I had to write my first documentary review after watching the second episode, when I shed some tears watching a success story of the animal from the mountains. Its not easy to capture such success when the rarity of glimpses of these endangered animals prevail due to human encroachment on nature. The majestic, vivid, beautiful and clear cinematography and the insight from Sir David attenborough and energetic score from Hans Zimmer makes this looks like documentary shot in heavens and earth is a heaven, the vulnerability of mountains conveys a message to human to act on saving this paradise. And this episode did just that.
8 Reviews
Reviewing this show starts from an acknowledgement of its greatness
pjdickinson4 April 2017
With most shows any assessment involves explaining why it is better or worse than others of its kind. With Planet Earth II the fact that it is brilliant is obvious and any criticism should not be seen as reducing that brilliance in any meaningful way. A few seconds of footage is taken from the archive, apparently but who cares? The amount of care expended on the editing of each shot is mindbogglingly impressive and the reality of what has been captured is the best that has ever been seen. Add the music and you have something amazing and deeply moving. Everything in 'Mountains' is so impressive that it ends up being a prime example of something wonderful.
Mountains at their most dangerous and intimate
TheLittleSongbird20 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. After a perfect start with "Islands", the wonderful high standard continues with "Mountains". 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. Throughout "Mountains" 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.
"Mountains" 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 mountains are among the most spectacular sceneries of the series and it's not often that scenery/environments becoming characters themselves is achieved, this is something done brilliantly in "Mountains", presenting the Himalayas, Kilomanjaro and the Andes with a real sense of danger but also an intimacy and vulnerability that one doesn't find often.
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 "Mountains" 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 a mix of cute and menacing, with the snow leopard and the grizzly bears being highlights.
Like Attenborough's best work, "Mountains" 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, wonderful portrayal of the mountains and their inhabitants. 10/10 Bethany Cox
'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. After a perfect start with "Islands", the wonderful high standard continues with "Mountains". 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. Throughout "Mountains" 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.
"Mountains" 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 mountains are among the most spectacular sceneries of the series and it's not often that scenery/environments becoming characters themselves is achieved, this is something done brilliantly in "Mountains", presenting the Himalayas, Kilomanjaro and the Andes with a real sense of danger but also an intimacy and vulnerability that one doesn't find often.
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 "Mountains" 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 a mix of cute and menacing, with the snow leopard and the grizzly bears being highlights.
Like Attenborough's best work, "Mountains" 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, wonderful portrayal of the mountains and their inhabitants. 10/10 Bethany Cox
"Mountains"
The-Social-Introvert14 November 2016
Planet Earth II's second episode rises as high as any of the mountains showcased in it. It's difficult not to get repetitive when describing the episode and the series as a whole. How many times can you punch in adjectives like mesmerising, majestic, stunning, gorgeous and spellbinding before you say "Just watch the damned thing!"?
What I remember most from 'Mountains' was, not so surprisingly, the shots of the mountains. Some of the drone and helicopter footage managed to capture incredible images that really have to be seen to be believed. Accompanied by a Hans Zimmer score much better than the one in 'Islands' and David Attenborough knowing when and when not to narrate, you are often left with magnificent shots of the camera elegantly making its way through the cloud-high mountains in graceful fashion.
My favourite animal segment was of the horned creatures in Arabia. The way they were able to keep their balance and move at such speeds on such steep surfaces was incredible. I've never seen anything like that before. First their movements were shown in slow motion, detailing every dangerous step, and then in real time showcasing their incredible reaction skills.
Another gift from Planet Earth was an extensive glimpse into the life of the elusive snow leopard (although I had to fast-forward the part with the males trying to score with the female, as I had family members watching). It was an honour to even see one leopard let alone to see their way of communication, combat and feeding. There were some funny bits too: most notably a bobcat constantly diving head-first into snow and a montage of grizzly bears scratching their backs against trees which made them look like they were boogieing.
The 'diaries' segment (a 10 minute epilogue showing some behind-the- scenes stuff in each episode) was very cool as well, showing to what great lengths the filmmakers go to capture their images, including jumping off of mountains on parachutes with cameras on their heads.
My Rating: 9/10
What I remember most from 'Mountains' was, not so surprisingly, the shots of the mountains. Some of the drone and helicopter footage managed to capture incredible images that really have to be seen to be believed. Accompanied by a Hans Zimmer score much better than the one in 'Islands' and David Attenborough knowing when and when not to narrate, you are often left with magnificent shots of the camera elegantly making its way through the cloud-high mountains in graceful fashion.
My favourite animal segment was of the horned creatures in Arabia. The way they were able to keep their balance and move at such speeds on such steep surfaces was incredible. I've never seen anything like that before. First their movements were shown in slow motion, detailing every dangerous step, and then in real time showcasing their incredible reaction skills.
Another gift from Planet Earth was an extensive glimpse into the life of the elusive snow leopard (although I had to fast-forward the part with the males trying to score with the female, as I had family members watching). It was an honour to even see one leopard let alone to see their way of communication, combat and feeding. There were some funny bits too: most notably a bobcat constantly diving head-first into snow and a montage of grizzly bears scratching their backs against trees which made them look like they were boogieing.
The 'diaries' segment (a 10 minute epilogue showing some behind-the- scenes stuff in each episode) was very cool as well, showing to what great lengths the filmmakers go to capture their images, including jumping off of mountains on parachutes with cameras on their heads.
My Rating: 9/10
Another Good Episode
MahyarErshad24 April 2019
Awesome Episode
sheikhjabernurani29 April 2020
made me cry
ralebro3 July 2021
Beautiful creatures!
dakuchonekobing25 August 2020
Warning: Spoilers
I have to say this again, but this serie did a great job with giving us a spectacular view and telling us that this planet is so so beautiful and we are making it die day by day.
The snow leopards are so beautiful and the eagles, oh my god I don't know what to say, they are the stars of this Episode.
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