Parcs nationaux: Ces merveilles du monde

I really enjoyed thjs documentary about national parcs. Yes, there are hundreds of documentaries but seeing new, recent and HD-quality pictures of national parcs around tge world is a real pleasure, especially in today's tv-landscape.

For the narrating, I am not bothered that the person is a political figure but probably Republicans are and thus are bashing this docu and rated it below 5. For me, watching this docu is about earth, about nature and not about politics. For this reason, I enjoyed all episodes and rated it 8*.

This is totally worth checking out. In fact, just leave it on your screen whenever you are in the room just to fill your life with some spectacular images.

But still a nice watch, each episode offering stunning footage of animals in their natural habitats. President Obama narrating is a provocative choice (read some of the negative reviews here as proof) but he does have a voice made for narration. The only documentary you can imagine the Former Guy narrating is one on how to hunt and kill all of the creatures featured in this documentary for profit.

The documentary is rated TV: PG for "fear." Nature can be cruel, as evidenced in nearly every installment. Every installment also stresses the need to protect existing parkland on every continent (and yes, negative reviewers here; there are National Parks in other countries besides the U. S.) and mentions climate change. So in the end, the documentary is preaching to the choir, as a certain segment of the population will shut the program off at the very first mention of the term "climate change" and change the channel back to Fox Nation.

Ken Burns' extensive National Parks documentary series focused on U. S. National Parks so this shorter series is a nice complement. And broadcasting it during the month of Earth Day makes this a perfect viewing choice for those who truly care about the future of our planet.

As someone who can't concentrate on anything unless there's animal visuals on in the background, I have seen more than a hundred nature documentaries. The cinematography of Our Great National Parks is absolutely breathtaking, but that's the case for many other docs as well. What makes this one unique is that it zooms in on lesser known facts about animals, facts that even I --as a self-proclaimed connoisseur-- was flabbergasted by. On multiple occasions during each episode, the documentary tackled the animal protagonists from angles that I have never seen before. Plus, despite loving the big five, it's nice watching something that's not constantly about them, but about less common critters as well.

Sir David Attenborough is and will always remain the ultimate nature doc narrator but Barack Obama has made a solid impression and I'm eager for more.

I don't understand why Our Great National Parks has such a low rating but don't let it fool you. It's an absolute must watch. I've rated it 9 stars, the same rating I gave to Planet Earth I & II, Chasing Coral and Blue Planet I & II.

It's beautiful, relaxing & informative. What's not to like? Like many other well made nature documentaries, the patience and skill needed to capture these moments in nature is truly impressive. Obama does an excellent job narrating and any extra attention given to him doing a documentary focusing on the preservation of wild life habitats is a very good thing. I highly recommend.