Earth

Extraordinary wildlife documentaries are the life's blood of BBC's Natural History Unit, and the NHU's Earth is the visual equal of Sir David Attenborough's bar-setting TV programmes.

The film also has the advantage of a big screen release, and could be argued as the blockbuster the year has been waiting for.

Reclaiming the word awesome, revolutionary photography captures a cheetah running down its prey in astonishing detail, ducks base-jumping from their nests for a maiden flight, and Great White sharks leaping from the ocean, seals in mouths.

Directors Fothergill (the Blue Planet and Deep Blue helmer) and Mark Linfield use a blockbuster template for the film, focussing on three mothers, a polar bear in the Arctic, an elephant in the Kalahari desert, and a whale in various Oceans.

Their various hardships and trials getting their young 'uns to more hospitable places, interspersed with action set-pieces (the cheetah and shark) and comedy moments (the ducks, plus vain tropical birds of paradise) make the hour-and-a-half fly by.

Patrick Stewart's commanding narration is matched by an engaging, pop-science and nature script that is cautionary and witty, but never preachy.

Fothergill and Linfield could be accused of upping the cutsey factor to 11 to hammer home their environmentalist message (reptiles and insects don't get a look in), but any criticisms are mere quibbles in the face of this majestic experience.

Rob Daniel