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Earth
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 26 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 19 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Adventure | Documentary
Written by:
Directed by:
Alastair Fothergill
Mark Linfield
Release Date:
Theatrical: April 22, 2009
DVD: September 1, 2009
Running Time: 95 minutes, Color
Origin: UK | Germany | USA
Summary
RATING: G for General Audiences
Starring James Earl Jones
The first film in the Disneynature series, Earth, narrated by James Earl Jones, tells the remarkable story of three animal families and their amazing journey across the planet we all call home. Earth combines rare action, unimaginable scale and impossible locations by capturing the most intimate moments of our planet's wildest and most elusive creatures. (Disneynature)
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
This super-duper deluxe nature documentary clearly aims to recruit young viewers as conservationists.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach
Whereas the TV series rarely flinched when it came to showing the animal world as it is, Earth always pulls back at the last second. It shows a cheetah pulling down a gazelle, but not the feast that follows.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer
For most of the way this is an eye-popping, not blood-curdling, experience.
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
Earth eloquently shows the struggle, life doing what it must to sustain life. The spectacle is stirring.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
It would be Pollyannaish to pretend that the documentary Earth is without its problems, but the bottom line is, difficulties be damned, it shouldn't be missed.
Read Full Review >Variety Jay Weissberg
A ravishing distillation of the BBC/Discovery series "Planet Earth," docu brings to the large screen memorable images that cried out on TV for the full movie-going experience.
Read Full Review >NPR Bob Mondello
The ascribing of emotions to these critters can get a little Lion King-ripe at times. But the filmmakers have filled in around their "family" narratives with footage that is breathtaking enough on a towering screen -- and you should find the biggest one possible -- that it is hard to object too strenuously.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Jean Oppenheimer
State-of-the-art camera equipment captures images of startling clarity and proximity. There isn't one frame of CGI.
Read Full Review >Charlotte Observer Roger Moore
Nothing too graphic, but it creates drama, as it’s only natural to root for the hunted in a film like this.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
It requires only four words to describe Earth: glorious photography, annoying narration.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Janice Page
This Earth doesn't really have anything new to say, but it does present some newly entertaining ways of saying it.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
A wide-screen wildlife documentary in which the cycles of birth and death, migrations and seasons, are captured in stunning - absolutely stunning - ways.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Stephen Cole
By hiring James Earl Jones to narrate, Disney has prepared youngsters to understand that man is equally capable of heroism and villainy.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Jason Buchanan
The overall tone of the film is absolutely appropriate for all ages, and it's never too early to learn the importance of preserving our planet.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall
This first feature from Disney's new nature division has an encyclopedic reach and spectacular footage shot by more than two dozen crack cinematographers.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Stephen Farber
Although Earth falls short of its potential, it still contains enough glorious photography to please its target audience.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Jeannette Catsoulis
This is nature defanged and declawed for kiddie consumption, so the emphasis is on awwww-filled moments.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Kimberley Jones
This first release from Disney’s self-explanatory new arm, Disneynature, is at the very least peripherally concerned with the planet and its dwindling prospects, but the real renewable resource here is the groundbreaking "Planet Earth" miniseries.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
On the nature-documentary continuum, Earth falls closer to the cuddly anthropomorphism of "March Of The Penguins" than the cold rationality of "Grizzly Man."
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Puig
If you've watched the BBC series "Planet Earth," then Earth will seem like a familiar, if stunning, global rewarming.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek
There's nothing in Earth that's as moving as the sight of the mother penguin "grieving" for her chick in "March of the Penguins." You can applaud Earth for not jerking tears. On the other hand, an occasional tear isn't such a bad thing.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Joe Neumaier
As a virtual tour of what Earth Day is about, kids ought to be entranced. If it helps them get greener, even better.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Justin Berton
For adults, Earth misses the mark of riveting storytelling. Earth crams in the dramatic adventures of several species (including penguins) - with the result that it comes up short on telling one really good story.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 5.4 (out of 10) based on 19 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Jay H gave it a6:
What is it with Disney and animals being killed or dying in films? It's like an obsession - from Bambi to Old Yeller to this. I love nature documentaries, but I want to feel enthralled with the beauty, not the heartache of killing and death. I realize it's part of the natural cycle, but I don't have to be hit over the head with it either. Needless to say, I was disappointed. The cinematography is magnificent though. The score is a bit overdone. Cheer up Disney.
Justin S gave it a5:
OK, but only OK. Want to see the real thing check out BBC's Planent Earth. You'll recognize a lot of the footage. In the same vein, you wait until next year for Disney's Ocean, or just watch BBC's Blue Planet now.
Enzo P. gave it a5:
Earth has to be one of the most ok movies of the year. I really thought that this movie was going to be better then what it was.
James V gave it a1:
Made up of over 90%+ footage that people who would have been interested in this have already seen, and then voiced by darth vader, this movie even has large snippetts of the exact same lines as in Planet Earth. It is a complete waste of money, unless you are looking for a sentimental and fatalistic movie that attempts to demonstrate how life is meaningless (its subtle, but there) and really really love the narrator, I would skip the whole thing and just see Planet Earth.
Josh P gave it a5:
Earth's narration is cleared geared towards seven-year-olds, and there are perhaps eight facts in the entire movie. Clips are often shown with no explanation as to what or where they are. The footage is still spectacular, but in Planet Earth, it was arranged and presented far better than in Earth. I suggest that you watch the original Planet Earth series if you liked Earth and haven't ever seen Planet Earth--it's far better, in my opinion, and David Attenborough is awesome, of course. On another note, people who don't believe in global warming...funny stuff. Thanks, P K, for brightening my day!
Mary R gave it a2:
Dreadful, dreadful. Awful script, nondescript music, poor editing of very beautiful BBC nature footage. Repeated scenes of young animals hunted and killed in slow motion -- very inappropriate for children. Haven't walked out of a movie in years before this. Watch the Attenborough BBC specials instead.
Randy M gave it a6:
Earth has the power to grasp you...if you haven't seen the better photographed, narrated, and presented "Planet Earth" series from BBC.
