Frozen Planet II (2022–2023) User Reviews

Just ridiculously good camera work...

[dk-259-516841 · 10/10 · 2 October 2022]

Each time I watch one of the BBC wildlife series, especially those narrated by Sir David Attenborough, I'm always blown away by the level of detail and camera angles the production of team achieve.

The latest series have just upped the game, an early sequence with Killer Whales is simply outstanding. Later footage of a bear attack and calves trying to survive, creates more tension and emotion than most Hollywood movies.

Its so important that various at risk species are documented and the general public are educated and informed about the world's wildlife. The BBC seem to have some of the best wildlife photography I've ever seen. Outstanding...!

Everyone should watch this series.

[ianjasonmorgan · 10/10 · 18 September 2022]

Once again a BBC natural history documentory series that is quiet clearly as good as it gets.

This dramatic showing of 20% of this planet reveals the sheer beauty and brutality of the natural world. The group intelligence of Orcas or the brief period of parenting for a seal show just how savage and cruel this planet can be.

It is never voyeuristic but in a genuine sense of awe at the complexity and subtlety of it all.

Attenborough's voice compliments what is being shown with reverence.

A wonderful series that shows what we are losing every year if this annual warming is not at least stopped and at best reversed.

Astonishingly Beautiful

[farshidkarimi · 10/10 · 21 September 2022]

As with other BBC documentaries about Our Planet, this one is also glorious. The cinematography is unrivaled and scenes are maginificently beautiful and rare. The animal behavior may seem unpleasant, but isnt it about survival? I have read the reviews and I see people gripe about the "brutal, heartless killings". They become hungry and they have to quench their hunger. There is no hate no spite and once they are fed, they do not harm another animal. It is their instinct. Lets look at humanity. Are the animal behavior depicted in the series more brutal and grislier than the atrocities the Humanity commits? We are currently having a war on our hand in Europe. Humans are perpetrating the most heinous crimes against each other, raping women, grinde them to bit and bury them to hide any trace of their crimes. They even rape men in this war, mass graves, homes pulverized to mangled mess of concrete and bars. The destruction we wreak on the world, deforestation, greenhouse gases pumpd into atmosphere, pesticides, insecticides, chemical fertilizers dumped on the land and plants, overfishing, poaching, infringing on natural habitats of animals, causing COVIS19 and the trail of destructions goes on and on

Honestly, can the natural animal behavior shown in the series be compared with all the odious thins we human beings do againt each other and our Beautiful Planet?

Absolutely Beautiful!

[van_aleong · 10/10 · 22 September 2022]

This is so beautiful! As usual. The Filmography looks even more phenomenal Than ever! The music is spot on! And I can't wait for Planet Earth 3! Please get Dua Lipa or Taylor Swift to team up with Hans Zimmer for that one, Please please please!! These documentaries are so amazingly beautiful and wonderful! They are so magnificent majestic graceful glorious and super fun to watch! A lot more better than the modern movies and tv shows that so much people watch! More people needs to pay attention to these ASOME nature documentaries! Because we need to be educated on our planet more than ever before! And man Frozen plane 2 is action packed! And I LOVE IT! Brutal and so honest! That's how it's supposed to be! No sugarcoating nonsense! Keep up the good work BBC! And I love you! Sir David Attenborough!!!!

Do your part. And more

[austin-46918 · 10/10 · 16 October 2022]

With great power comes great responsibility.(with the power humanity has harvested in the last 200 years it is a great responsibility of all of humanity to protect our planet before there is nothing left. The dinosaurs went extinct 65 million years ago, since then the earth became a paradise for life. Over the last 200 years we have used fossil fuel aka dinosaur remnants to ramp up our industrial evolution. While it's brought us great power it could also bring about our own extinction if we don't use it responsibility. Everyone has a responsibility to this no matter how big or small you feel you are.

Understanding what is life!!!

[roybicrom · 10/10 · 30 September 2022]

This series is not only the frozen but It's still have a great meaning of the life and death. Even a how she should survive and how she could find another life it's difficult to let any other subject but PTC natural history is another level so wonderful life wonderful life so she should watch is legendary people who are great effort for camera for another level of enough quotes the high mountain.

Everybody say documentary film is very important for a human for for an artificial in the world lived but this could be real things we are find out and that's this she is so wonderful that so this is wonderful.

