March of the Penguins (Widescreen Edition)

 "In the harshest place on Earth, love finds a way"
First of all, nobody needs Opus, the current Coca-Cola commercials or the trailer for next year's "Happy Feet" to know that penguins are cute. We learned that lesson in the movies when Dick Van Dyke danced with animated penguin waiters in "Mary Poppins," and everybody who has seen penguins in person knows they are about as cute as animals get. So a documentary that shows us hundreds of penguins for eighty-minutes is going to be captivating because that is a lot of cinematic cuteness. But there is more.

Second, "March of the Penguins" ("La Marche de l'empereur," literally "The Emperor's Journey") is about the mating habits of the Emperor Penguins, the biggest penguins of them all. Now, what you need to know is that when this film is over you are going to be able to pass a quiz on that particular subject. The combination of director Luc Jacquet's footage from the Antarctic and the narration by Morgan Freeman is such that when this is over you will know how far the male penguins march, how long they go without food, how they receive the eggs from the females, how much weight they lose, and just about anything else that a teacher might want to put on a quiz. I know documentaries are supposed to be informative but rarely have I felt like I had really learned something. I mean, just because we are supposed to learn something does not mean that we will, but in this case I think most viewers will clearly learn a lesson.

Third, although Jacquet is dealing with the harsh realities of these penguins, who are trying to breed on what is literally the harshest place on Earth, he focuses much more on the miracle of life. There is a point where you think the camera is about to show us things we really do not want to see, much as they are part of the circle of life and all that, but things never get that far. I was worried about what young children would think when some of the natural predators of the Emperors show up, but I do not think there is anything here that would be traumatic even though there are certainly some heartbreaking scenes, which is to be expected when cute things die.

Fourth, Freeman is the only narrator for this film, which is obvious when you watch "March of the Penguins." But it seems that in places like France and Japan the film was shown with a trio of narrators representing the father penguin (Manchot père/Haha-Penguin), the mother penguin (Manchot mère/Ko-Penguiin), and baby penguin (Manchot bébé/Chichi-Penguin). Learning this makes me wonder if just having Morgan provide the solemn narration strengthens the film's educational value. Having the voices for the three members of the family might be adding cute on top of cute, which does not always work.

Fifth, any doubts about the rating for this DVD are erased by the extras. "Of Penguins and Men" is a documentary about the making of the documentary, which actually provides a few additional insights into the Emperors. The National Geographic's "Crittercam: Emperor Penguins" provides a fascinating look at how penguins feed on fish when they dive beneath the ice, which proves to be essentially the same strategy as used by eagles and hawks. Then for good measure there is "8 Ball Bunny," a classic WB cartoon where Bugs Bunny makes the mistake of promising to take a little lost penguin home (this is the one has a running gag regarding Humphrey Bogart's character in "Treasure of the Sierra Madre"), and the theatrical trailer for "March of the Penguins." In short, the extras are about as long as the documentary itself, which makes for a nice balance without putting kids and parents on information overload.

 "March Of The Penguins" is impressively stunning!
"March Of The Penguins" is impressively stunning! It is one of the year's best! The directing by Luc Jacquet is excellent. The narration performed by Morgan Freeman and written by Jordan Roberts is excellent. The story by Jacquet & the screenplay by Jacquet & Michael Fessler is excellent. The music by Alex Wurman is impressive! The cinematography by Laurent Chalet & Jérôme Maison is excellent! The film editing by Sabine Emiliani is excellent. This is one of the best documentaries in recent history and of all time, I personally think. It is an impressive Oscar contender (and nominee) for Best Documentary Feature for 2005.

 "Oy...this ice is killing my feet!"
This was an absolutely lovely film, but it just proved to me that people are starved for some decent, intelligent, simple, inoffensive entertainment. I say this because the fanfare and praise surrounding this film upon its release, while definately deserved, strikes me as slightly exaggerated. This documentary has breathtaking vistas of the tundra, and very touchingly intimate moments with these fascinating and charasmatic tuxedoed little creatures. But, as someone who grew up watching anything that National Geographic aired on television, this film is really no better than any of those always excellent efforts. This is in no way meant as anything but a recommendation to see this beautiful film. I was just somewhat surprised, though I shouldn't be, to see that something the quality of which used to be fairly common is now viewed as something out of the ordinary. I felt this way also about the equally excellent "The Story Of The Weeping Camel".... certainly a lovely film, but, upon viewing, I wondered what all the fuss was about. I'm a sucker for anything starring members of the beloved animal kingdom, so I will always take a look at any documentary (NOT those atrocious computerized talking animals!) featuring them. And I was in no way disappointed with this film. I guess it's just re-realizing that what we used to consider common quality entertainment is now a rare occurrence. I'm just glad that so many still find it fascinating and worthwhile.

