Beautiful cinematography, interesting subjects, but good God it was hard to stick with it as every 25 seconds there's another forcibly inserted pop song that tries to amplify the scene, but instead it just takes away from the entire experience. Each episode feels like it has 30 different clips of pop music. If you're used to the quality of a BBC type documentary with well chosen atmospheric music that enhances the scenes, this will feel like fingernails on a chalkboard. I liked the tenor and pacing of Angela Basset's voice, and again - the camera work is top notch. I hope the team behind this production keeps at it - but next time don't try to make it a music video, please.
11 Reviews
Finally A New Take On Documentaries
Cochise33338 March 2024
It's an all female produced, edited, and narrated documentary that spotlights female animals which I can only assume provoked the 1 star reviews. How sad that such an amazing piece of work is overlooked due to sexism. The cinematography is thrilling. Capturing these clips takes extreme talent and experience and we see that here, but what I absolutely loved is the soundtrack and editing. It worked so well with the shots and I have rewatched the end of the hyena episode over and over. I've never had a documentary evoke the emotion this series made me feel. Angela Basset is a force of nature and her narration seals the deal for me.
Dull basic clips; nothing new.
cgtam13 March 2024
Narration is delivered at a monotonous whisper, with well known facts. Lots of ads. Lead animals get 1/4 of screen time while other animals not advertised get the majority. Distracting score is odd mix of modern songs incl heavy metal rock; wildlife sounds are not synced. Bias agenda of pro female is emphasized throughout each ep. Producer Basset claims this took "4 yrs to make" but not for filming bc of huge time gaps. During that time, Africa & other wild places have drastically changed, but it's not shown.
No real background of lead females' survival. Most clips are recycled from other docu series. Tries but fails to copy scripts of successful docus like Savage Kingdom, Dynasties, & Planet Earth series. Better than Ambien for sleeping, so it's good for that purpose.
No real background of lead females' survival. Most clips are recycled from other docu series. Tries but fails to copy scripts of successful docus like Savage Kingdom, Dynasties, & Planet Earth series. Better than Ambien for sleeping, so it's good for that purpose.
A Masterpiece!
newtunesforyou6 March 2024
Am amazing series will worth watching. Can't stress enough how well produced this is. Many thanks for giving us this unique look into the animal kingdom. This is visually stunning. Still in awe how they were able to capture such intimate moments. The narration is one of the best I've heard. Basset's soothing voice leads you through this captivating journey. I hardly ever write reviews but I felt compelled to give credit where it is due. Haven't been able to stop watching. It's always nice to watch a documentary that teaches you so many new things about these remarkable creatures. I see many awards in the horizon.
BEST documentary ever!!!!!!
bestplus4 April 2024
This documentary is like the rediscovery of the Matriarchy. She's always there, existing in the wild, but men try to hide it and cover up everyone's eyes. Now women can finally come and show the truth, of our animals, plants, planet, the way of life and the truth of the universe...
Male dominated documentary are full of unnecessary mating content and male-centered bs. The old white man with one foot in the graves explaining the vivid nature life is so ironic. They looked at the nature like a tv show, something they own and conquered.
May every woman who watch this show be as strong and lively as wild animals!
May every woman who watch this show be as strong and lively as wild animals!
Amazing!
anda-turcan7 April 2024
Do not miss this! The powerful voice of the narrator, the filmography, the amazing soundtrack and all the trivia learned are great! Watched it all in one day and I need more, can't wait for the next documentary narrated by this incredible woman!
The world needs more inspiring people like the ones we learned about from this series. There are still people who appreciate and love nature just how it should be. And the fact that we can learn from them...thank you for your hard work!
Please, National Geographic, make more documentaries like this one, full of powerful stories and music so you can feel like reading a great story.
The world needs more inspiring people like the ones we learned about from this series. There are still people who appreciate and love nature just how it should be. And the fact that we can learn from them...thank you for your hard work!
Please, National Geographic, make more documentaries like this one, full of powerful stories and music so you can feel like reading a great story.
EXCELLENT DOCUMENTARY
oceanwaves-7752818 March 2024
ANGELA BASSETT WAS FABULOUS AS THE NARRATOR IN THIS DOCUMENTARY!! VOICE IS SO REGAL AND POWERFUL. ALTHOUGH MOST INFORMATION I ALREADY KNEW IT WAS STILL INTERGTRING AND INFORMATIVE TO WATCH, FOR THE INFORMATION I DID NOT HAVE A CLUE ABOUT. THE ANT DISCUSSION WAS RIVETING. I HAD NEVER HEARD OF AN ORCHID BEE BEFORE. THE BONOBOS SECTION WAS INTERETING AS WELL. HOW THEY WORKED TOGETHER TO ENSURE NEW MOTHERS WERE TAKEN CARE OF ALONG WITH THE NEWBORS. LIKE A COMMUNAL MOMMY AND ME DAYCARE. HUMANS CAN LEARN A GREAT DEAL FROM ANIMALS AS FAR HAS HOW TO WORK TOGETHER AND SACARFICE ON SELF FOR THE GREATER GOOD.
Visually great, lacks in the science
jessalynpennington22 March 2024
Visually stunning at times and some very cool animals/interactions captured but far too much anthropomorphic language and not enough science of behaviors. Angela Bassett does a great job with the delivery of the dramatic lines and I can't fault her for iffy writing. The music is at times too much "girl boss" and sometimes takes away from the show. Really impressed with the video they managed to capture and what little science was in the show was fascinating but it heavily leaned on big dramatic phrases to explain normal animal behavior that is not "ruthless" or "hungry for power", it's simple animals surviving based on their instincts and needs.
