Earth: Making of a Planet

The graphics are stunning. The information is edifying. And the narration is engaging. I hear smooth jazz in Mr. Cathey's voice and I enjoy the pacing of his delivery. It is as pleasant to listen to Reg Cathey as it is to listen to Peter Coyote.

The general content of this TV movie is worth having. But it's mis-titled and poorly narrated and written.

Rather than being a history of our planet, this is only a partial history, focused primarily on the planet's suitability for life on it. It dwells less on planetology and more on biological evolution as the movie progresses.

I found the narration (both US narrator and script) annoying.

Warden Querns -- er, Reg E Cathey -- just doesn't have the right tone for a history of the planet. His voice is neither full of admiration for the subject like Morgan Freeman, nor full of gravitas like David Attenborough. It is too stern a voice, an angry teacher.

The script itself contains too many generalizations. As one example, it repeatedly implies that all the dinosaurs were wiped out, yet ignores that birds are likely their descendants. Further, no evidence is given for any of the claims in this video, so it plays more like a religious origin story than anything scientific. It diminishes the factual content, to present it in this way.

The animation is (by today's standards) amateurish, video-game like. The soundtrack could be mistaken for a CNN political broadcast. This information does not need "help" from the audio and video team. Rather, it deserves respect, which it sadly did not get.

Other TV movies have done this better. I would recommend Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life (2009) for the biological part, and the miniseries "Wonders of the Universe" (2011) for the rest.

I have watched the documentary cutting off the voice and the music, reading the script only. I found the music too emphatic. It gives the layman a good overall picture of the evolutionary facts concerning our planet. I was wondering if the message at the end could not be a bit more bold: it is kind of obvious that man has had a hand in transforming the planet and will this not have an impact and will this not create another cataclysmic change like earth has lived through its history?

This documentary is fantastic. From the narrator to the sounds and graphics. It really captures you into how our Planet was made. I watch it many times over and over again. That's how good it is!

Good documentary for its time if you are looking for a basic understanding of Earth's history. Straight forward narration and animation. It talks about history from the Hadean eon (4.6 billion years ago) all the way to the present day. The majority of the documentary focused on essential events that happened over 100 million years ago.

Narration was definitely generic and bland but always gave factual information; no dramatization, no opinions, just facts. If you are looking to be entertained throughout this TV movie, that will most likely not happen. However, if you are watching this for purely educational and informational reasons, it will get the job done.