Planet Earth II (TV Mini Series) Jungles (2016) User Reviews

Beautiful and Shocking.

[harshaemails · 10/10 · 21 November 2016]

Never have I in a period of an hour seen something so beautiful, and full of surprises. Things that you didn't know about, happen in this episode, and you can't seem to get enough of it. The cinematography and Sir David's change of tone at times make you feel that you are in fact not watching this on a screen, but are actually on a Jungle Safari with him. That acquitted with Hans Zimmer's and the 'more than real' sound recording, where you can ever hear eyes' of the insects moving, provides you one of the best Natural World experiences of possibly your whole lifetime.

This is not just a TV show, but an enlightening experience. An experience so remarkable, that these episodes might serve as the 'Rosetta Stone' for the future generations, as all these wonderful creatures might become extinct, leaving these clips alone serving in their memory.

Movies/Films can't get any better than this, and this series is one of the greatest achievements in Cinema ever. These episodes should be made compulsory for every Human to watch, and Planet Earth and Planet Earth 2, are easily the most recommended titles on IMDb.

Jungle wonder

[TheLittleSongbird · 10/10 · 21 November 2017]

Consider the first 'Planet Earth' one of the finest documentaries ever made and one of the best series ever made on anything. A perfect representation of what makes David Attenborough so deservedly highly regarded and his remarkably consistent body of work (even his lesser work is still good) as delightful as it is.

'Planet Earth II' is every bit as exceptional (even if not quite ground-breaking) and easily a 2016 television highlight, its acclaim is more than deserved. "Jungles" may not be the most ground-breaking work Attenborough has ever done, but it still lives up to the brilliant first two episodes with aplomb. Like "Islands" and "Mountains", "Jungles", this may be reiterating what has been said many times about Attenborough's work, but pretty much everything he's done. Even those that are not quite masterpiece status, has consistently the same strengths so it's unavoidable. It is an awe-inspiring, utterly transfixing experience where one forgets they're watching a documentary and instead feeling like they're watching art, that couldn't be higher praise for anything.

"Jungles" first and foremost looks amazing. It is gorgeously filmed, done in a completely fluid and natural, sometimes intimate (a great way of connecting even more with the animals and even the mountains themselves), way and never looking static. In fact much of it is remarkably cinematic. The colours are rich and "Jungles" captures the colour, excitement and formidable danger of the jungle beautifully.

For a composer that composes normally bombastic, rousing and pulse-racing music that is epic even in the quieter moments, Hans Zimmer's music here is a remarkably good fit. It's unmistakably Zimmer in style but throughout it not only complements the visuals but enhances them. The main theme is impossible to forget.

What of the narrative aspects? Can't fault "Jungles" in this aspect either. The narration has a great well-balanced mix of facts that will be familiar to the viewer and others that will induce the right amount of surprise. In short, it's just fascinating, informative and thoughtful.

Nothing but credit is due too for adhering to what made 'Planet Earth' work the first time and then bringing a freshness with a few nice ideas to avoid it being too stale. Attenborough delivers all this information beautifully in a way only he can achieve, there's a soft-spoken enthusiasm, sincerity and precision about his delivery and he never preaches while knowing what to say and how and when to say it.

The animals are adorable and dangerous, with some epic conflicts. One also genuinely cares for them.

Like Attenborough's best work, "Jungles" and 'Planet Earth II' in general feels like its own individual story and never feels episodic or repetitive. There are real, complex emotions and conflicts and animal characters developed in a way a human character would in a film but does it better than several.

Overall, brilliant once again. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Yeah...

[dakuchonekobing · 4/10 · 25 August 2020]

When I saw the title "Jungles" I was so excited, in addition of two previous amazing episodes, I imagined many many things in Jungles. Anything could happen in Jungles. And there would be so many intense situations could make me nervous. But the fact that despite of beautiful scenes as always, I was not excited that I had expected.

"Jungles"

[The-Social-Introvert · 7 December 2016]

Planet Earth returns for another hour of beautiful images in ultra HD, this time focusing on glimpses in the world's jungles.

Though I'm not taking anything away from the brilliance of the series nor the sufficiency of the episode, "Jungles" does feel a step down from the previous two episodes, if only for the reason that they were so brilliant. Aside from one or two scenes, this episode doesn't show much that Attenborough hasn't already given us in other documentaries.

Notable segments from this installment include a cute spider monkey, a youngster, learning to climb and sway from tree to tree as her older siblings do, and then father coming to the rescue when she gets stuck. Charming stuff.

There was also a shocking segment which showed us dolphins in the jungle! That was really something. And a little creepy too – just imagine your swaying though the depths of a waterlogged jungle and all of a sudden an entity spewing out water out of its blowhole. You'd have no idea that it was a dolphin of all things. It was interesting to see that in the Diaries segment the crew initially thought they were tracking a single dolphin, and it was only until they got a drone camera up in the air that they realized there was an entire school of them.

All in all a satisfying episode in an already-terrific series.

My Rating: 8/10