Save them

[martinalandscapes · 10/10 · 27 September 2022]

Documentary showing difficult conditions animal and plant world deals with in still frozen parts of planet. Their adaptations to this places in order to survive, beat the competition of other species who did not ventured that far. It is gruesome as all predatory food chain is. But not for indulgence, but basic survival. Completely different story from that humans developed. They are pointing at the root cause of the melting icebergs and acceleration of the changes, what they mean for these specialised animals. Even we humans can not adapt as quickly to the surges in heat and consequences of it. Technology is our tool of adaptation, but is also a cause of the emissions causing the warming up. We need to change the energy sources and our level of population growth and material demands. It is not a favour we do to those animals, it will become a necessity in less time we want to admit to self and others. COVID came rapidly, warnings were there for years to invest in better research and prevention. Climate change is happening for some time and accelerates every year with more devastating consequences. Yet, people who are relatively comfortable, watching their TV programmes, either feel helpless or became ignorant. It is not happening to them. No flood water destroying the house irreversibly, no land slides, no hunger, no waterborne diseases, loss of relatives in many milder parts of the world. The shocks are sadly in the most extreme environments, be it polar regions, or tropics, where isolated animals and human population struggles every day. I do not think the filmmakers are extreme or selling the soap opera of animal world. The storyline is made in the way people can connect and see themselves in lives of other species. Most people project their emotions. And it helps them to realise animals feel I is mostly hunger, pain, fear, but also some joy. They are fighting for their lives every day and it is getting harder, and more fatal, shortening lives for the individuals and whole populations due to rapid disappearance and alternations to the environment they were adapting for very long time.

Should we intervene? Yes, we need to reverse the first intervention and stop heating up the planet. Otherwise these series maybe one of the last documentaries showing these animals still in their natural environments.

Happy Feet in real life.

[handcrafted · 10/10 · 2 October 2022]

I have been watching the episode of the penguins in St Georgia..it could be a scene from 'Happy Feet' not sure wether it's real or not.

How do they get the crew to such a remote part of our planet and get amongst the thousands of penguins without disturbing them.

I would like a follow up program of how this is achieved behind the camera..I am a doubting Thomas and feel it's all done digitally.

The close ups showing such colour and detail of different species of birds and animals the wild seas and harsh land.

It is still a fantastic achievement and makes you realise how wonderful our planet is showing nature at its most beautiful and often dangerous.

An incredible series.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 10/10 · 2 January 2023]

The BBC can be criticised for many things in recent times, but when it comes to documentaries, the corporation is still a cut above.

Like many series that have gone before, Frozen Planet II is an astonishing watch, the visuals are like nothing else, expertly produced, this magical, awe inspiring series is first rate, moving, memorable,

Sir David Attenborough never fails to impress, the voice of many an award winning series, and of course he nails it once again.

It's a Great mix, the jaw dropping magic of mother nature, contrasted with the misery and mayhem that man's greed has inflicted on our North and South Poles.

Credit to all involved in the production of it, first class in every department.

10/10.

Stunning Wildlife Footagec w/ Some Prejudice

[mepsajbel · 9/10 · 6 February 2023]

From the very beginning David Attenborough doesn't downplay the harm the climate crisis is having on the Arctic region. But I didn't like his consistent use of the term "killer whale" instead of "orca". All creatures deserve to thrive in their environments; there's no reason to make orcas out to be the bad guys. His terminology, which in this case should be expunged, is derogatory of this noble creature.

Other than that, the visuals are stunning and the graphics are quite clear as to what climate change has already done to the sea ice. It's both inspirational and a wake-up call to humanity to stop using fossil fuels.

Brilliant, except for two errors of fact ...

[markfranh · 8/10 · 6 October 2022]

There is no question the photography here is excellent and the dedication to the making of this documentary to be admired but for my wife and myself there were two aspects of this that just grated and really spoiled it.

Firstly, in the 1st and 4th episodes filmed in the Antarctic and showing the teamwork involved in "wave washing" penguins and seals that were seeking refuge on iceflows, Sir David repeatedly and consistently referred to the animals as "killer whales".

They are NOT killer whales. That is an unfortunate nickname that went out of use so many years ago that this is the first time I've heard anybody refer to them as such in at least a decade if not longer. They are Orca.

Killer whales would be fine as an alternative if for one fact: they are NOT members of the whale family fore crying out loud and it is just wrong to refer to them that way.

Orcas are members of the oceanic dolphin family. Yes, the name is arrived from the latin for "whale" but that was an error in naming them dating back to the 19th century. It's unfortunate, but it was forgivable back then for thinking they are whales. We know better now and should correct the mistake by not referring to them as whales as an English name for them.

