Enchanted Kingdom 3D

2014's 'Enchanted Kingdom 3D' appealed to me straightaway. Am a great fan of nature documentaries, especially the work of David Attenborough. 3D can be very interesting and impressive when done well, though to me it has always varied in documentaries. Africa is such a beautiful and diverse continent when it comes to habitats and wildlife. Idris Elba has always impressed me a lot as an actor since 'Luther', so had no doubt that this would be at least good.

At least good 'Enchanted Kingdom 3D' certainly was. It was more than that, would go as far to call it brilliant and definitely lives up to its enchanted name. It's extremely well made, educational, emotionally investable, very human without being overly so and any worries about how the 3D and narration would fare (and there were admittedly, seeing how much they have varied in recently seen documentaries) quickly evaporated. 'Enchanted Kingdom 3D' is one of the best documentaries seen recently.

'Enchanted Kingdom 3D' looks astounding. The scenery is so imposingly beautiful yet uncompromisingly unyielding, all shot spectacularly. The wildlife, animals and plants, are intimately captured in a way that really enchants visually. As for the 3D, that fares very well too, one might argue that it was not needed but it is not distracting, overused or gimmicky and it never looks cheap either. The music is an expert balance of the grand and the subtle, without sounding over-scored or lacking in presence.

Can find absolutely no fault with the animals, they are amazing (whether prey or predator and big or small) and it was very easy to root for them, their triumphs and struggles every step of the way. The narration has no clumsy or childish attempts at humour and is not too serious, it also doesn't spell things out too much and doesn't over-explain. Instead it entertains, it teaches (with a good mix of the familiar and the not so familiar) and moves, did find myself learning a lot and this is an oft delivered continent with familiar wildlife. Elba's delivery is enthusiastic while also dignified and easy to be charmed by.

Did love how easy it was to be invested in the storytelling. It amuses and charms at parts but is also emotional and doesn't shy away from showing the adversity, all without being too dark. 'Enchanted Kingdom 3D' can be very simple and understated, but is very elegant and magical in its simplicity and understatement. Actually appreciated that nothing was over the top.

In summary, wonderful and enchanting. 10/10.

If you dont iwn this 3d bluray get online and buy it NOW!! An hour and a half of Brilliant cinematography with excellent narration by the great edris!! I have 2 copies and wont give either 1 up, the Breathtaking cinematography of so many different subjects, from the ocean to the desert from elephants to clown fish it has it all!!!

BBC takes us on visually charming path through the Africa. From hottest dry places on Earth to the deeps of the ocean. Capturing only the most beautiful and interesting behavior of the animals and plants, so it's actually even more magnificent than in the real life. Whole movie has a quite magical tone and Idris Elba as a narrator really helps. His narrating is very simple at the same time, so even the younger ones will enjoy this. It does not have to be seen in 3D to appreciate it's potential. In the end, it leaves warm feeling of love and respect for the nature inside you and that is, I think, what filmmakers meant by this.

Well done BBC...as usually.

This is not so much a nature documentary, as a lesson in how NOT to make a nature documentary. It feels more like a student project made by someone who has seen way too many David Attenborough films, and try their best to mimic his style, without any of the talent.

That's not to say it's all bad: The cinematography is quite astounding at times, and there are plenty of images which will leave your mouth agape.

But the hamfisted voice-over is nothing but a constant stream of on-the-nose awkwardness, the forced segways constantly pull attention to themselves, and the incoherent story-lines break every rule of storytelling. And to top it all off, it ends with an unbelievable bad final scene showing children dancing in slow-motion to an absolutely horrendous soundtrack whose lyrics beats you upon the head with its message. It has the subtlety of someone crashing a plane into a skyscraper, and leaves you with just about the same feeling.

This is a review of "Enchanted Kingdom" (look at BBC website etc, its not called Enchanted Kingdom 3D, IMDb is in error.)

A Nature Documentary that takes you all over the world.

Beautiful scenes and camera work, interesting, and sometimes comical animals. Like the dancing desert lizard.

Leaves you with a fun and positive message.

Idris Elba (aka Stringer Bell) did a great job with the Narration as well.

The narration is done to a general audience and not panders only to children (Like Bears 2014), which is great.