Have seen several IMAX feature and short films recently. They have varied in quality, mostly good thankfully, especially in the music and music. With the visuals and the animals being consistently fantastic. It is not easy making something interesting about the Serengeti, and what has been seen of documentaries exploring it have been variable (a recent example being 'Serengeti', which left me mixed), but there have been documentaries that have explored subjects not done a lot and/ difficult to make compelling.
And 1994's 'Africa: The Serengeti' does laudably at this and mostly succeeds. It is not one of the best IMAX nature documentaries ever seen and is not exactly ground-breaking as a documentary, but it really is well worth watching and it is always a pleasure hearing the immortal James Earl Jones' voice in anything. Is it uneven? Yes it is, with some scenes being much weaker than others, but when it is good 'Africa: The Serengeti' is very good indeed.
Beginning with the good, it looks great and at its best stunning. The scenery is enough to take the breath away and the intimacy of the vibrant cinematography mostly worked very well. The animals look wonderful and are both adorable and mischievous, not to mention very easy to relate to in whatever circumstances they're in. Their story is where 'Africa: The Serengeti' is at its best, being entertaining and touching. Also with instances of the viewer being amazed at how their behaviour and situations are filmed.
The information for these scenes is informative and not too cute, juvenile or over-serious. While it is not innovative or quite comprehensive enough narration, the narration is well balanced in tone, isn't overused and is not over-explanatory. Along with the scenery, the best aspect is Jones in majesterial voice, his unmistakable voice booming beautifully and there is nothing phoned in in his delivery.
However, the human scenes are nowhere near as interesting, there could have been less of them and they were not really needed. Their parts lack depth and are not particularly educational, plus the backing and forthing disjoints the presentation.
Did think that the music could have been a lot more subtle, both in placement (where there is too much at points) and in volume (intrusive at times). The documentary did feel too short, wouldn't have said no to 10 minutes more and all of it animal footage.
Overall, good but not great. 7/10.
And 1994's 'Africa: The Serengeti' does laudably at this and mostly succeeds. It is not one of the best IMAX nature documentaries ever seen and is not exactly ground-breaking as a documentary, but it really is well worth watching and it is always a pleasure hearing the immortal James Earl Jones' voice in anything. Is it uneven? Yes it is, with some scenes being much weaker than others, but when it is good 'Africa: The Serengeti' is very good indeed.
Beginning with the good, it looks great and at its best stunning. The scenery is enough to take the breath away and the intimacy of the vibrant cinematography mostly worked very well. The animals look wonderful and are both adorable and mischievous, not to mention very easy to relate to in whatever circumstances they're in. Their story is where 'Africa: The Serengeti' is at its best, being entertaining and touching. Also with instances of the viewer being amazed at how their behaviour and situations are filmed.
The information for these scenes is informative and not too cute, juvenile or over-serious. While it is not innovative or quite comprehensive enough narration, the narration is well balanced in tone, isn't overused and is not over-explanatory. Along with the scenery, the best aspect is Jones in majesterial voice, his unmistakable voice booming beautifully and there is nothing phoned in in his delivery.
However, the human scenes are nowhere near as interesting, there could have been less of them and they were not really needed. Their parts lack depth and are not particularly educational, plus the backing and forthing disjoints the presentation.
Did think that the music could have been a lot more subtle, both in placement (where there is too much at points) and in volume (intrusive at times). The documentary did feel too short, wouldn't have said no to 10 minutes more and all of it animal footage.
Overall, good but not great. 7/10.