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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

March of the Penguins
Warner Independent Pictures


8.2

based on 39 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 89 votes
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MPAA RATING: Not Rated

Starring Morgan Freeman (narrator)

This documentary chronicles one year in the life of an emperor penguin flock.

GENRE(S):	Documentary \| Foreign
WRITTEN BY:	Michel Fessler
DIRECTED BY:	Luc Jacquet
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: November 29, 2005 Theatrical: June 24, 2005
RUNNING TIME:	85 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	France

Original title "La Marche de l'empereur"

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...

100

San Francisco Chronicle G. Allen Johnson

An astonishing documentary.

100

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

The movie pays tribute to sexual equality and to each gender's agility and strength of character.

100

The New Yorker David Denby

A perfect family movie, a perfect date movie, and one of the most eye-ravishing documentaries ever made.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

The film that results from Jacquet's application is gorgeous and even inspiring, a tale of loyalty hard-tested and hard-earned, a sumptuous travelogue, and a reminder that some of the critters with whom we share the planet are, in ways, as complex in their feelings as any human being.

Slate David Edelstein

Remarkable.

Newsweek David Ansen

Jacquet's movie is as visually ravishing as "Winged Migration," and more gripping.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

The glacially beautiful new documentary March Of The Penguins confirms that no computer-animated or hand-drawn penguin could ever match the curious majesty of the genuine article.

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

Thrilling documentary.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Crust

As uplifting as anything you will find in theaters.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

There's more drama, and more heartbreak, in March of the Penguins than in most movies that are actually scripted to tug at our feelings.

Austin Chronicle Marrit Ingman

Jacquet's penguins are as absorbing and incredible as any man-made phantasmagoria you'll find in the multiplex this summer, and it's all real.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

The best action movie of the month contains chase scenes, fights, a love story, exotic locations - well, one exotic locale, snow-blasted Antarctica - and a battle for survival against long odds amid brutal conditions.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

It's poignant to watch the chicks in their youth, fed by their parents, playing with their chums, the sun climbing higher every day, little suspecting what they're in for.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

A remarkable, eye-popping nature documentary.

USA Today Claudia Puig

A cinematic experience that is dazzlingly different from anything currently in theaters, March of the Penguins captivates with its straightforward but powerful story of dogged determination, survival against harsh odds and sacrifice.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Luc Jacquet's exquisitely shot eye-of-God study of a year in the lives of these distinctive birds is a nature film built with a feel for the epic and a love of operatic narrative.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

This sentimental but riveting film has no qualms about playing on our emotions.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

Watch them march to the very extremes of extremis, though, and it's easy to feel awe.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

A nature documentary that captures the ferocity and heroism of nature.

Film Threat Jeremy Mathews

The film goes beyond a nature movie with excellent photography and the determination of the animals it documents.

Dallas Observer Melissa Levine

Astonishing if imperfect nature documentary.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

A delightful, wholesome experience for the family.

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

It doesn't take a screenwriter, for example, to point out the uncanny fact that, when two parent penguins perform a neck-curving pas de deux above their tiny chick, they resemble nothing so much as a perfect heart.

Chicago Tribune Allison Benedikt

Mostly it's an incredible tale of ritual and perseverance.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

Concise and intriguing.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Michael Moore might want to look into this before more animal docs steal his thunder.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Paula Nechak

The director's tenacity has resulted in a breathtaking as well as heartbreaking adventure of life and death.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

Touching and brisk.

Premiere Peter Debruge

If anything, it's the degree to which the animals differ from us that makes March of the Penguins so fascinating.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

When it comes to cute, this baby is off the charts.

Variety Joe Leydon

Sometimes harrowing, sometimes hokey, sometimes heartwarming nature documentary.

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

Some of the eggs fail to hatch and some of the chicks die, and the parents' cries are painful to hear, though what they're really crying for is the future of their species.

Time Richard Schickel

It's a gentle film about somewhat alien beings, who entertain us by creating instead of destroying.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

Parents of young children should be warned: Here's a family-values film that won't be much fun for the whole family.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Does what all good National Geographic documentaries do: it informs and entertains while providing interesting wildlife footage. Unfortunately, it's not cinematic.

Empire Helen O'Hara

It's a missed opportunity to make a great documentary, but still decent family entertainment, with awe-inspiring Antarctic scenery and some very cute stars.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

The penguins' matter-of-fact victory over some of the Earth's most punishing conditions is astonishing enough without the epic airs.

Village Voice Michael Atkinson

The Central Park Zoo is cheaper, you can walk away from the penguins after 10 minutes, and it has snow monkeys and beer.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

As a zoological spectacle the movie is riveting. But the narration tries to make us think of these adorable animals as if they saw the world in human terms.

The average user rating for this movie is 8.2 (out of 10) based on 89 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

David S. gave it a10:
This was the most beautiful and astounding video ever. Do a comparison with the insane Bush Family crooks and we see why these guys have lasted millions of years. The Bish Guys will be soon gone and depricated for the mass murders they are for all time

dave z gave it a10:
A movie that demands your attention based on something that most people would simply skip over while browsing cable. Perhaps it is the unbelievable cinematography, the struggle not only of the penguins but of the filmakers themselves to survive or perhaps it is the perfect narrative voice of Freedman that makes this one of the greatest cyclical stories of life from beginning to end in less than an hour and a half. You should watch this even if you're not a nature buff.

Titania B. gave it a9:
I watched the "Movies That Pop" version on DirectTV, which I'm sure made the movie more upbeat, more interesting, and somewhat less gloomy. Great movie, I highly recommend it!

Amurabi M. gave it an8:
This is a riveting, awesome and tenderful documentary, far, far away from the NatGeo sensation. That´s the triumph of french director Luc Jacquet that offers a look to this cute animals without any perspective. He just put on screen, the battle for life of the Emperors. Which is tne curse, the condemnation of been harassed for weather, predators and the cruel nature to get into this dance? Life. Jacquet doesn´t tries to persuades us from any point of view. He and his penguins are telling a story. A story of love, survival and sacrifice. It´s a drama, yes (even with a touch of sentimentalism), but above all is a story than is set for nature and nobody has ever captured. It´s the feeling of joie-de-vivre taught for tuxedo animals.Those penguins do more for the optimism around this world than any other thing these days.

Giselle gave it a10:
A most magnificent movie about an incredibly special species that one was priveleged to get to know through this documentary. Brilliant. Let's treasure gifts of Nature like these magnificent birds!

Callum H. gave it a10:
Simply Amazing, I wasn't so much of a fan of Documentaries before I saw this. It just tells you the life of an Emporer Penguin in such a way, it may make you cry.

Thomas D. gave it a10:
Tells about how penguins live. In the snow & the male with egg when female go to find food.

March of the Penguins Warner Independent Pictures

March of the Penguins
Warner Independent Pictures