Magical Land of Oz

Beautiful scenes, particularly whales and dolphins in Nullarbor but mute it while you watching as the narrative is so boring and painful to listen. There is no story also behind different locations that the documentary is filmed. I wished there would be a map or links between the locations so we could follow the story through the map of "land of Ozz" not just jumping from here to there.

The crabs fighting scene was also very interesting.

The title of the documentary also not very smart. The scenes were not filmed in a way to show the magics in the nature. Pretty basics compared to other nature documentaries.

The cinematography is good, and there's no shortness of adorable, fascinating creatures. There is an odd lack of self-awareness, however, that may leave you thinking that something is a bit off.

This doco seems to downplay the impact of human development to the point of actually saying that the animals have used their radically transformed environments to their advantage. In one part, the doco focuses on a group of dingos living by a mine in the desert. No discussion of how this has negatively impacted the environment, and rather, were "living the best lives possible". Aww, isn't that sweet - strip mining has actually made it better than ever for wildlife.

Where the series does make some claim to what can be done, it calls for an ambiguous "national plan". We're then told of a magnificent project on Phillip Island where someone (the doco is unclear who or how) has taken the initiative to reclaim the island for the penguins. This is a success story, apparently, because now tourists pay to go to the island.

This doco filmed strip mines and said nothing about the criminal mining industry? It filmed koalas and said nothing of the criminal Berejiklian government's murderous cuts to fire reduction programs? And it's one solution is to marketise the problem? Riiiiight.

Sounds suspiciously like more capitalist propaganda where the solution is always mores capitalism.

Loved watching the documentary and hearing all the details about life around and in the continent. The list of unique species found only there is reason enough to watch the show.

Hearing that they have protected regions for species while other countries are going the opposite path makes me respect them only more.

Wish there was an episode 4 where they discussed what they were not doing right as a counter-point but I know that won't happen.

It did feel almost as if it was meant to be a travel pitch for getting people to go there. Guess what? It is working.

Misleading title for one thing, misleading about how great Australia is, and this just seems mediocre at best.

Please don't waste your time on this, unless you plan to mute it and enjoy the visuals of the animals.

Grim old Bazza narrates this fascinating three-partner on the wildlife of Australia. There's some really beautiful photography and the animals on show range from charismatic marsupials to characterful birds. I genuinely learned a load of things I didn't already know which is a plus, but for a 2019 doc it definitely goes a lot softer on humans than it probably should in the last part. The series makes some laughably acquiescent observations about the new normal for the beasts of the continent... the strip mining is "helping" the creatures in some ways. Certain beasts are just evolving quickly to adapt. Some may die, but oh well that's just how things go!