ONE STRANGE ROCK One Strange Rock is a documentary based on the earth systems, taking a perspective on why the earth is special in the entire universe. Filmmaker, Darren Aronofsky explores scientifically systems that are crucial to life and don’t exist in other places. National Geographic's new 10-part documentary series, One Strange Rock, takes a look at both the wonder and fragility of our planet in some of the most extreme and remote places on the Earth. They tell that story through the lens of eight American astronauts Chris Hadfield, Jeff Hoffman, Mae Jemison, Jerry Linenger, Mike Massimino, Leland Melvin, Nicole Stott and Peggy Whitson. The approach they used was blending the personal storytelling of the astronauts which give a greater understanding of the planet; with the narratiion of Will Smith, who provided that everyman, doesn’t matter your education level, to clearly understand the story; and contributors, like Guillaume Néry, who through his relationship with the earth as a free diver, brings a viewpoint that offers another way to look at the planet. Each episode is hosted by an astronaut who looks at the events that shaped the planet and life: genesis, cosmic violence, the cycle of life and death, human intelligence, alien life, sacrifice, oxygen, survival versus destruction. The show is full of extreme information, everything from how we breathe oxygen and how it is really made, to how volcanos are made and how they erupt. The environmental sensibility of the show, which emphasized that everything is connected, that our planet is one large living organism and that humans are part of that organism, was mind blowing. But my opinion changed slightly when in one episode the emphasis was put on how we can escape earth and inhabit other planets. The message of the last episode I watched seems to be that this is an amazing planet, we’re so lucky to live here, but we’ve messed it up, so now we need to find another place to go. That honestly made me question whether there is existence of other life forms elsewhere on the other planets. It also makes you realize how fragile existence is on this planet, how things can change very suddenly in a matter of seconds. The spectacle in the film really stood out. The aspect of storytelling was well crafted and the visual elements kept me hooked up yearning for more. The cinematography and editing was amazing. Some scenes were shot outer space showing real images of the earth from outer space. The film also used special effects to emphasize other scenes which contributed greatly to the film visually. For example in the second episode they focus on how the atmosphere protects us from the sun, how dangerous the sun is. In the film you get to see how the sun looks like. Narration by Will Smith is well convincing though at some points one can tell that he is reading from a script. Other documentaries have been made covering the topic of planet earth e.g Planet Earth(2006), Blue Planet(2001) tend to focus more on pure science, making it boring and also poorly made compared to One Strange Rock (2018) which is interesting and an enjoyable learning process based on how well they film it. Science plays on a totally different set of emotions, you're either in shock or blown away by wonder. This show highlights the fact we are part of this amazing planet we live on and what we do matters. The central message of the documentary focuses on how the earth knows no bounds and the element that yes the earth protects us but it can still harm us looking at the harmful human activity that has been happening over the years. The filmmaker’s message generally is to allow science to inform us and to be the vehicle for appreciating beauty and understanding. Therefore, this makes it relevant to everyone.