I read recently that the nickname originally given to them was not even "killer whales"; it was "whale killers" because Orca has been observed to kill whales. Somehow the name got reversed and it stuck.

"Orca" is the correct and widely accepted name so use it.

Unfathomable that Sir David has agreed to use the term "killer whale" in his narration because he was must surely know it is wrong. In fact, by coincidence I happened to see another Attenborough documentary this week in which he actually did refer to them several times as "Orca". So why "killer whale" here which only serves to perpetuate the error that these are whales?

Second mistake came in the fourth episode and was more of a misleading statement. In the section on the Antarctic interior he was talking about the active volcanos in the interior mountain ranges. He then showed video of Mt. Erebus and the Erebus lava lake in the crater and used it as an example. Erebus is NOT on the mainland of Antarctica but on an offshore Island near the mainland but in the Ross Sea. Again, the information was just wrong. Why suggest that Erebus is an interior volcano when it isn't?

Problem is that when one catches out narration having two errors like the above, you start to wonder what else they have got wrong. What other factual errors were there that we didn't catch?

I'd love to have given this series a 10 for the visuals alone but two points docked for the two script errors that I caught.

Beautiful cinematography and editing but the hood ends there

[emily-uk · 3/10 · 13 November 2022]

Well if I could sum up this series in one word it would be GRIM.

I don't know if the intention was shock and awe but I am not enjoying this series like I did the last one. The camera work and editing is beautiful but the theme seems to be "how animals die" rather than "how animals survive" in the frozen parts of the world. There is a lot of blood and violence, which is natural and I have no problem with them including but it needs to be balanced with some happiness too. Adding in more scenes of birth and play would make it a better and more enjoyable show.

And of course all the preaching about the environment gets old after a few episodes too.

A Stunning But Shallow Analysis of Nature

[Seragovitz · 8/10 · 12 September 2022]

The footage in this documentary is both of extraordinary rarity and clarity but the overall message I found superficial. In watching animals struggle and die for our entertainment whilst lionising nature as an immutable that must be preserved, revered but never critiqued: we see the infantile naturalists understanding of the universe. Always to be wondered at, always deferred to but never disgusted by and never rebuked. In wishing to increase polar bear numbers you are widening a circle of perpetual death and destruction amidst the animal kingdom, thousands more seals will be torn to shreds alive...is this wonderful? Is this cycle of destruction that permeates every biome worth expanding. Or should we step in and improve their lot? Then Attenborough states without a hint of irony that we are fast loosing these "icy wastelands". Attenborough once said that when he thinks of nature he thinks of a parasitic worm burrowing through the eye of a child, has he forgotten? Despite this he is and always will be a personal hero of mine. I learned of many new animal behaviours and saw many impressive sights but this show is at once saccharin in it's storyboarding of animal events and yet wilfully ignorant of the evil that exists in the wild.

Illustrating just how absurd the lie of global warming is.

[ratrodguy · 10/10 · 19 February 2023]

Thank you BBC for your breathtaking coverage on this amazing planet's cycle of change. Gawd knows that Gore said the polar bears would all be dead by now. Thanks to father nature and the laws of this planet that we may never understand our species diversity and their adaptability will continue to prove these quacks wrong! I highly recommend this documentary to all and I hope that the climate change koolaid drinkers will be enlightened by this documentary and that many lives will be saved as a result. For far too long parties have been beating the drum regarding the plight of the polar bear even recent footage from well known scientists and authorities. The empirical data has shown that the biases of these and others is bunk and I hope it is not to late for our youth let alone the polar bears. Enjoy!

Brilliant, new top of the range camera footage

[OdinMore · 10/10 · 28 May 2023]

David Attenborough has once again delivered a stunning documentary as part of the BBC Plant Earth collection. Despite the frozen landscape of this second instalment, the videography is still breathtaking, providing intricate details of the wildlife and harsh environment. The lack of colour does not detract from the beauty captured on film.

On 4k DVD The set comprises four discs - two in 4K and two in Blu-ray, with three episodes each. You can enjoy a total of six episodes along with special features, including "The Making of Frozen Planet 2." This feature was previously shown at the end of each episode on television and the Blu-ray disc. It has now been edited into an episode called "Out Of The Cold" on the 4K disc.

Reindeers Are Better Than People

[southdavid · 8/10 · 16 July 2023]

I'm not normally much of a fan of nature documentaries, but I watched this one as it appeared on the Guardians Top TV of 2022 list. I watched the first run, from 2011 first, as I hadn't seen that either. Turns out that was a mistake as despite a slight refocus on cold climates away from the poles, this has a lot of repeated scenarios from the first season, and again the repetition within the series was pretty noticeable.

