Planet Earth II's second episode rises as high as any of the mountains showcased in it. It's difficult not to get repetitive when describing the episode and the series as a whole. How many times can you punch in adjectives like mesmerising, majestic, stunning, gorgeous and spellbinding before you say "Just watch the damned thing!"?
What I remember most from 'Mountains' was, not so surprisingly, the shots of the mountains. Some of the drone and helicopter footage managed to capture incredible images that really have to be seen to be believed. Accompanied by a Hans Zimmer score much better than the one in 'Islands' and David Attenborough knowing when and when not to narrate, you are often left with magnificent shots of the camera elegantly making its way through the cloud-high mountains in graceful fashion.
My favourite animal segment was of the horned creatures in Arabia. The way they were able to keep their balance and move at such speeds on such steep surfaces was incredible. I've never seen anything like that before. First their movements were shown in slow motion, detailing every dangerous step, and then in real time showcasing their incredible reaction skills.
Another gift from Planet Earth was an extensive glimpse into the life of the elusive snow leopard (although I had to fast-forward the part with the males trying to score with the female, as I had family members watching). It was an honour to even see one leopard let alone to see their way of communication, combat and feeding. There were some funny bits too: most notably a bobcat constantly diving head-first into snow and a montage of grizzly bears scratching their backs against trees which made them look like they were boogieing.
The 'diaries' segment (a 10 minute epilogue showing some behind-the- scenes stuff in each episode) was very cool as well, showing to what great lengths the filmmakers go to capture their images, including jumping off of mountains on parachutes with cameras on their heads.
My Rating: 9/10