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Morgan Freeman (narrator)

In the harshest environment in the world, Antarctica, an amazing gathering accumulates once a year in the name of love. This love is for the purpose of continued survival, as it demands a vast number of the largest penguins in the world, the Emperor penguin, to wander across the snowy and icy desert where minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit could be considered a warm day at the beach. These penguins, which could reach a height of four feet, travel up to 70 miles on wobbly stumpy legs and do belly slides in order to reach the point where their species has met for mating through several millennia. ***

It is a long journey that the penguins undertake to find a mate for one single season with whom they strive to nurture one egg into a new-hatched life. This is a journey that could easily cost the penguins' lives, as freezing weather selects those who have fallen behind, or commenced their journey too late, to fall under bone-chilling gales and blizzards. Through the opportunity to observe these penguins a notion rises that the penguins must coexists with nature in a delicate balance where life and death weigh equal. Death cannot be considered a cruel enemy stalking them for the purpose of evil, but as an opportunity for natural selection to take its course and strengthen the Emperor penguins position in nature. ***

From the safe distance of an air conditioned theater the audience can observe several penguins struggling for survival. It is a rough cinematic journey to see these penguins struggling for survival against the freezing weather, starvation, and predators. In some aspects, it even seems absurd in the perspective of a being a human. Yet, it is within the illogical reasoning out of a humans point of view that mankind must realize its powerful position in the global ecosystem. Humans have over an extended time continued to destroy nature in a progressive manner through exploitation, toxic waste disposal, and other natural disasters created by man, which many parts of the human society still deny. The aftermath could change the environmental balance for the penguins, and only a slight change could have a disastrous effect on the existence of the Emperor penguin. The film does not deal directly with mankind's influence on nature, but the notion lingers throughout the film. *** Once the penguins reached the location of mating it is hard to believe that love can take place in such a place where natural selection and death are as common as snow. Through extensive courtship the females pick their mating male with whom they attempt to have an egg. When the egg is delivered the female teaches the male how to handle the egg, as the body heat from the penguin is the only thing that keeps the chick safe inside the egg. One prolonged scene, displays the repercussion of careless penguin couple, as the egg slowly breaks from the freezing temperatures. The painful images of watching the egg break continue to stir in the mind of the audience, as the male penguins are left to care for the eggs while the females return to the ocean to get food for the soon hatched chick. ***

Morgan Freeman's voice narrates the American version with tactfulness and objectivity to the many situations. There are moments that will bring laughter through cute tumbling penguins while other scenes will slash through the heart with agonizing sorrow. Watching the penguins huddling together for heat, feeding the chicks, and wandering together illustrates a very compassionate atmosphere, even if it is freezing. There are also genuine moments of care and affection delivered between the penguins, which could be felt all the way into the hearts of the viewers. The iciness of Antarctica cannot overpower the love that the Emperor penguin has for life, as this film will genuinely stir the emotions and notions within the audience in many different ways. *** ---

Documentaries most often have a gritty and dirty look, as they are shot on location when light conditions are not optimal. In addition, documentary filmmakers often find themselves restrained by budget issues and the film stock used often is not the best. When fiction filmmakers shoot films to accentuate the realism in film they sometimes use film stock with high grain level. With these notions in mind, March of the Penguins will stun the audience, as the image quality is almost immaculate considering the location and weather conditions under which the film was shot. The anamorphic widescreen image does present some minor digital issues such as edge enhancement. However, overall the image leaves the viewer with a terrific visual feast with the aspect ratio 1.78:1. ***

The sound in many documentaries does not play a significant part, as it is sometimes very hard to capture the real sound of the moment. However, March of the Penguins again will surprise the viewer, as it has a good amount of ambient audio such as wind and weather together with the sounds of the penguins. Morgan Freeman’s narration is also very clear, which boosts the enlightening experience of the Emperor penguins’ life cycle. *** ---

There are a few appealing extras on this disc and it begins with an almost hour long making of the documentary called Of Penguins and Men. It offers a fascinating journey behind-the-scenes of the documentary that educates the audience about the predicaments of filming on the location and a few more facts about the penguins in the film. National Geographic's Crittercam presents a piece that follows the penguins through some interesting situations such as the survival of the fittest situation including a penguin and a leopard seal. To offer the youngest viewers a little extra the disc includes a classic Looney Toons cartoon called 8 Ball Bunny featuring a penguin. The final piece on the DVD is a theatrical trailer of the film, which does not require any explanation. *** ---

March of the Penguins offers a poignant cinematic experience about the harsh reality of nature. It might seem cruel on occasion, but it is the circle of life that must continue for the survival of all species. Thus, in the light of films such as Madagascar where the penguins simply offer additional entertainment value, a film like March of the Penguins transcends into a sublime illustration of nature’s merciless strength in an unfriendly freezing climate that fully exposes supreme powers of Antarctica. With these words, the film sums up into a must see and own DVD. ***