Planet Earth: Mountains Essay (Movie Review)

Summary

The Planet Earth series are amazing in that they embrace practically all wonders that nature has to offer. One might think that Planet Earth is solely about soil, lava and the core of the planet, yet it, strangely enough, manages to capture a number of other peculiar information into the scope of a forty-minute series.

The video opens with an image of the “frozen alien world” (documentareorg, 2011, January 31, 0:41), and the next spot that it takes its audience to is one of the hottest spots in the entire world, the “other extreme” in Ethiopia (documentareorg, 2011, January 31, 01:01).

After a short introduction about how volcanoes are made and what the volcanic forces are, the narrator switches to practical examples by showing Ethiopian mountains and describing the process of their formation. As soon as the history of the Ethiopian Mountains is briefly touched upon, the local mountain dwellers are sown to the viewers.

Attractive in their own anthropomorphous way, Gelada monkeys appear to be rather well adjusted to the harsh environment of the Ethiopian Mounts. To prove his point, the narrator shifts the focus from Geladas onto the Ethiopian mountain climate, describing it as very changeable. Clearly, Ethiopia is a place where one can observe “all seasons in one day” (documentareorg, 2011, January 31, 09:35).

After the audience had learned about the herbivores that one can encounter in mountains, it was time to talk about the local carnivores. The narrator made the audience face the heat of Africa and follow a family of pumas, which he described them as the “lions of the Andes” (18:04).

Soon more dangerous dwellers of mountains were revealed to the viewers – the latter were able to observe a family of bears. Speaking of danger, the issue of avalanches was discussed as well.

Finally, the audience appears at the “roof of the world” (documentareorg, 2011, January 31,), known as the Mount Everest. The documentary ends on a relatively general and rather sad note, with a demoiselle crane hovering over the mountains in search for its nestling, which fell prey to an eagle.

Despite the depressing ending, the movie still leaves a tangible feeling of wonder about the subject matter, as it actually should. Though explored well, mountains are still very fascinating, especially taking their rather unusual nature into account. A true wonder of nature, mountains are, and will be, one of the most wonderful places on Earth.

Reference List

documentareorg (2011, January 31). Planet Earth 02 – mountains. Web.