Did Chris Knight Actually Watch BBC’s Planet Earth?
This morning I read 3 film reviews of Disney’s Earth which is a recycled, watered-down version of BBC’s Planet Earth. I read the print editions but here are the links to the reviews:
- Chris Knight — Earth: Bambi Reloaded (National Post)
- Peter Howell — Earth: Takes recycling a bit far (Toronto Star)
- Stephen Cole — A view of our planet that’s out of this world (Globe and Mail)
I started with Chris Knight’s 3-star review and I began to wonder if he ever saw the Planet Earth miniseries. Knight recalls the famous scene in Planet Earth where a great white shark leaps out of the water:
This last shot I recall from the Planet Earth miniseries, but very little footage has been recycled, and the film’s emphasis leans more toward simple awe rather than the TV show’s bio-scientific focus.
Really? Every clip I’ve seen from the TV commercials for Earth are clips from Planet Earth. The other reviews I read indicate that Earth is a simply a recycled version of Planet Earth. Peter Howell’s biggest complaint about Earth is that:
“The animals in Earth, the ballyhooed first theatrical release from the new DisneyNature label, have all been seen before.”
“Anyone going to Earth expecting something new, as I was, is bound to be a bit disappointed, although the photography still commands awe.”
“This is taking recycling a bit far, even for a movie opening on Earth Day.”
Stephen Cole from the Globe and Mail obviously saw both films and agrees that:
Much of the eye-opening nature footage has been repurposed from the Discovery Channel’s Emmy-winning 2006 mini-series Planet Earth.
Chris Knight was too busy writing clever jokes to realize that it was Sir David Attenborough and not Sir Richard Attenborough that provided the narration for Planet Earth:
While the miniseries featured the stern Shakespearean delivery of Sir Richard Attenborough, Earth the movie goes for the more family-friendly bass notes of James Earl Jones. (Morgan Freeman must have been busy.)
To be honest, I made the same mistake of mixing up the Attenborough boys but I’m not getting paid to write a review for a national newspaper! I haven’t seen Earth but thanks to Peter Howell’s solid review I won’t need to. I like the National Post but I won’t be reading another Chris Knight review after today.
I recently finished watching all of BBC’s Planet Earth on Blu-ray and have no interest in watching Disney’s kid-friendly version narrated by Darth Vader (James Earl Jones). Disney is a slick marketing machine but do yourself a favour and watch the real thing on DVD or Blu-ray — BBC’s Planet Earth.
Posted in Movies at 10:22 AM
Comments
I read Chris Knight’s review and, though well written, he obviously paid precious little attention to more than his bag of popcorn. Disney’s Earth is recycled fare and put out there to teach the company’s materialistic fandom to respect a planet that is used, abused, mistreated and all too often scoffed and sneered at… a la Mr. Knight’s sardonic tone in his review of whatever it was he wasn’t watching. I once read, and correctly so, that Planet Earth is the Titanic of documentaries. I submit that rather than go down with the ship, Mr. Knight be pushed overboard for missing the point – and, apparently, the movie.
Sir Richard Attenborough narrated it? Everyone knows David Attenborough is the king of nature narration – I suppose next you’ll be telling us James Earl Ray was the voice of Darth Vader? Perhaps it was Gene Siskel in Jurassic Park?? Oops, that was Sir Richard… or was it David, Mr. Knight??? You give readers the wrong name and critics a bad name. My rating – thumbs down, way down.
Posted by: Roger Ebert on April 22, 2009 3:15 PM
Roger, it appears that you too never saw Planet Earth and thought that Patrick Stewart was the original narrator?
In your review you say:
To be sure, Disney didn’t produce the movie. It is a feature-length compilation from the splendid BBC and Discovery Channel series “Planet Earth,†using the big screen to make full use of its high-def images. The feature’s original narrator, Patrick Stewart, has been replaced by James Earl Jones.
Come on Roger, the original narrator for Planet Earth was Sir David Attenborough! Now to be fair, it looks like Patrick Stewart provided the voiceover narration of the British feature length version of Planet Earth whereas James Earl Jones provided the narration for the US version released by Disney. This is getting confusing.
Posted by: jay 
on April 22, 2009 4:10 PM
Roger, I’m saddened to see you casting the first (well, second) stone. You once confused Tom Cruise’s character of Ethan Hunt with the real-life Ethan Hawke in a review of Mission: Impossible III. In fact, your emailed for-syndication reviews often contain errors that editors (I was once among them) write back to correct you on. I have a file of such corrections (which I would never release, except for the one example above); they’re amusing, and remind me of the fallibility we all share.
As to missing the point and being sardonic, I open my review with “If you love this planet – heck, even if you’re just rather fond of it – you’ve got to get a kick out of Earth,” and close with “you’d be a fool not to treasure this paradise and want to protect it.” I hope that’s not read as sardonic, because it’s meant in sincerity - just as I am sincerely hurt to be on the receiving end of your powerful thumb.
Posted by: Chris Knight on April 22, 2009 11:41 PM
You’re right and wrong, my media-minded colleague. Patrick Stewart also did the trailers for Disney’s Earth, but across the pond - I got my copy when attending the BAFTAs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wc47e6CmwMQ&feature=player_embedded
It only gets worse… when Planet Earth
was televised on Discovery Channel back in 2007, the narrator wasn’t Sir David, but Sigourney Weaver! Two thumbs down!!
Posted by: Roger Ebert on April 23, 2009 4:51 AM
