March of the Penguins

source: March of the Penguins

This is an excellent feat. The film-makers have taken a yearly biological "march" of penguins, added story and voice overs, and created a story! I marvelled throughout at how human the emotions were, and how captivating the story of finding,losing and re-finding a soul mate is. The film is exquisitely photographed and the setting is reflected by the colours and photography. The wideness of the landscape and the bleakness are offset by the penguin colony and the struggle for survival, almost against the odds. The music and the songs create atmosphere in a way that words can't: brilliant interpretation of the songs written for the film. The voices are brilliant, the sub-titles engaging. A fact has been taken, made into an engaging story. See this documentary. It's really refreshing.

This is an amazingly beautiful and moving documentary. The stark Antarctic landscape is beautifully photographed as are the penguins. The score is lovely, too, and Morgan Freeman's narration sets the right tone. This doc clearly moved my audience, which was primarily older but sprinkled with a few young families. One child was heard crying as s/he reacted to death of a young chick. I wiped away a tear as well. My only "complaint" is that some very interesting material that was more behind the scenes was only shown over the closing credits. Many people in the audience who were filing out as the credits started to role actually stopped and held up the line in order to watch this part. I'll definitely want to check out the DVD to see some more of how this film was made. This is one film that should, if possible, be seen on the large screen. The setting and photography are too spectacular for a regular-sized TV in my opinion.

Morgan Freeman narrates the saga of Emperor penguins in the harsh Antarctica landscape to mate, breed and raise junior penguins. A ritual that has been carried on for centuries as Emperor penguins make a great march to the same place each year with solid ice and a bit of cover from ice cold temperatures and blustery wind. All to procreate and endure the hardship of their wilderness as well as seeking to avoid predators. This documentary has amazing photography which is a delight to watch but I felt I wanted to know something more about the penguins and why they carry out this savage journey of 70 miles each year. The film also makes the mistake of making penguins out to be cuddly and human-like. They are not, they are birds and behave like birds which aspects of the documentary skates around from. Some of the romantic gloss the filmmakers added was really a bit silly.

When I first watched the penguins walked shakily on the slippery snow, I laughed a lot. As the documentary continued, I was moved deeply by their spirit. They gave up warm environment and took the risk of dying to colder place for producing their next generation. One of the impressive scenes was the following one. A penguin adjusted its position again and again in order to make sure that the egg got the biggest warmth. What the penguin did reminded me of human being. Any parent would like to sacrifice everything to guarantee that their children grow healthily. The process is hard and happy. In fact we share the same experience with the penguin. The amazing cinematography leads us into the amazing world of the penguin. The lively music makes the whole documentary more interesting. An excellent documentary you should not miss. 8/10

*** Narration by Morgan Freeman. Directed by Luc Jacquet. A fantastic visual look at the emperor penguins journey to save them from extinction. Luc Jacquet directs this documentary about the penguins struggle in the harsh Antartic winds and the sleet of snow storms that affect the penguins in their mating season. Although the movie really can't go anywhere except for Antartica still the movie is a great documentary and a barrier breaker for penguins, showing the harsh reality instead of some cute, cuddly fantasy world in most of the penguin movies. The best documentary I've seen since Fahrenhiet 9/11. My final rating 7/10.

what made this nature documentary so good is probably due to some help from the french narration...it added some human touch to the penguins...to make them seem like they have the ability to think and emote their feelings, that some people might wonder whether there are actually humans inside those fur. However monotonous and 'boring' it may be, to my opinion no other form of narration can create such a powerful effect (and with standard) I am glad the creators made such a clever decision. Combined with that, getting to view a detailed account of their one-year cycle really allows you can really feel for these creatures so much that at times it can be painful to watch, but it is a good feeling that shows that we are not the only ones marching on with our lives.

This is one documentary that, wait for it isn't all that great. March of the Penguins does what all good National Geographic documentaries do: it informs and entertains while providing interesting wildlife footage. Unfortunately, it's not cinematic. The issue isn't whether the film is worth seeing, but whether it's worth the admission fee or the trip to the theater - not when you can see something of roughly equal quality on a half-dozen cable channels. My goal is not to dissuade potential viewers from seeing March of the Penguins, but to suggest that they wait for it to show up on DVD or TV. Unlike other, recent naturalistic documentaries there is little spectacle to be found in March of the Penguins. There are no moments of breathtaking awe. And the narration, read by Morgan Freeman from a script by Jordan Roberts, mixes useful information with half-baked.

A nice documentary that takes you through the journey of bunch of emperor penguins going to their special mating area in Antarctica and shows how they overcome the ridiculously heavy weather conditions in order to deliver cute little penguin babies.

Great the way it was transmitted the emperor penguin march, there is nothing but admiration for the determination of these animals, they overcome enormous obstacles, to return to their breeding grounds and begin the mating season, becoming heroes. I think Jacquet with his history could make us feel somehow related to the rituals of penguins, because the movie gave the Penguins a series of human records: they were funny, romantic, tender, awkward, sad and playful. The film ensures stunning images full of beauty, a lot of emotion and empathy for these animals. The film is a success in terms of showing the necessary without being long and tedious, showing the crude reality but in a beautiful way focusing on the wonder of nature.