It should actually be the big screen or at least one of those ultra-sharp new 86-inch monster televisions, because "Welcome to Earth" is almost too big for our everyday screens.
Everything about this nature documentary series from National Geographic is megalomaniac: It was filmed in 34 countries on all continents of the world, the film and production team had more than 700 employees.
The result is a technically and aesthetically brilliant, overwhelming result that the Disney Group, which National Geographic now belongs to, broadcasts worldwide via the Disney + streaming service.
When the marine biologist and apnea diver Diva Amon does not dive with sperm whales and manta rays, but dances, with the casual elegance of a "James Bond" intro, when a canoe trip through the bioluminescent bay in front of Puerto Rico becomes a surreal experience , when drone images of Raine Island in the Great Barrier Reef let us hover over thousands of egg-laying giant turtles or when a thin layer of water transforms the Bolivian Uyuni salt pan into a huge mirror in which not only thunderstorms are reflected, but also those when looking at the double Milky Way Rotation of the earth becomes perceptible, then all the effort has paid off: These are images for eternity. You can't get more high-end than this.
The artistic genius behind the series is Darren Aronofsky, who three years ago staged “One Strange Rock”, a grandiose nature documentary oscillating between space perspective and the microscopic view, which could easily keep up with the planet and ocean films of the BBC.
Aronofsky had also solved the commentator's question well, after all it was necessary to install a moderation that contrasts the world-famous David Attenborough sound with its own, younger, but at the same time worthy voice.
Amazingly, this succeeded with the cinema superstar Will Smith.
A legend himself since films like “Men in Black”, “Ali” or “I Am Legend”, he had enough self-confidence not to be intimidated by the powerful images and the elaborate filming.
The educational added value should not be overestimated
It worked so well that Will Smith takes on an even more prominent role this time around. The narrative framework of his six-episode journey of discovery to magical places on earth means that the protagonist, who is always in a good mood and always a little bit of fear, is now in the picture himself most of the time at the side of real explorers, photographers and scientists. And that doesn't even bother. The educational added value of the series, which is a bit like school television, should not be overestimated, because it hardly goes beyond basic biological knowledge, for example about the meaning of smells, bioluminescence or swarm intelligence. Even if it is presented with Hollywood pathos,One learns a lot more in the narrative not so dissimilar children's film "Checker Tobi and the secret of our planet", especially about social contexts.