After sitting in my car for over ten hours watching episode after episode of The Office, I decided to venture away from the comfort of my several simple shows and watch something that might actually educate me. To my discovery, I came across a new 2019 Earth documentary called Our Planet that taught me much more than I expected.  

Our Planet consists of eight episodes, each about an hour long. Every episode is dedicated to a specific habitat in the world such as the sea or jungle; each episode follows an abundance of species that live in that certain climate and films their life and how it is changing along with the world. Not only does the documentary show you the changes occurring, but it also explains why the changes are happening and what we can do as people to alter the outcomes.

The documentary does an outstanding job keeping the watcher interested in the animals and habitats on screen, whereas most documentaries are as painful to watch as children’s’ soccer games. By changing species frequently and including exciting scenes in the shows, it’s almost as if the wild is right there in front of you.

Not only are the scenes constantly changing, but they are truly breathtaking as well. The cameras get so close to the animals that at times I almost thought it was fake. Not only are the camera angles astounding, but the camera quality was unbelievable; the vibrant colors and detailed habitats feel real and not through a screen, which is able to enrapture the viewer.

The most enjoyable part of the documentary was that there wasn’t a constant narrator chirping in your ear telling you what was happening in the film. The narrator did the perfect amount of talking, just enough for you to understand what was going on and teach you a few things in the process.

To my desire, the learning part of the film was completely unnoticeable. It wasn’t like I was sitting in a Biology class or reading a book all about the seas, but by being fed a few facts or cool information while watching it progress on screen, it made me actually excited to learn more about the animals.

At first, I was scared that my love of animals was going to be ruined by watching a boring documentary on them, but I was pleasantly surprised. I actually found myself choosing this documentary over my pointless shows because I couldn’t wait to see what happened to the polar bears next.

The film did a great job at not portraying the Earth as a dying non-savable place, but a place that holds many secrets, a place with beautiful wildlife, and a place that can continue to thrive if we help it.