Night on Earth (2020) User Reviews

Let's give them credit!

[asyrian1 · 9/10 · 29 January 2020]

I watched one episode, it was better than I expected. Well, it is not National Geographic's or BBC's. But it is deserves watching and thumps up. Don't compare the young narrator to Attenborough's because in my opinion he is out of comparison in this field (again, it is my own opinion).

Amazing visuals, truly epic with an OLED Dolby Vision screen.

[jaykay24 · 9/10 · 1 February 2020]

For those reviewers who wrote this series is not innovative or doesn't show any new perspectives. I'm pretty sure, they saw this on a classic LCD screen. On an OLED the visuals are breathtaking. The perfectly captured night shots showed me totally new perspectives on wildlife. The mixture of darkness with colorful "highlights" makes this a unique piece of art. Do yourself a favor, your next TV should be an OLED. Then watch this series again and get the proof that your money is well invested.

Good series. Poor narrator

[debeautymarshall-190-662830 · 8/10 · 15 February 2020]

The night photography is stunning but I do have to agree with the other reviews regarding the narrator. She's really extremely boring with her monotone voice, sounding too sultry and dramatic. Took away from the series in my opinion. She needs to listen back to herself objectively.

Absolutely beautiful.

[Mahmood-i-saeed · 10/10 · 29 January 2020]

Probably the first documentary where nights are properly documented without the unnatural lights. Just finished the show and its really good. Although I would have loved more if it was narrated by Sir Attenborough but its okay.

Nailed It!

[polyanskiapril · 10/10 · 14 February 2020]

Everything about this series is on point. I'm really not understanding where all the heat is coming from about the narration. The dialogue, tone, soundtrack and imagery, etc. all flow together very nicely. There is a slight adjustment if you're expecting the same vibes from Planet Earth/Our Planet, but I believe that was the intent! Remarkable and different, yet suitable/fitting.

The melodramatic voice of the narrator ruins this otherwise fabulous series.

[michele-231-432762 · 8/10 · 7 February 2020]

The photography is 10 out of 10. The narrative is excellent. What ruins this series is the melodramatic voice of the narrator. She's incredibly distracting and annoying.

Would Have Rated 10 But the Narrator Is The Pits

[curtamparo · 8/10 · 4 February 2020]

The visuals are gorgeous. I was perennially covered in goosebumps and streaming tears over the beauty, the fragility, the wonder of it all. BUT that required an extreme exercise in blocking out the narrator, in fact several times I muted the TV and played classical music instead. She nearly put me into a depression bordering on coma. She sounds like a severely depressed robot even during delightful or high action scenes. She could not possibly drone on more uninterestingly if that had been her plan. In short, gorgeous nature show ruined by the narrator. Can't imagine who she auditioned for that thought she was even remotely a good choice, much less the "winner" for the job. As you can see, this review barely mentions the beautiful visuals and carries on all about the narrator... THAT'S HOW BAD SHE IS.

Worth watching

[albokrz · 10/10 · 2 February 2020]

U can say whatever you want, but this documentary was worth watching! The closest ever came to the Our Planet. Well made and good picture! For that reason give a 10 from me!

A relief

[devosjohn · 9/10 · 1 February 2020]

Nature/animal doc, showing life as it is. Luckily it isn't scripted. It's a relief that there is no (stupid, artificial) storymaking, no humanization, just breathtaking images guided by good (relevant, not overdramatised) comments and information. The bbc docs imagery are state of the art, but the recent netflix nature docs are (much) more realistic.

Great camerawork but stop telling us about it.

[snatch-99110 · 6/10 · 2 February 2020]

It seemed that the narrator in her monotone voice had been told to keep reminding us this was a first, groundbreaking, nobody's done it till now, blah blah blah. I would of really enjoyed it with a different narrator and dialogue less self gratifying. Such a shame because some of the camerawork was beautiful and animal stories amazing.

Too dramatic

[idontknowerin · 18 February 2020]

Why does the narrative have to be sooo dramatic! I couldn't even get through the first episode. Might try it on mute with music some time.

Spectacular especially on OLED screen.

[radic-99177 · 10/10 · 2 February 2020]

I m currently watching, and I really appreciate the quality and the new filming techniques. Fan of every nature BBC earth show, this is again an additional success.

They deserve over 10 stars for the production quality.

And great narration voice

Won't promote a specific OLED screen but it's the beat picture for an OLED screen ever watched.