How to Ruin a Crown: The Disastrous Tale of "Queens"the documentary
Wooptyweee8 April 2024
The "Queens" documentary left me profoundly disappointed. Despite its visually stunning presentation, the experience was marred by a soundtrack that clashed horribly with the breathtaking visuals. Instead of enhancing the storytelling, the intrusive vocals turned the documentary into a misguided musical experiment gone awry.
The lack of harmony between the audio and visual elements left me questioning whether I was watching a serious documentary or a failed attempt at a Broadway adaptation.
But the disappointment didn't end there. The narrative felt superficially constructed, tailored to a specific audience rather than genuinely exploring its subject matter. Rather than delving into the complexities of queendom, the documentary presented a shallow portrayal that lacked depth and substance. It reduced the concept of being a queen to a mere caricature, devoid of the genuine struggles and triumphs that define the title.
In many cultures, being a queen is about earning respect and authority through merit and leadership. However, in this documentary, it felt like the essence of queendom was lost amidst contrived drama.
The narrative resembled a poorly written love-drama story, with animals awkwardly cast as the protagonists in a human-influenced drama. The overall result was a forced and artificial narrative that lacked authenticity and gravitas.
Rather than shedding light on the true essence of queendom, the "Queens" felt like a misguided attempt at entertainment with little meaningful insight to offer. In fact, the documentary may have been more enjoyable if watched without the sound altogether. It's a shame that such visually stunning cinematography was overshadowed by nonsensical soundtrack that failed to complement it.
The lack of harmony between the audio and visual elements left me questioning whether I was watching a serious documentary or a failed attempt at a Broadway adaptation.
But the disappointment didn't end there. The narrative felt superficially constructed, tailored to a specific audience rather than genuinely exploring its subject matter. Rather than delving into the complexities of queendom, the documentary presented a shallow portrayal that lacked depth and substance. It reduced the concept of being a queen to a mere caricature, devoid of the genuine struggles and triumphs that define the title.
In many cultures, being a queen is about earning respect and authority through merit and leadership. However, in this documentary, it felt like the essence of queendom was lost amidst contrived drama.
The narrative resembled a poorly written love-drama story, with animals awkwardly cast as the protagonists in a human-influenced drama. The overall result was a forced and artificial narrative that lacked authenticity and gravitas.
Rather than shedding light on the true essence of queendom, the "Queens" felt like a misguided attempt at entertainment with little meaningful insight to offer. In fact, the documentary may have been more enjoyable if watched without the sound altogether. It's a shame that such visually stunning cinematography was overshadowed by nonsensical soundtrack that failed to complement it.
Great visuals, brutal. But horrible music ruins it.
skylion3G13 April 2024
Some seriously amazing cinematography and insanely brutal moments captured. They don't hold back on how cruel nature is and how animals can be to one another.
But the music ruins the show. That's not an exaggeration. Who is their target demographic here? It's as if they were trying to appeal to the urban TikTok generation, but it doesn't work at all. Whoever supervised the music should be fired. It's that bad, and for that reason alone I cannot recommend this show.
The story-telling of a few episodes also seemed forced, particularly the insect episode. Try an episode to see if you like it, the Lions and Elephant episodes are good. But you'll probably hate the music and it ruins the whole vibe.
MY RATING:
5: AVERAGE- Not bad, not good. Overall, it is probably forgettable. A few aspects kept me engaged enough to finish, but my attention likely drifted throughout. I wouldn't necessarily dissuade people from watching it, but also cannot recommend it. Wish I had watched something else instead.
But the music ruins the show. That's not an exaggeration. Who is their target demographic here? It's as if they were trying to appeal to the urban TikTok generation, but it doesn't work at all. Whoever supervised the music should be fired. It's that bad, and for that reason alone I cannot recommend this show.
The story-telling of a few episodes also seemed forced, particularly the insect episode. Try an episode to see if you like it, the Lions and Elephant episodes are good. But you'll probably hate the music and it ruins the whole vibe.
MY RATING:
5: AVERAGE- Not bad, not good. Overall, it is probably forgettable. A few aspects kept me engaged enough to finish, but my attention likely drifted throughout. I wouldn't necessarily dissuade people from watching it, but also cannot recommend it. Wish I had watched something else instead.
Boring as watching clouds floating by in the sky
MovieIQTest7 March 2024
The main problem of this documentary serial is the narrator, whose voice is way to low, vague and spiritless without energy. Even by increasing the volume, her low tiresome voice still became so difficult to catch sometimes. To tell the stories about the queens in the wild animal kingdoms, you need to use clear, strong and energetic voice to deliver the powerful, sometimes predictable, sometimes not quite predictable situations when those queens of the different species become weak and old and inevitably ousted by the young, upcoming and more vicious ones who come to take over and become the new queens. Yet this weak narrator's voice simply failed to deliver such wild animals' world.
The other weakness of this documentary is the random editing that jumped around. Often when we just got into that specific animal's world, it suddenly cut it short and began to tell another animal's stuff. Besides, all the contents of this documentary are already well-known and old information that we don't really want to renew or relearn. This is a very boring fact finding documentary that we could do without, especially with such terrible choice of a weal, seamless female voice just because the documentary needs to tell, that in animal kingdoms, the female ones usually reign over the males and the other females. Sounds more like a feminist's production, don't you think?
I could only watched the first episode and decided to quit in the middle.
The other weakness of this documentary is the random editing that jumped around. Often when we just got into that specific animal's world, it suddenly cut it short and began to tell another animal's stuff. Besides, all the contents of this documentary are already well-known and old information that we don't really want to renew or relearn. This is a very boring fact finding documentary that we could do without, especially with such terrible choice of a weal, seamless female voice just because the documentary needs to tell, that in animal kingdoms, the female ones usually reign over the males and the other females. Sounds more like a feminist's production, don't you think?
I could only watched the first episode and decided to quit in the middle.
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