Away from the Earth polar regions, challenging cold conditions exist but various hardy ecosystems have still been established. Whether in Norway or New Zealand, the altitude of Mountain ranges all creates an area of permanent snow and Ice which some animals call home. But just like at the poles, the catastrophic effect of climate change is reducing the levels of Ice and Snow and already causing changes in behaviours and leading to significant falls in population levels.

I read a professional review that said that this plays a bit light a greatest hits album, and that's certainly not far wrong. You remember the Orca death wave, you better because it's coming back again here. Would you like to see a scientist climb down a Moulin again because it's happening. I appreciate that some of this would be alleviated if it was eleven years since you say the first series and not about 24 hours, as it was for me. It was very noticeable though. There is repetition within episodes too, as the Freeze Frame section has been renamed "Out In the Cold" and highlights how some aspect of the show was recorded.

Again, that's a fairly lengthy criticism for something that I have to say that I enjoyed and that was another vast, sacrificial undertaking for the cameramen involved. There were new tools at their disposal this time, such as drone cameras and it's worth it for the imagery they're able to capture. I fear that the environmental message will continue to fall of deaf ears, rejecting science again for profits.

Noble, beautiful and educational - if perhaps a little repetitive.

more resigned than the first

[SnoopyStyle · 8/10 · 3 September 2023]

David Attenborough and the BBC bring another epic nature series. This one shows the snow and ice of the poles again. It's twelve years later and there is less of it. I watched this one first and decided to go back. I need to see the first series and figure out the difference. There is a resignation in the second series. The melt is coming a lot faster than expected. Attenborough is almost accepting the sad reality of the situation. I'm not saying that he lost the fight. It's just that so much has already been lost and so much is set to be lost. It's picking up speed and getting harder to stop.

Thanks for everything you living legend.

[chris_rowe-881-168820 · 3/10 · 24 September 2022]

I've gotten to the second episode and decided this is the end of my journey with the Attenborough documentary stuff, I've watched every series and one off specials since the 90s but to be honest this one isn't what I hoped it would be.

I understand the state of the world up to a point and how desperate it is, but truthfully watching something and constantly being told "this cute animal will die because of you and your actions" in various ways just really makes you feel awful, life's tough, I've made lots of changes at great expense but for me there's just too much agenda and guilt attached to this project. I get he's passionate and cares and don't blame him but it just got too much for me here.

I will also add that it's clear throughout filming some scenes that both animals and locations have changed enough that it should be mentioned, there's a vagueness and lack of effort in depth of information about the animal in favour for the same delivery, same stories, same problems.

Outside of that I just don't think the first two have been good enough, there's maybe 40 minutes content, then the bits at the end showing how they film, but the quality of the stuff whilst always the exceptionally beautiful looking stuff you'd expect to see felt lacking. The penguin stuff, killer whale vs the seal we've seen so much it made very little sense here, even the Siberian tiger, a lot of the stuff has been covered before, it all felt familiar and whilst it's beautiful stuff, this series just feels like "remember these animals" well you're killing them and there's not many left.

Whilst I understand the importance, I also value happiness and for me the preachy nature of this series, the constant blaming of people, the depressing vision of the future without change and the endless sad scenes just felt a world away from the joy of planet watch, frozen 1 and blue planet.

Whilst I'm not criticising the guy, he's an astonishing human being who I adore and will not criticise and I fully respect and love the passion, I just feel sad that this show was such a huge part of my younger days but now just feels so depressing and political.

Won't be watching any further.

I wanted to love this.

[ajae-54401 · 5/10 · 3 October 2022]

I can't take it anymore. Half of every episode was specifically designed to make the viewer feel like crap. Not a few minutes, HALF of the episode.

We are destroying earth...

Everything is falling apart....

So on and so forth. Not a SINGLE positive story in the whole series.

My life is depressing enough as it is, I don't need the weight of the world on my shoulders as well when I want to watch a penguin.

This well-intentioned documentary only serves to frighten and alienate the audience.

WE CANNOT do anything about the state of the world as viewers. Stop making those of us who appreciate nature feel like the world is ending. It's not helping the polar bears and it's killing your very loyal fanbase.

I will not watch another horror series like this again. Because that's basically what it was.