 'March of the Penguins', An Endearing Treasure
'March of the Penguins' goes to show how truly a remarkable world that we live in. It's fascinating to say the least. Observing the penguins on their long and arduous journey across the harshest realm on the planet is nothing short of phenomenal not to mention inspiring. To see the dedication, the love and compassion that these animals are capable of, and the long period of time that they've continued this biologial imperative for survival is epic in proportions.

One cannot help but admire these quirky yet majestic creatures. Trust me when I say they didn't get the name 'Emperor Penguins' for nothing because they truly are worthy of worship given the gargantuan tasks that they undertake and see through to completion. We learn many impressive facts about these penguins, such as they can dive to 1700 feet in sub-zero waters and remain under water up to 20 minutes at a time. Their natural grace in the water is poetry in motion, truly awe-inspiring as they seem to fly through the antarctic fluid effortlessly.

Another intriguing fact is that these penguins remain monogomous for one year at a time, and are wholly devoted to their offspring to the point where they risk their lives for them, and sadly but surely often end up making the ultimate sacrifice. After the mother has nested on the egg until it hatches, the father takes over the nurturing, shielding it under its feathered flesh while the mother goes off to gather food for the little one. It's quite moving to see what great length these wonderful creatures go to in order to ensure the survival of their spawn.

Perhaps the most memorable and beautiful moment of the entire film was the mating ritual and brief moments of tenderness between the male and female in which they wooed each other, stroking and caressing their beaks up and down their bodies, ending up with what might equal what we know as a kiss. Such a warm embrace in the coldest, most barren and unforgiving landscape on the planet was nothing short of miraculous. I mean who would expect to find such love in this most remote of regions?

The trials they endured, the sacrifices they made, it was all worth it, and of course most of it is the biological need to procreate and perpetuate the longevity of the species, but the film succeeded in portraying that special something that exists within the animal kingdom that science cannot scoop up and study under a microscope. That undefinable, immeasurable and all-conquering thing is love, ladies and gentlemen, and I think we could all learn alot from these lovable, fuzzy little creatures that don't appear to have a mean bone in their tiny bodies.

If you've seen animal documentaries on TV and enjoyed them, chances are you'll fall for this film, at the very least feel somewhat enriched by the experience it shares with the people lucky enough to witness their gift to the world. My hat goes off to the French film crew and scientists who helped bring about this wondrous adventure.

 1st review of DVD
This movie is so cool! This movie was made from National Geographic. So, that means this movie is educational.

Cristian Mojica

 A "Must Have" for your dvd collection - Wonderful!!!
This dvd is a must-have for your home dvd collection. Goodness sakes, how do those penguins survive the long trek, how do they find it, how do they stay there for months and months with no food, only to leave and return and repeat the process? I laughed when I watched them walk (waddle?) accross the frozen land. I cried when I watched them pass the egg (you must see to know what I mean). I was in awe when I finally saw the babies. Such a wonderful movie that should be shown in classrooms too. Be sure to check out the "behind the scenes" filming extras on the dvd where the cover the filming and work they did to achieve the success in making this dvd. WONDERFUL!

 A Brilliant Film
I guess that if a movie about Jesus became one of the highest grossing movies of all time (no pun intended), we should not be surprised to see other unusual subject matter become popular at the box office. This is the case with March of the Penguins, a documentary about the life cycle of the Emperor Penguin. This strange species lives in the Antarctic in what is surely the most horrific climate in the world.

When the Antarctic summer begins to draw to a close the Emperor Penguin, having spent the summer feeding in the ocean, feels the need to march inland to the very place where it was born. So begins a comical trek of penguins, single-file, marching day after day for up to seventy or even eighty miles. Having arrived at the place of their birth, the penguins begin to seek out a mate, somehow carefully choosing one that seems ideal to them. They begin a loving, tender dance and song which leads to breeding. Weeks later the female delivers a single egg which she immediately and carefully passes to her mate. She, approaching death because of losing much of her body weight to the egg, returns to the sea and feeds. The male, having placed the egg on his feet, incubates it for two months, standing still and huddling together with the rest of the pack to keep warm. Through terrible winter storms and temperates approaching 100 degrees below zero, they stand together to protect their young. When finally the egg hatches, the female returns and finds her mate. She then takes the baby and the male, not having eaten for several months, heads to the ocean to eat. In the following months the male and female takes turns feeding and caring for the young.

