Netflix and Steven Spielberg have collaborated on “Life on Our Planet,” a new natural history series designed for binge-watching. The show, comprising eight episodes, is available for streaming globally and takes viewers on a journey through Earth’s five previous mass extinction events, each vividly recreated using computer-generated visual effects. Narrated by Morgan Freeman, the series emphasizes how life has persevered through four billion years, enduring harsh challenges like ice ages and meteorites. In a “Game of Thrones”-style narrative, species that survive these catastrophes engage in battles for dominance in the next era.
The series, with Spielberg’s Amblin Television as an executive producer, adds more emotion and pathos to the natural history genre. It highlights key species, including the first vertebrate to migrate from the ocean to land or the first fish with a backbone. Despite the vast number of species that have gone extinct, the filmmakers had to select 65 from over a billion species that have vanished. The chosen species often become unlikely heroes, like the unique-looking Arandaspis fish, demonstrating resilience and shaping the future of life.
“Life on Our Planet” offers a captivating and emotionally charged perspective on Earth’s natural history, capturing the dramatic stories of survival and adaptation that have played out over billions of years.
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