Narrator ruined it for me

[carl-emilsson · 7/10 · 2 February 2020]

Truly fantastic imagery, but in no way I could stand listening to the narrator. I had to turn off the sound on the TV and play slow background music from my stereo while watching.

Commentary kind of ruins it

[HellenKeller48 · 5/10 · 6 February 2020]

Narration was elementary, I tried to like her but couldnt continue the series. Not 100% the narrators fault, the script she read off of sounds like it was written by a 9 year old. A 93 year old David Attenborough would have been more of a joy to listen to. The camera work and quality was superb however, nature did its part in making this interesting, humans messed it up

Pretty

[farshidkarimi · 8/10 · 12 February 2020]

I like to idea of animals being filmed during night. It has some very beautiful shots of animal behavior at night. I love the scenes of icy winds rising and drifting like ghosts through frozen trees.

However, it is not " filmed for the first time". Animals behavior has been filed many times during night. But, new technology provides clear imagery in this series.

I wish it had been narrated by Sir. David Attenborough. It would add more beauty to the series.

All in all, it is a pretty series.

10/10 for the footage 9/10 the narrator , but it's a little self aggrandising with their "amazing new technology"

[lamboption · 9/10 · 31 January 2021]

I was shocked to find people didn't like Samiras narration , I loved it , she has such a beautiful voice . The issues are that she has no biology background, and that the writers just droned on too much patting each other's back . Even with that being said I really hope she continues to narrate further series albeit with a less smug script ( for which she can't be blamed ) We can't compare her to Sir David , of course but sadly we will need a replacement all too soon . Maybe she could throw herself at the subject matter and make a worthy successor Sadly other commenters disagree :( . But I have to go now , write her an email asking her on a date .. sadly I think I have as little chance as a deaf bat .

Amazing visuals, beautiful narration

[eoananat · 29 February 2020]

The visuals of wildlife at night are amazing, a huge step up from the "night vision" footage of earlier documentaries. And the narration by Samira Wiley is beautiful and compelling. Our whole family loved this series--can't wait for Netflix to release more!

I really like the narration

[rht1369 · 9/10 · 21 March 2020]

I don't know what's up with all these reviews complaining about the narrator. She is doing an amazing job with her intonation. The narration is in fact one if my favorite parts of this series.

Amazing and incredible

[katoelf-21301 · 10/10 · 8 March 2020]

Loved everything about it but I have to agree with some about the narrator. I didn't mind the script, but at times her pronunciation was so exaggerated and sharp that it sounded as if she was reading a verdict in court rather than talking over something so beautiful.

I don't care what everybody says, the narrator is good

[emmahaertell · 9/10 · 21 February 2020]

This show is a miraculous documentary with beautiful scenes like everybody says. They're absolutely right about that part. For more opinions about that, read another review. The reason I'm writing mine is that I do NOT agree with everyone saying that the narrator is awful, overenthusiastic etc. Her lines may not be the most complicated ones used in a documentary but that isn't the most important part about a show like this and if you find the text too simple, that's not her fault so stop putting it on her. This is still a really fun and mind opening documentary to watch and I do like the narrator, so if everybody could stop hating her and probably making her feel bad and doubt herself, I would appreciate that, because she did a fine job!

Samira is pretty good not Attenborough. Still good

[RnineT · 9/10 · 30 January 2020]

This is a pretty good nature doc. It isn't too dissimilar to what already exists. Would like to see some more animals. Samira Wiley does pretty good at narration. Much better then Oprah or Benedict Cumberbatch. Still not as good as Attenborough.

Good but annoying narrator

[gamerz-18042 · 7/10 · 30 January 2020]

The documentary itself is great, fantastic camera work and decent background information throughout.

However they do shine lighting in many scenes despite their claim to the contrary.

What bothered me was the dramatic female narrator and her over the top facts which make it unnatural to the ear.

Beautiful put together

[brentgray73 · 10/10 · 2 February 2020]

Absolutely amazing. WOW.10/10. Beautifully narrated too.

Amazing imagery, annoying narrator

[lewis-harper · 6/10 · 18 May 2020]

Overly dramatic American narration, ruins the simplicity of the show.

Fabulous visuals awful narration

[drdslee · 3/10 · 4 February 2020]

I ended up not being able to finish the first episode due to the narration. The phony everything is suspenseful and oh so moody narration just become too much.