It is this amazing cycle that is captured in March of the Penguins. The narrator, Morgan Freeman, tells us that this film is a love story. But it is more than that. In his review, in which he gave the film 4.5 stars out of 5, Roger Ebert wrote the following:

"I think it is more accurately described as the story of an evolutionary success. The penguins instinctively know, because they have been hard-wired by evolutionary trial and error, that it is necessary to march so far inland because in spring, the ice shelf will start to melt toward them, and they need to stand where the ice will remain thick enough to support them.

Why do penguins behave in this manner? Because it works for them, and their environment gives them little alternative. They are Darwinism embodied. But their life history is so strange that until the last century, it was not even guessed at. The first Antarctic explorers found penguins aplenty, but had little idea where they came from, where they went to, and indeed whether they were birds or mammals."

While I generally agree with his assessment of the film, Ebert misses the mark in this area. The Emperor Penguin does not embody Darwinism but clearly shows the handiwork of a Creator. "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse" (Romans 1:20). It is startling to think that everyone who watches this incredible film has further left himself without excuse when he stands before God and attempts to plead ignorance.

The Emperor Penguin, being far more than a mere "evolutionary success," is, in fact, one of the creatures that evolution cannot fully explain. Answers in Genesis, drawing from the excellent DVD series Incredible Creatures That Defy Evolution explains:

"[C]onsider how (in a climate which no other living creature can endure), the emperor penguins get to the same destination, but via a different path, each time. As the narrator poses the question, "How do they get there-by an invisible compass inside?" And these aren't the only birds that seem to have a built-in compass-migratory birds do as well.

Dr. Jobe Martin points out in the DVD Incredible Creatures that Defy Evolution (Volume 3) how amazing it is that the egg, which is only a couple of inches from the ice, doesn't freeze. "The fact that their feet don't freeze on the ice is a miracle in itself," he adds.

With mother gone, the male penguin must carry and protect the egg for more than 60 days (practically without moving), without eating, and while exposed to the worst weather conditions on earth. (When all is said and done, the male will go without food for 125 days.)

So, how do the male penguins keep their eggs, let alone themselves, from freezing in the extreme polar weather? As a way to resist the blizzard, the penguins regroup in a turtle-like formation while swirling around like a snail. Compressed against each other, they take turns being in the middle where it's the warmest and being on the outside where it's the coldest. All the while, they are shuffling along the ice, careful not to lose the egg that is so delicately balancing on their feet.

What makes these male penguins cooperate in such perfect harmony? According to an article by the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD),3 it's their instinct as a social creature.

Another special adaptation of the emperor penguin, according to the AAD article, is the penguin's ability to "recycle" its own body heat. The emperor's arteries and veins lie close together so that blood is pre-cooled on the way to the bird's feet, wings and bill and warmed on the way back to the heart.

Many evolutionists say that the penguin is a bird that supposedly lost its ability to fly, as Dr. Martin points out in Incredible Creatures that Defy Evolution (Volume 3). "But evolutionists haven't come up with any ancestors for the penguin," he counters. "So what kind of bird was it that became a penguin and lost its ability to fly?" he adds."

The Emperor Penguin is irrefutible evidence of a Creator. This documentary (inadvertently, I'm sure) does a wonderful job of presenting this creature in a way that showcases God's creative ability and his love and care for every creature. This is a film for the whole family and one that will stir your heart with awe towards the One who created this world and everything in it.

 A Compelling Film
Morgan Freeman narrates this interesting tale about how Emperor Penguins traverse the most unbearable conditions in the Antarctic to complete their annual breeding ritual.

The penguins travel for 50+ miles -- several times -- across the harsh layers of desolate ice, managing to find their way to the exact place they were born. Once there, they find a partner, breed, protect their fragile egg, and then protect their fragile offspring from the brutal elements and predators.

It's a tale of life, and a well-told tale at that.

 A FANTASTIC LOOK AT PENGUINS!!!!
March of the Penguins is brilliant look of these amazing animals that live in the absolute world of Antarctic. When you watch this movie you have penguins and freezing antarctic circle and the music for the background is calming and relaxing,but needless to say this movie is also very educational for the kids and the parents!!!!! You also have the legendary and talented Morgon Freeman to narrate the story of penguins!!!!!! I do recommend watching this movie you will fall in love with these amazing animals!!!!!

 A Film that will touch your heart
A wonderful film about one of nature's most lovable creatures.
March of the penguins chronicles the life cycle of these wondrous bird and is intended for all ages.

Morgan Freeman narrates this movie that is destined to be a classic in the nature documentary genre. Excellent scenery and wonderful music intensifies the film's beauty.

As you watch this work of art you can't help but empathize with the penguins who light up the screen, and by the end of the film they will have also touched your heart as well.