Nature's Great Events (2009) User Reviews

A sensational watch

[johnconn-1 · 10/10 · 4 January 2013]

To begin, I would like to state that I am a huge fan of the BBC Nature documentaries. Through huge funding, a dedicated team and with unquestionably the greatest narrator there ever has been, David Attenborough, they never fail to disappoint.

The series looks at how seasonal changes powered by the sun cause shifting weather patterns and ocean currents, which in turn create the conditions for some of the planet's most spectacular wildlife events. Each episode focuses on the challenges and opportunities these changes present to a few key species.

I will not go into detail about each episode as it truly is something which must be watched to appreciate fully, but let me say this; I believe that each episode of Nature's Great Events can stand up to even the best of the Planet Earth series.

The harrowing scenes of the Ndutu pride of lions is perhaps the most powerful wildlife I have ever witnessed.

This series is phenomenal. I hear people complaining that it is only 6 episodes long but so be it. A documentary that will stand the test of time, superb and the easiest 10/10 I will ever give.

Attenborough Strikes Gold-Again

[Dylan-Potter · 10/10 · 26 January 2014]

Coming from the same year as other BBC documentary classics Yellowstone, South Pacific and Life, how did this one be the best out of all of them? The things caught on film here are absolutely incredible. Incredible wildlife migrations, incredible moments of dolphins, sharks and gannets hunting sardines and whales and sea lions feast on krill, only for Killer whales to come for the sea lions. From the thrilling polar beginning to the salmon of Alaska as they risk life and fin to escape grizzly bears to the epic migration of wildebeest, zebra and antelope as they avoid lions and crocodiles to the sardine feast of South Africa, to the flooding of the Okavango Delta, to the endings where krill in Alaska, the tiniest animal imaginable causes the biggest feast of the year. These are six superb episodes, with David Attenborough's natural narration, it is great that unlike with too many other documentaries the Discovery Channel replace a perfectly fine BBC narration. I also love how like with all the other Attenborough programs, it is easy to understand for people who don't know science like me, yet this is easy to understand.

Excellent if only it were more than 6 episodes.

[TheEmulator23 · 9/10 · 30 May 2009]

This is great and quite varied in what it covers. Granted I've only seen 4 of the 6 so far, but from what I've seen so far it is superb. Interested in this type of nature documentaries then you are in luck. Fantastic in all respects. I can't recommend this more. Very interesting & fun to watch. Bears & salmon are one episode. Polar Bears and the cool looking Narwhal's whales are great too. Well that's it watch it to be entertained and to learn some stuff too. Oh yeah they do some Cool episode w/Lions too. Also they follow a little bit of cheetah's. Got to have 10 sentences and I'm looking forward to the Okovongo Delta episode.

Great doesn't describe it enough

[TheLittleSongbird · 10/10 · 24 October 2017]

David Attenborough is nothing short of a national treasure. He may apparently dislike the term, but it is hard to not say that about such a great presenter who has contributed significantly to some of the best programmes (of the documentary genre and overall) the BBC has ever aired/produced.

It is really hard picking favourites, let alone a definite favourite, among what Attenborough has done because he has done so many gems, it is the equivalent of trying to choose your favourite ice cream flavour or your favourite operatic role (for examples) and finding you can't pick. To me though, 'Nature's Great Events' is up there with his crowning achievements and one of the best documentaries ever viewed, and as has been said already there are a lot of great ones. It has everything that makes so much of his work so wonderful, hence some of the reiteration of my recent reviews for some of his work (being on a nature documentary binge in my spare time), and deserves everything great that has been said about it.

First and foremost, 'Nature's Great Events' 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), way and never looking static. In fact much of it is remarkably cinematic with some of the shots being unique for a documentary series, making one forget that it is a series. The editing is always succinct and smooth and the scenery is pure magic, similarly really admired the wide-ranging diversity of the different landscapes rather than restricting it to just one habitat. The music score fits very well, never overly grandiose while never being inappropriate.

Again, like so many Attenborough nature/wildlife documentaries, 'Nature's Great Events' fascinates, teaches, moves, entertains and transfixes. In terms of the facts there was a very good mix of the known ones and the unknown, some facts being familiar to us while going into detail about the different animals, their challenges and some truly amazing wildlife events in their struggles for survival and interaction with other animals whether prey or predator.

Narration by Attenborough helps significantly. He clearly knows his stuff and knows what to say and how to say it. He delivers it with his usual richness, soft-spoken enthusiasm and sincerity, never talking down to the viewer and keeping them riveted and wanting to know more. The "behind the scenes/making of" scenes too gave some humanity to the series and allowed us to get to know those behind the camera as well as in front.

The animals are big in personality and very diverse. The conflict has genuine tension and suspense, there is some fun and a lot of emotionally powerful moments done with a lot of tear-jerking pathos. Found myself really caring for what we're told. Like much of Attenborough/BBC's other work, each episode doesn't feel like an episodic stringing of scenes, but instead like the best nature documentaries each feels like their own story and journey, with 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.

To conclude, great is far too much of an understatement for such an achievement in nature documentaries. 10/10 Bethany Cox

The Greatness of Nature

[dr-mido3003 · 10/10 · 3 May 2010]

I've just seen the second episode . WOW! Very well made !! in fact its a great series in all aspects.they lighten the greatness of these animals birds & the greatness of their Creator.o yea it was a much fun to watch this , so much to learn from fantastic creatures ..the polar bear is in danger! the mystery of the narwhal !! the long risky journey of the salmon & more!!with the little touch of drama you will enjoy it for sure .O how was it hard to shot this documentaries in the short make-of after the end of each episode with some funny moments.You will learn a lot & visit so far places you may not be able to see but on screen i'm sure the next episodes will be cool also , so watch this and have fun!!

Simply great

[JakeBrinkman · 5/10 · 28 October 2019]

The events in this series are obviously some of nature's greatest, which means they weren't left out of BBC Earth's primary series. Unless this is your first nature show, much of the information is going to feel repetitive, and that's the main reason I'm rating this lower than most of the main series. However, the footage is all new, and some of the footage and stories are fascinating. So it's worth a watch even if it's not the most informative.