I segreti delle balene

Secrets of the Whales

With Sigourney Weaver's soothing voice, excellent cinematography, and education on these majestic creatures, this Nat Geo miniseries shows off Orcas, Humpbacks, Belugas, Narwhals and Sperm Whales up close and personal. They do show them feeding, but from a distance, and not the super gory way it truly is. I felt bad for those poor sea lions.

The footage from underwater is just so cool to see. The divers did a really good job for those shots.

I mean, it's a documentary about whales, so it's pretty straightforward, but I enjoyed seeing the creatures that are usually seen from a distance.

Shame. Mostly monosyllable kindergarten repetitive script is poorly delivered by narrator Sigourney Weaver - a good actress but not narrator. Thus, the interesting, indeed some enchanting rare photography and music score are ruined.

James Cameron is executive producer. He should have narrated as his voice displays genuine respect & fascination of whales in one bonus feature as he watches the highlights of film.

Instead of paying Sigourney Weaver high wage, use the money for a better script with more intelligent/Interesting facts & narrator with an interesting voice.

This show had great possibilities , showing true hidden nature & intelligence of whales, proving common myths wrong, showing culture & traditions. Yet, it's the narration that separates the "must see" ones. It's why elder Sir David is beloved- his vocal TONE & delivery remains entertaining, plus he mostly had well written scripts. Tom Hiddleston (Loki) is another with great voice and delivery. Comedian Tim Allen (Bud Lightyear in Toy Story films) did fine narration of chimps for Disney. Bill Murrey is another with great voice & timing ( Baloo in Jungle book).

No music score is needed when photography is fascinating, only natural sounds of whales & oceans. But constant narration of wrong voice can ruin best filmography.

Preteens & older will become bored with this series.

Each episode was beautifully produced and narrated but I was absolutely shocked that National Geographic presented an episode that refers to the Orca/"Killer Whale" as a whale. It's not a whale. It's the largest Dolphin, which is an entirely different animal.

I read a lot of the other reviews and noted almost every one of them commented on how much they learned. Wouldn't it be better to have said from the top that it's called the Killer Whale but it isn't actually a whale. Makes me wonder what else they put in the series that isn't correct.

National Geographic is known for it's gold standard. Why would you let this one slip through? Or did you reclassify the Orca without announcing it?

The footage is superb, and I welcomed the commentary by the divers. Perhaps half of the voice-over narration is informative but, sadly, much of it gets in the way of deeper understanding. Silence (and whale songs) are golden.

The content is interesting to watch. However, as you listen to the narration, 99% of whales are females. Whenever there was ever a "he", it was only presented in a sort of futile attempt at something. I never imagined that the liberal female lead bias could be extended even to program about animals.