Disappointing and too much death

[rachhh23 · 1/10 · 4 March 2023]

We all know about the food chain. We all know cute, cuddly, baby animals are often easy prey. We all know many animals will not make it to old age. But why show us repeatedly in every episode?! Literally, every new animal that appears on screen is either a predator about to kill or prey about to die. That narrative got very old, very fast.

The camera work is fantastic but that's the only positive thing. I did not learn much at all in the episodes I watched and, isn't that the point of these?

It would also be beneficial to not just hear about how we are destroying the planet (we know), but to show the ways conservation groups are trying to stop/reverse the effects and offer suggestions on how the average viewer can help/get involved.

Sorry, but just too much emotional manipulation

[jeff-51639 · 3/10 · 12 January 2023]

Beautifully photographed of course and the behind the scenes footage of how the camera crews work is inspiring and fascinating. But the relentless messaging on how the ice is melting and the habitats changing and how it's our fault, makes the series a depressing, rather than entertaining or uplifting experience. Instead of learning about the species and habitats, one is hectored repeatedly about climate change. It used to just be a sobering thought at the end of the programme, in this series it's repeated many times per programme. Also, a warning: don't watch this with young children, as the usually high percentage of the programmes devoted to graphic predator/prey death fights could be pretty upsetting. Hunting for food has always been part of natural history, but this Attenborough series has gone overboard on blood and peril, presumably in pursuit of ratings. And the music! The mood influencing music is so unsubtle and manipulative as to be comical at times. Sorry David, I know you're just doing the voiceover narrative, but this series is a different proposition to your earlier documentaries and despite the stunning photography, several people I know who love your work gave up after the first one or two episodes.

Same nonsense, just another day.

[Kronenbourg16 · 1/10 · 15 September 2022]

Just another vehicle for global warming propaganda. I used to love nature documentaries but all it is these day, is a means to promote global warming and evolution.

I can't stand the way these are narrated - particularly Attenborough documentaries - because you really learn very little about the animals themselves. They try to put stories together like little zoological soap operas. Little 10 minute narratives covering a portion of the life of a bear or lion or whatever animal that has been covered a zillion times before in nature programs (another issue with Attenborough.. always the same animals), but it's all fake; they're not teh same animals in these sequences like they pretend, and it's all anthropomorphised through the idiot lens.. but that's what you've got to do, I suppose, when you are trying to grab the attention of Coronation St viewers. It's sad.

I did see a great nature series recently. It was called- Extreme Africa. Grab a breath of fresh air and remind yourself how great nature documentaries can be when they drop all the ideology and politics and deception.

Gone down the road of Animal Planet.

[alanjohn-85352 · 2/10 · 11 September 2022]

Like a lot of so called natural history programmes Frozen Planet 2 is more interested in showing the gory side of the animal world.

In this first 30 minutes we saw a seal eaten alive by orca then a cat stalking ground hogs and very young musk ox being attacked by a bear after being abandoned by their parents.

I turned it off, if I want this sort of thing I will watch bull fighting or fox hunting on YouTube.

At the start of the programme it stated that we would see things that had never been seen before which was not true.

I have seen everything on the programmes many many times previously featuring David Attenborough over the last 60 years.

We know animals die but why show it in such detail to a family audience.

Phenomenal cinematography, ridiculous narration

[gsingh-89939 · 5/10 · 25 August 2023]

OK, so BBC seems to be at it again. Honestly, the camera work was absolutely stunning and the "Out in the Cold" sections provide insights into what goes there. All my rating stars (5/5) are for that.

My issue is with the locations that were chosen and how they were shown. How can you possibly have an episode about the Frozen Peaks without a mention of the world's highest mountain range? They went from Andes to Rockies to Alps to Japan to New Zealand. Not even a single mention, however, of the Himalayas in the entire hour long episode!!! WHY?! The only time these mountain ranges come up for a discussion are for 5 seconds in the first episode when David Attenborough is giving an overview of the things to follow and expect! No mention of the peaks in South Asia at all!! Unacceptable!!!

Even the message conveyed is just about global warming, and while I am not saying that is wrong, a little too much of it leads to stagnation. They could have also shown the harmony that seems to exist in animals found in these regions. For example, there were at least three instances in episodes 2 & 3 alone where animals, instead of fighting for territory, decided to cohabit/coexist. Instead, the narrative went towards global warming!! Hence no stars for the narration, for we know that the guy is far better than this. (0/5)

The only improvement from the first season seems to have been in the camera and cinematography department. I was disappointed, except for the locations and filming, for that is the only saving grace in this series.