Secrets of the Penguins

I love national geographic and films where I am able to become more knowledgeable about nature and animals. Unfortunately, I was forced to move on and select something else. I actually turned it off. The low narration quality adversely impacted my enjoyment level. I didn't trust the actor selected to promote the dialogue in this film. I love penguins, and was looking forward to watching this film. Then I found out who was narrating it and became very hesitant. I decided to go ahead and try it, but was not able to enjoy it. The producer could have been more careful in the selection of the narrator.

This series shows us things that we've never seen before about penguins! The National Geographic Producers and Camera Crew were also very brave and did an incredible job.

There are people that don't seem to like this series solely due to the fact that the National Geographic Team didn't interfere with the natural way of life for these animals. THAT'S A GOOD THING! We shouldn't be meddling with how things work in nature! Unfortunately, that also means not interfering if there are animals in need.

All in all, incredible work. Before watching, I only had a slight interest in penguins for many years. Now, I love them! If you've always had a thing for learning about nature and animals, you will absolutely love watching this series.

Stopped watching because of the awful narration. I don't recommend this doc. The editing turns simple penguin squabbles into slow-motion "epic showdowns" complete with thunderous drums-because nothing says "life and death struggle" like a flipper slap over a chunk of ice.

They clearly blew the budget on drone shots of Antarctica, because the "plot" (if you can call it that) has all the depth of a snowflake. Or, they had to pay the narrator too much to do much else. By the third act, the repetitive shots of penguins slipping on ice start to feel like unintentional slapstick, and not in a good way.

In summary: If you came for scientific insight or or emotional storytelling, keep waddling. If you want to hear a choir swell while penguins stare at each other... well, even then, you might be disappointed.

The fact that people are giving this amazing documentary a lower rating than it deserves, just because they don't like the narrator, is sad. Beautiful pictures and an amazing production showing things that have never been in the filmed before, with footage of the darkest and brightest parts of different species of penguins. Simply lovely.

Maybe Blake Lively could have done a better job with the narration, and that's on National Geographic, but if that makes an almost 10/10 documentary a seven for you, you are overreacting.

I think there were two things that this documentary could have improved on:

1. Length. He could have easily being a five episode documentary, there is so much information that could have been shown more in depth. Still the quality of the three episodes was a 10.

2. Awareness. They mention how human beings have been part of the reason why penguins are an endangered species, but this could have been an opportunity to bring into scale how much damage we are making, who are responsible and what we need to change.

Overall a 9.5 out of 10 documentary but still could have improved just a little bit. I loved every single part of it.

I am surprised that some of the low ratings that are based solely on the narrator's voice. As a photographer and filmmaker, the images are simply extraordinary, and it is essential to remember that documentary shows of this nature are 90% visual and 10% audio. Perhaps the narrator is not David Attenborough, but to discount the entire show just because of her voice seems unjustified.

Bertie Gregory's work is simply a masterclass. His patience and his range of compositions are without equal, and I remember gasping several times, admiring what he did in the field.

If I had one complaint, it would be the overdone editing at times that creates a narrative that is too cute. But overall, the one-of-a-kind visuals showing our natural world in all its splendor should be celebrated, leaving us with a sense of wonder.