One Life (I) (2011) User Reviews

Equally beautiful, not as original as the older ones

[LennyOO · 7/10 · 18 December 2011]

Over the last couple of years, a lot of documentaries on wild life and nature have been made by BBC. And we all know that no one does it better than them. When I heard that this new documentary, called 'One Life', would be in the movie theaters, I was immediately convinced. I just had to see it, and I'm quite sure millions of other people felt the same way. I am a huge fan of the amazingly popular and beautiful series 'Earth', so my expectations were quite high.

But I was slightly disappointed. What I saw was another collection of the most beautiful images of nature, another one and half an hour long stream of events. Predator vs. prey, mother and cubs, and what not. It was delightful to watch all the same, but it was far from original, it brought nothing new. That, however, is quite difficult, because there are so many documentaries. But why bother making another one? I haven't seen anything I haven't seen before on BBC's previous movie-making masterpieces.

Of course, if you haven't any experience when it comes to documentaries on nature, this is a very, very good one. It also focuses on trying to show how animals and humans are alike, how we are inevitably connected to the same things animals are, and what we both try to achieve.

I can recommend this to anyone who is not that familiar with documentaries. It is very good for children to watch, because it is very easy to understand. And on top of that; there are of course the amazingly beautiful scenes of nature. But if you have seen a lot more of these (say 'Earth'), then 'One Life' will probably not be worth the effort. [7/10]

Insightful But Entertaining Documentary About the Animal Kingdom

[zardoz-13 · 9/10 · 14 April 2013]

"One Life" is for the most part a brilliant documentary about life in the animal kingdom. My chief complaint is the scene about the shoal of fish where they hide in a crowd to conceal themselves. The birds dive bomb them from the air while the dolphins and swordfish attack them from the depths. I saw this same ritual enacted in another BBC documentary. The rest of the action, like the dragons stalking the water buffalo, the fox pursuing the ibex, and the mouse eluding the lizard, is outstanding because the filmmakers explain the strategy of survival in the animal kingdom. The birds that mate and dance were cool. Basically, if these sequences have been done before, then my complaint would have applied. However, I haven't seen enough animal documentaries to skewer the filmmakers on repetition. I sat through this 85 minute feature and was dazzled by the complex as well as complicated cinematography and the extent to which the filmmakers went to make everything seem so cinematic. The scene about the ants cutting down blades of grass so they could take them back to their ant bed to feed the grass to a fungus that the ants thrived on was fantastic. Similarly, the ants created ventilation shafts to clear out all the carbon monoxide that got trapped in their kingdom that would kill them from the interaction between the grass and the fungus. The sequence about the monkeys using rocks to smash their food so they could eat it was terrific, too. Daniel Craig did a fabulous job with his beautiful English accent in the narration.

Fun and Entertaining Wildlife Documentary

[ZombiGurl · 7/10 · 23 March 2012]

One Life is a beautiful documentary about animal life on Planet Earth. There were some really charming parts about the cycle of life showing animals that have caring and dedicated Mothers. I especially enjoyed the Snow Monkeys and the Brazilian Capuchin Monkeys. They were pretty cute and crafty in how they kept warm and fed. Another favourite part of mine were the Elephants marching towards water and the rock climbing goats.

Daniel Craig has a nice voice for narration and the scenery was breathtaking. I don't watch a lot Documentaries like this one, but I enjoyed it.

Excellent !! Fills you with wonder and emotion about life on earth

[aaronb955 · 10/10 · 27 November 2011]

This documentary is just a collection of selected scenes/stories from the more comprehensive BBC series Life but is fantastic nevertheless even if you have already seen it on TV. For me the one standout was the narration by Daniel Craig and the very subtle music. Here in the US the TV show was narrated by Oprah Winfrey which was a disaster. You might not think of James Bond as a narrator for a nature documentary but Craig really did a great job on this one. He really conveys the astonishment and wonder that you feel watching these animals in his tone of voice but in a very playful way. And the music is very subtle and not too dramatic. In fact the total silence with no music and no narration in the scene with the Ibex climbing down the cliff is more powerful than if there was any. My favorite scene however is the one with the cheetahs on the prowl filmed head on, with the cats walking almost straight ahead towards the camera, it just conveyed a sense of power of the predators on their land. Highly recommended regardless of whether you watched the TV show or not.

