Frozen Planet

I was a huge fan of "Planet Earth" and had high hopes for this series. So far, I'm not quite impressed. The footage is good, the voiceover (Alec Baldwin) is good enough, but it just doesn't seem as amazing as Planet Earth did. Some of the stuff (woolly bear caterpillar, some of the polar bear stuff, and the wolves/bison) is pretty cool, but it doesn't seem to have the same impact that PE did when it ran for the first time.

The glacier footage was awe-inspiring and somewhat saddening. It's hard sometimes to understand how truly awesome the earth really can be.

Anyone else watching? Thoughts?

I really liked the footage of the orcas creating the wave and knocking seal into the water, pretty cool.

Why was it on 5 different channels at the same time?

I enjoyed it.

But...they do edit the fack out of it. They clip together a polar bear sniffing the wind with a baby seal that emerged from a hole when in actuality it probably happened months apart.

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Originally Posted by mrburns

I really liked the footage of the orcas creating the wave and knocking seal into the water, pretty cool.

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I've seen something similar where a mom was teaching her calf how to catch and kill....repeatedly letting the seal get away for more practice. Very cool

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Originally Posted by Captain Awesome

I was a huge fan of "Planet Earth" and had high hopes for this series. So far, I'm not quite impressed. The footage is good, the voiceover (Alec Baldwin) is good enough, but it just doesn't seem as amazing as Planet Earth did. Some of the stuff (woolly bear caterpillar, some of the polar bear stuff, and the wolves/bison) is pretty cool, but it doesn't seem to have the same impact that PE did when it ran for the first time.

The glacier footage was awe-inspiring and somewhat saddening. It's hard sometimes to understand how truly awesome the earth really can be.

Anyone else watching? Thoughts?

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The narrator isn't Alec Baldwin.....

It's THIS guy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn5uvZpz56s


Compare....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1f--G...feature=relmfu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1f--GZSptnk&feature=relmfu

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Captain Awesome

I was a huge fan of "Planet Earth" and had high hopes for this series. So far, I'm not quite impressed. The footage is good, the voiceover (Alec Baldwin) is good enough, but it just doesn't seem as amazing as Planet Earth did. Some of the stuff (woolly bear caterpillar, some of the polar bear stuff, and the wolves/bison) is pretty cool, but it doesn't seem to have the same impact that PE did when it ran for the first time.

The glacier footage was awe-inspiring and somewhat saddening. It's hard sometimes to understand how truly awesome the earth really can be.

Anyone else watching? Thoughts?

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Woolly bear caterpillar - 14 Years of eating and then freezing solid. That's a long way to go to make a standard looking moth. I was waiting for a bird to swoop in and eat the moth, 14 years in the making, 14 seconds after it hatched.

They seemed to to do less in depth coverage on each animal and topic than PE. The HD footy is awesome on the new Samsung 7 series, almost too real looking. And great editing pull it together for a good show.

It'd have to be 30% better to have the same effect as Planet Earth IMHO..... It's not new anymore, just new footage and a new voice.

That said, from what I saw, I loved it... I'm a sucker for these shows though.

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Originally Posted by mrburns

I really liked the footage of the orcas creating the wave and knocking seal into the water, pretty cool.

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It is beyond mind blowing in person. An eerie alien intelligence at work. Here are some shots from Nov that belong in the NSR Antarctica TR I should have posted a while back (and probably still should - to address the question of why you would ever do a non-skiing trip down there). Same general time frame as the ski trip.

A leopard seal coming the the horrible realization that if you are not the very top of the food chain, you are on somebody's menu.
https://idisk.mac.com/zonkos//Public/FSGA/DSC_8232.jpg

Those somebodies are "Killer Bs" and they have a plan...
https://idisk.mac.com/zonkos//Public/FSGA/DSC_8246.jpg

Look carefully inside the wave.
https://idisk.mac.com/zonkos//Public/FSGA/DSC_8265.jpg

Life is sucking, but that seal is determined to stay on that ice.
https://idisk.mac.com/zonkos//Public/FSGA/DSC_8267.jpg

Why are you not in mah belly!!!!
https://idisk.mac.com/zonkos//Public/FSGA/DSC_8284.jpg

After a while, the killer whales let it go and went shopping elsewhere.

I have not yet made it to the arctic, but I can say that if you ever get a chance to go to S. Georgia and Antarctica, do it. Every day made my brain explode. I think the fewest number of new species (to me) I saw in a day was 3. And the landscape is crazy..

Back directly OT - amazing show.

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Originally Posted by gatorboy

Why was it on 5 different channels at the same time?

I enjoyed it.
.

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I was wondering why it was on 50 channels too. Pretty strange but maybe they didn't want the pilot to get missed. I thought it was a pretty cool show too.

just pirate it in the original from bbc and bask in the real way this thing was supposed to be narrated: by attenborough, with attenborough's voice.

baldwin, and weaver before him, simply can't act like they care as much as david does.

just finished the series here in NZ, and having grown up with attenborough and bbc bristol doco's, i thought that this was a pretty weak offering. It seemed to pander to the cutesy, ahhh making side, with no real new fact in there.

I think alot of this feeling stems from the fact it was filmed as a commercial product, designed to be syndicated as much as possible and produced in conjunction with the discovery channel. so yes lots of people are gong to watch it, but for me its kinda lost its edge.

i don't get this -- you don't like it because it tries to appeal to a wider audience? that's all? it's supposed to be a popular program, the more people see it the better it has achieved its goals, which are to popularize the least explored parts of our continents.

in the days of reality tv one should be celebrating the wider appeal of a programme like this even if it's not to their hardcore 'docu watcher' taste. besides, we're probably not going to get another one like these. not with him at least, and not without a lot of computer animation and time travel and other gimmicks.

I haven't watched, but I will look for it.

I have gotten sick and tired of TV documentaries and the overly melodramatic portrayal of everything. Even in HD were the shot are amazing enough to carry the series, the ridiculous naration and music ruin it. I would watch them with the sound off, but I really do want to learn something from them.

well, frozen planet does overplay the melodramatic card a bit, i admit. still, it's the best compendium of imagery from the poles.

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Originally Posted by f2f

just pirate it in the original from bbc and bask in the real way this thing was supposed to be narrated: by attenborough, with attenborough's voice.

baldwin, and weaver before him, simply can't act like they care as much as david does.

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I haven't seen Frozen Planet yet, but I agree wholeheartedly when it comes to the BBC's other documentaries. I absolutely love all the Attenborough narrated documentaries. Have a hard time going to sleep? Watch one of them before going to bed and his voice will straight knock you out. I don't think he's boring by any means, but rather it's just that his voice is really soothing and perfect for documentaries. I think he's far superior to the American versions because his soft, British voice doesn't overpower the awesome cinematography.

Did anyone else find it annoying when Disney came out with the theatrical release of Planet Earth, that they re-edited the crap out of, and renamed "Earth?" Oh wow, now we have a third narrator, half the footage clipped out and re-arranged, and dumbed down for American audiences. Still fantastic footage nevertheless. You just watch, Disney probably already has one in the works for FP.

it's a very well done show.....loved it

I liked the part where that buffalo fucked over that other buffalo in the wolf chase.