "Star Wars" and Mufasa from Disney's "The Lion King" some of the most memorable in movie history. Few people could make a melting glacier sound as exciting as a high-speed car chase, but Jones manages that and more with every word.
Not only does "earth" score with narration, it also wows its audience visually. Shot by some of the world's best nature photographers and directed by Alastair Fothergill and Mark Linfield, the same men who produced the immensely popular "Planet Earth" series on the Discovery Channel, every frame of "earth" is truly breathtaking. It's clear from the beginning that state-of-the-art videography and filmmaking techniques are at work. It's impossible to not be taken in by the sheer beauty of the world, our world, this movie portrays.
Another great idea from the minds behind Disney was staying far away from anything approaching a preachy tone. The movie does mention the negative effects of mankind and global warming a few times, but it doesn't belabor the point. Instead, the film, released on Earth Day, takes a more hands-on approach to awareness; Disneynature said it will plant a tree for every ticket bought during opening week.
So whether you're in the mood for an action flick, a comedy or a love story, just take a glance into your own backyard. But if you'd like a closer look, sit back and enjoy "earth." You won't be disappointed.
e-mail:kiblerkj@sbu.edu
Features Editor
Want an inside look at the hottest new movie to hit theaters? Well, just take a look around - you're on the set.
In "earth," the first feature-length nature documentary produced by Walt Disney Studio's new film label, Disneynature, viewers follow three different animal families in their search for food and survival.
A mother polar bear and her two newborn cubs make the dangerous trek from their wintertime den to the ocean to hunt seals, trying desperately to make it before the ice breaks up and can't support their weight.
Meanwhile, an elephant and her calf make their long, dusty way across the Kalihari Desert in search of water and food. In the depths of the ocean, a humpback whale teaches her baby how to breath and reluctantly leaves the safety of the tropics for the more plentiful, but far more dangerous, seas of Antarctica.
In between it all, the audience is treated to glimpses of the smaller, but no less entertaining, dramas unfolding from the bustling woodlands of North America to the tropical rainforests of New Guinea and everywhere in between. Schools of fish and great white shark attacks, cheetah chase scenes and tobogganing penguins: "earth" contains it all.
Now, even though I've wanted to see "earth" since I first heard about its premise, I had my doubts about whether a nature documentary would be worth the nine dollars I shelled out to see it. Well, I needn't have worried - it was far more ticket-worthy than many movies out right now.
A big part of the success of "earth" is the fact it's narrated by the legendary James Earl Jones, whose vocal talents have made characters like Darth Vader from "Star Wars" and Mufasa from Disney's "The Lion King" some of the most memorable in movie history. Few people could make a melting glacier sound as exciting as a high-speed car chase, but Jones manages that and more with every word.
Not only does "earth" score with narration, it also wows its audience visually. Shot by some of the world's best nature photographers and directed by Alastair Fothergill and Mark Linfield, the same men who produced the immensely popular "Planet Earth" series on the Discovery Channel, every frame of "earth" is truly breathtaking. It's clear from the beginning that state-of-the-art videography and filmmaking techniques are at work. It's impossible to not be taken in by the sheer beauty of the world, our world, this movie portrays.
Another great idea from the minds behind Disney was staying far away from anything approaching a preachy tone. The movie does mention the negative effects of mankind and global warming a few times, but it doesn't belabor the point. Instead, the film, released on Earth Day, takes a more hands-on approach to awareness; Disneynature said it will plant a tree for every ticket bought during opening week.
So whether you're in the mood for an action flick, a comedy or a love story, just take a glance into your own backyard. But if you'd like a closer look, sit back and enjoy "earth." You won't be disappointed.
e-mail:kiblerkj@sbu.edu
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