Entertaining... holds your attention throughout!

[trochee-rebel · 17 October 2011]

Watched this documentary at the Mumbai Film Fest. Didn't expect a film on wildlife and especially one that entertains you, makes you laugh, rejoice, wonder and feel what the animals feel. 'One Life' has action, drama, romance, humor, tragedy, gallantry and all the ingredients that goes into making an entertainer that would delight the kids, as well as the adults equally.

The effort into capturing the nitty-gritties of wildlife is awe-inspiring. And, Daniel Craig's narration is music to the rhapsody. This documentary soon could be one of those classics that you might want in your wildlife series collection. This one you shouldn't miss.

some memorable sections

[SnoopyStyle · 8/10 · 22 April 2020]

This is a BBC Earth documentary narrated by Daniel Craig. These kinds of docs are starting to blend together. I've seen sections of this somewhere else. Wait! I think I've seen this one before without writing a review. That's one of the reasons that I started writing reviews years ago. I wouldn't be able to keep them all straight without doing that. Craig has a vaguely British accent. I can recognize his voice once I read the cast list. The fact is that if I can remember four or five of these animals, then this must be really good. The only deficiency is that they have very little tying them together. I guess the point is that we're all one world and that's what ties us all together. Duh!

Life on earth

[TheLittleSongbird · 10/10 · 26 July 2021]

Absolutely love nature documentaries, and it is always interesting when you see the life cycle of various wildlife and watch their wide range of emotion and how they overcome any adversity in a way that is very human. What also fascinated was Daniel Craig narrating in a role that couldn't be more different from his James Bond, it interested me to see whether he could do something very different from his typecast image and what better way to do than narrating nature documentaries.

Luckily, 'One Life' is a hugely successful change of pace for him and it is an outstanding documentary in every way. Had no doubt that 'One Life' would be at least good, how could it not be with the subject, and it turned out to be even better than expected. One of the best documentaries seen in a while actually, the general standard of recently seen documentaries being between above average and brilliant, so solid if inconsistent.

'One Life' is spectacularly photographed from start to finish, such as with the cheetahs. The scenery also left me in awe, in a way that's beautiful but also unforgiving. This is not a case at all of seeing cute animals in beautiful environments, there is much more to 'One Life' than that and that is the case with the best nature documentaries too. The music fits very well stylistically and had no problem with any of its placement or tone.

It actually seemed to remember what genre it was scoring for, it had no out of place pop or over-grandiose scoring that seemed to try too hard to be cinematic and it was not over-used. There were actually some effective scenes that were in complete silence, like the aforementioned one with the ibex. Craig does a wonderful job delivering the very educational and sincere narration, his delivery is playful but also very honest in the scenes where a serious approach was needed.

Had no issues with the narration writing itself, it does so well entertaining and teaching and tonally it is well balanced and varied. The animals are amazing and there is a lot of equally astonishing footage that is so well photographed, informative and emotional. The younger animals are very cute, the maternal ones are wonderfully caring and the predators are suitably sinister. Memorable scenes are too many to list, but it is especially good in the more predatory scenes. The animals' lives are so easy to engage with and relate to and it made me laugh in the more mischievous youthful moments, frightened in the moments of truly brutal adversity (yes that is not shied away from) and there were parts that moved me when the animals had to overcome a lot and either struggled or triumphed.

Concluding, outstanding. 10/10.

Hell of a movie!

[milangucic · 10/10 · 26 August 2021]

From a technical aspect, this movie is amazing. I haven't seen such detailed cinematography filmed with dedication and pure talent. It must have been so hard to film all that, I just cannot imagine the effort. Sound is also great.

10 out of 10

[LOL101LOL · 10/10 · 16 December 2011]

I have seen just about every critter on earth on TV, but there were a few in this show that I was not aware of. I did not care for the narrators voice, I think he is better suited driving a sports car and shooting bad guys.

Anyway if you want to watch some incredible footage of some of the most beautiful critters on earth than watch this, you can't go wrong, and a damn good excuse to go and buy a HD TV (only way to watch this).

Not to start a debate on creation, but any one watching this and still thinks all this came from a big bang is a fruit-loop! A 10 out of 10 for me