David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet is a new Netflix documentary released this month. As he states, this is his witness statement. Mr. Attenborough is a famous naturalist who has made many, many informative and beautiful nature documentaries. He’s 93 years old now… and to put that in perspective, in the early 90s I took a college biology course that used his Life on Earth documentary and text book (created ten years prior). He mentions filming that doc in this doc when he was already in his 50s. Man has been around the block… and the jungle… and the savannah.
Despite the title, this documentary is not actually a biography of his life and work… but more an overview of what he’s seen as a naturalist over the course of his life. How humanity has changed the globe for our benefit but not for the benefit of nature. Instead of being inwardly reflective, he focuses this life experience to help explain his thesis, a warning, and suggestions on how we can save ourselves.
I have seen a number of his – and other people’s – nature documentaries over the years and have some familiarity with the topics he discusses. Which, unfortunately, means that (to me) there’s very little new or particularly interesting here. But to a young person, a casual person who hasn’t watched a lot of docs, or even *gasp* a person who scoffs at environmental warnings, there’s plenty good going on here (though two out of these three groups will probably not watch or dismiss it out of hand)
Unfortunately, I can’t help feeling a personal disappointment about this doc. I actually did want to see more about his life and his various expeditions… he’s certainly lived and seen first-hand more than most of us ever will. I wanted to hear about all these expeditions, his fights to get things done, and, hey, how specific things maybe have changed over time. Instead, it’s an important doc with important info… but also it feels a little preachy to my ears. A necessary and important sermon, sure… but (like I said before) a little redundant.
The final half hour or so is a warning about what COULD happen in the next hundred years or so… and suggestions of how to stop a catastrophe. Most of the suggestions are low impact on the average person… but also too big in scope for any average person to do anything about (though perhaps that’s why he mentioned earlier in the doc how the culture turned on the whaling industry and saved the species… grass roots anger can result in change). But he only offers one concrete thing dopes like you and I can do… which (sigh) is go vegetarian. My fictional hamburger is sad.
So ultimately this is a well-meaning and earnest doc that’s worth watching for those who need the info. For people who have seen all this before, it’s more of the same. You probably won’t get much out of it. But you could share it with a younger person or foist it on a climate denier so you can have shouting matches at Thanksgiving. So my rating is relatively low unless you’re in the target audience in which case it would be higher.
Score: 75