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David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet

Play trailer Poster for David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet PG 2020 1h 23m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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96% Tomatometer 23 Reviews 97% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
David Attenborough discusses humanity's impact on nature and the actions we can take to save the planet.
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David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet

Critics Reviews

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Tim Robey Daily Telegraph (UK) Attenborough - ever humble, ever magisterial - recognises his extraordinary fortune in being able to travel so far and wide, and interact with so many species now all but lost to us. Rated: 3/5 Nov 20, 2020 Full Review India Bourke New Statesman The film's tone is largely one of making reparation for harm done -- and is only partially hopeful about our prospects for emerging from the flames. Oct 21, 2020 Full Review Natalia Winkelman New York Times The film's grand achievement is that it positions its subject as a mediator between humans and the natural world. Oct 4, 2020 Full Review Gem Seddon SFX Magazine Attenborough’s nature documentaries are often jaw-dropping. A Life on Our Planet does so for very different reasons. Feb 3, 2022 Full Review Victor Pineyro Seventh Art Studio Attenborough's life has been nothing less than impressive. His words hit harder as a living witness of the harm we've been doing to the planet. [Full review in Spanish] Rated: 7/10 Oct 22, 2021 Full Review Paul M. Bradshaw NME (New Musical Express) The most important film of the year. Rated: 5/5 Apr 23, 2021 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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haylee This was an attention grabbing watch that has inspired me to make a change, and hopefully you as well. So many scientific reasons and points leave little to no room for debate, so make sure to show this film to your pals who say "climate change isn't real"! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/06/23 Full Review Sarah R David Attenborough shines in his latest environment-centered film about the state of our degrading planet while highlighting our roles in ensuring a more sustainable world. Attenborough wastes no time in sounding the environmental alarm, rattling off a startling cascade of statistics in the first 30 minutes: 3 million trees have been cut down worldwide for urbanization, fishing industries have caught 90% of the world's largest fish species, and we have amassed more carbon emissions in the last 200 years than a million years of volcanic eruptions could ever surpass. Deep, raw footage from aerial shots of a crumbling, toxic waste-exposed city in Chernobyl, Ukraine to the raw, bloody scene of a slaughtered whale in the seas of the Atlantic only highlight the magnitude of this situation. The film demands attention, not only by communicating the severity of environmental degradation to a shocked audience, but by rebounding with messages of hope and insistence that things can be made right. Unlike most environmental advocacy films, which aim to elicit guilt from the audience, Attenborough and his team choose to induce feelings of grief to create a more personal link from viewer to planet. The choice to focus on Attenborough's career, along with the film's message of environmental degradation, is a decision that does its equal share of harm and good. It allows the film to establish a timeline to present statistics and highlight key events, but it also creates a distraction that sometimes overshadows the message of the film. The silence that follows the reveal of 1978's harrowing carbon footprint (335 parts per million worldwide) is expected to transition into a gray, depressive shot of a factory or industrial building as Attenborough analyzes the magnitude of the number he just described. However, viewers are treated to TV footage of Attenborough's new television show that was released the following year. This almost treats the film like a promotion of Attenborough's works and trumps the seriousness the film worked so hard to establish. Overall, the film does a fantastic job outlining the fading health of the planet, but at times, the main message of conservation feels overshadowed with callbacks to Attenborough's career. Like the somber shot of an orangutan hanging from the remains of a single tree in a cleared plot of land, the film hangs onto the core message of restoring balance to the planet in a powerful way, but struggled to establish the right balance between promoting Attenborough's life and worldwide change for the planet. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 06/14/23 Full Review Eduardo H Without falling into doomerism, David shows how as humanity we have pretty much trashed the planet... But still there is hope. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/02/23 Full Review Audience Member All ages admitted!!!!!! The greatest 01 hour: and 23 minutes ever with real people and footage!!!!!!!!!! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Audience Member Such an important movie. It was really hard to watch at times and it did make me cry, but the end was truly inspiring! Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/19/23 Full Review Audience Member Satisfyingly provides answers and inspirations while on a scenic route passionately narrated like an informatively urgent lecture, David Attenborough solidly delivers in a timely alarming matter. (A) Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/17/23 Full Review Read all reviews
David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet

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Movie Info

Synopsis David Attenborough discusses humanity's impact on nature and the actions we can take to save the planet.
Director
Alastair Fothergill, Jonnie Hughes, Keith Scholey
Producer
Jonnie Hughes
Production Co
World Wildlife Fund, Altitude Film Entertainment, Silverback Films, Netflix
Rating
PG (Thematic Content)
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Oct 4, 2020
Runtime
1h 23m
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