If you thought the original “Frozen Planet” pushed the limits of nature filmmaking, the sequel takes it even further.
You realize Earth is like an aging superstar trying to play one more season, and this is the highlight reel.
I found this one from Charlotte Davis’s post “6 of the best Sir David Attenborough series to watch after Planet Earth III.”
Trailer for “Frozen Planet II”
You Can’t Make This Sh!t Up
- Male Antipodean albatrosses are stranded without mates due to female losses from fishing. They form lifelong pairs with other males, an unprecedented adaptation captured on camera for the first time.
- In Japan, snow monkeys use hot springs like spas. They form social hierarchies around bath access. Yes, there’s actual bathing order drama in the monkey world.
Watch “Frozen Planet II”
You can watch “Frozen Planet II” on JustWatch to find it on HBO Max, Prime Video, Discovery+, Hulu, and more.
Ratings:
- My Rating: 91/100
- IMDB Rating: 9.0/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 92/100 (Users); 75/100 (Critics)
Director’s Note: This six-part series is executive produced by Mark Brownlow and Elizabeth White, with the legendary Sir David Attenborough returning as narrator. The production used ultra-HD drones, low-light camera traps, and underwater rigs. It pushes the limits of what’s possible in wildlife cinematography.
Release Date: September 11, 2022 (BBC One), later released internationally in 2023
My Review of “Frozen Planet II”
The Setup
“Frozen Planet II” expands on its predecessor by going beyond just the poles. It covers every frozen habitat across Earth. We see how creatures survive these extreme places and how they’re now being pushed to the brink due to climate shifts happening faster than anyone predicted.
Each episode dives deep into a part of the cryosphere and how species adapt or struggle to keep pace with their melting world. It’s awe-inspiring and gut-wrenching at the same time.
More Highlights from the Doc
- Filming covered every part of the cryosphere. Mountaintops, frozen deserts, tundra, sea ice, glaciers, and snow-covered forests from 18 countries over 4 years.
- The scene with musk oxen protecting their calves from wolves in Arctic Canada is one of the most intense predator-prey chases I’ve seen. It’s shot from both aerial drones and ground-level cams.
- Antarctic killer whales change their entire hunting strategy. They leave their typical Weddell seal targets to go after leopard seals. They are bigger, more dangerous, and have never been seen as prey on film.
- Scientists descend into narrow, near-vertical shafts in Greenland’s melting glaciers to track how meltwater is ripping through the ice sheet and destabilizing the entire ecosystem beneath.
- Penguins hurling themselves onto slippery rocks in South Georgia while dodging aggressive fur seals is hilarious and brutal. Some don’t make it. Some do, and it’s all caught in super slow motion.
- Extreme climate data is woven into the footage. You see glacier calving, permafrost melt, and habitat loss happening in real time with narration from Sir David Attenborough.
Lesser-Known Details from the Doc
- The series took over 2,500 filming days and included more than 30 filming expeditions to the Arctic, Antarctic, Himalayas, and beyond.
- To capture footage inside Greenland’s moulins, camera operators wore dry suits and lowered themselves on winches. Some shots were scrapped after gear froze instantly.
- Attenborough’s voiceover was recorded after many of the field crews returned. The scripts had to evolve with every new behavior they captured on camera.
- Thermal cameras were used in Siberia to track the elusive Siberian tiger hunting prey at night in snowy forests. Footage that almost no one believed they’d actually get.
- One of the drone rigs was so fragile in cold temps that it had to be hand-carried for miles into sub-zero territory before flight. It couldn’t start properly below -20°C.
Wrap Up:
“Frozen Planet II” is a climate emergency flare shot across the sky. It’s visually stunning, but you walk away knowing beauty alone won’t save these places.
Thanks for reading!
Heather Fenty, Guest Writer, Daily Doc