User Reviews

What difference does a number 'twenty four and a half' make? May be nothing to you. But, that half a number can kill creatures. The tilt of Earth's 24 ½ degree is giving hard times to the creatures that live near the poles and challenging their ability to save themselves.

The episode focuses on a colony of emperor penguins. To someone who doesn't know what emperor penguins are, the name might sound majestic, 'Emperor'. But, only those who have seen the lives of these animals will know how tough their lives are. Yet, the penguins fight the odds like a real emperor and make their life possible in the cold dark environment.

BBC has made many documentaries on penguins. But, this episode has captured some never-seen amazing scenes and never-imagined incredible stories. And this time the crew have broke their cardinal rule, 'No-interference-with-the-wildlife-while-filming', but why exactly did that happen? Watch the episode to know, and anyone would have done the same. I would have done the same.

The filming crew has really struggled a lot to capture the lives of these birds. They have spent a year with them to bring us an episode of 1 hour. This episode will make you cry. So, grab a kerchief before you sit before the TV.

Know our world a little better than yesterday.

I am a regular viewer of BBC documentaries and there have been stories on emperor penguins before. So at the beginning I was not that much excited for this episode. But dear God, what an outstanding 1 hour it has been! This episode will make you smile, make you cry, make you fall in love with this planet and all its creatures. I love David Attenborough and BBC crews but in this episode they have gained my utmost respect. I want to hug all of them so hard right now.

What a piece of art. Not degrading other episodes of the series in any way, but this one was pretty special. It just kept on giving all the way through its length, I felt I was there with those penguins cheering them on to make their odds of survival better. Really amazing how they managed to catch the pure essence of their instinct and their thriving to survive.

When it comes to nature/wildlife documentaries, David Attenborough (still going strong with no signs of tiring for such an amazingly long career) is tough to beat. Everything he's done (some of it ground-breaking or the quintessential documentary on the subject in question) is so well made, educational, always compelling and have always felt a lot of emotion from a vast majority of them. The best documentaries are landmarks and some of the best ever produced, nature or not.

As far as celebrity filmographies go, Attenborough's filmography is one of the best and most consistent. It is a very, very rare case of even the more flawed work being decent and not a dud in the lot. 'Dynasties' is not one of his very best, but again only because the gems are so many, but it is yet another treasure and has everything that makes his work so great. The animals covered are familiar ones, but actually the approach 'Dynasties' takes is for an Attenborough documentary not one done much before if ever. In that it follows specific families within specific species with a tighter focus than one expects.

"Chimpanzee" started 'Dynasties' off amazingly. This second episode "Emperor" is a strong contender for the best of the series, it is the one that emotionally connected with and inspired me the most, and when it comes to documentaries on penguins it's really quite special.

It looks amazing for starters. The Antarctic scenery takes the breath away but it is more than just beautiful scenery, the habitats in 'Dynasties' also have unforgiving natures and the Antarctic in "Emperor" is the most unforgiving of all as one does feel the penguins' struggles to survive. The scenery is complemented by photography of quite cinematic quality, not just a gorgeous feast for the eyes but it is also expansive and intimate in equal measure, enhancing the impact of the emotional and tense scenes. Likewise with the music which never came over as intrusive.

"Emperor's" narration is very thought-provoking and never rambles or speculates, as to be expected. The Antarctic and penguins are familiar subjects, but the approach and tighter focus that they are explored in feels fresh, one seeing an emotional and at times resourceful side to them other than cute and playful. "Emperor" feels like its own individual story rather than just an episode of a series. Really did like the hilarious scene showing how penguins are not the best at mating, but it was the more emotional elements that stuck out more. With such a cruel environment and such struggles, some of the episode is distressing, with one of the series' most heart-wrenching moments being with the chick stuck in the crevasse and its struggles for safety.

The portrayal of the penguins is reassuring and cute in places, but there are also moments of uncompromising complexity. The Antarctic landscape has more than looking glorious and nothing feels sugar-coated or over-humanised. A lot of information is covered but felt properly explored and not rushed or disjointed, and the facts educate and illuminate while not being compromised for the emotionally complex storytelling.

Once again, Attenborough's narrative delivery is sincere, enthusiastic as well as understated, delivered in a voice that one can recognise from anywhere. One can listen to him for hours and not tire of him, no other nature/wildlife documentary narrator/presenter has made me feel this way. All five episodes of 'Dynasties' had fascinating and emotional behind the scenes footage, but if there was a prize for the episode with the most fascinating and emotionally impactful behind the scenes footage it would belong to "Emperor", because what they do here is really inspiring and brave and demonstrative of how they really cared for the animals.

In conclusion, something of a special episode. 10/10 Bethany Cox