Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Our Great National Parks’ On Netflix, Where Barack Obama Narrates A Nature Docuseries On The World’s National Parks

You may think that a series titled Our Great National Parks, produced by the Obamas’ Higher Ground Productions and narrated by Barack Obama, would be about the numerous national parks in the U.S. But it’s actually grander in scope than that; it’s about the inhabitants of national parks and reserves around the world.

OUR GREAT NATIONAL PARKS: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: A shot of a tranquil tropical bay. Barack Obama says, “Hanauma Bay is one of my favorite spots in the world.” Then we see him say, “I grew up in Hawaii. This was my backyard.”

The Gist: The former president narrates Our Great National Parks, a five-part docuseries that takes a look at the ecosystems that inhabit national parks all over the planet, and how those ecosystems are both examples of how humans can preserve life on earth while we’re also playing a big part in making many of these ecosystems endangered.

While the subsequent four episodes concentrates on a particular location, the first episode serves as more of an overview, showing national parks in the U.S., including the very first one, Yellowstone National Park, parts of Africa, Australia, Japan and elsewhere.

The animals highlighted in the episode include the bison at Yellowstone that dwindled to near-extinction a century ago, the Decken’s sifaka, a primate that scales the jagged rocks of a forest in Madagascar, a three-fingered sloth in Costa Rica that has an entire ecosystem in its fur, and more.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? James Honeybourne, who is the EP of Our Great National Parks, also produced Blue Planet II, and the spectacular photography reminds us of that series.

Our Take: It’s not a stretch to say that Our Great National Parks is essentially like most other recent-vintage nature shows, except with Barack Obama doing the narration. But sometimes, a new narrator is all a show needs to perk up the format a bit; how many times do we need to hear David Attenborough’s voice, anyway?

There’s no denying that the various directors of the series — Sarah Peat directs episode 1 — have done some great work, likely with local crews, getting footage that looks amazing on any TV, but especially good in 4K UHD. Colors pop, details come out, and if you’ve got a big screen, some of the visuals are immersive.

So, how is Obama as a narrator? He’s OK. His tone is more Policy Wonk Obama than Surprisingly Funny Obama or Soaring Orator Obama, but there are moments where his wryness comes through. The moments that we enjoyed the most are ones where he personally connects to a scene, like when he was in Hawaii, or when he discusses the affects of climate change.

“So, how is Obama as a narrator? He’s OK. His tone is more Policy Wonk Obama than Surprisingly Funny Obama or Soaring Orator Obama, but there are moments where his wryness comes through.”

And, yes, there will be discussions of climate change in this docuseries. It’s inherent in the discussion of how we as a species have preserved swaths of the planet to keep their ecosystems intact. But despite our efforts, climate change will still make its impact; for instance, Obama describes how encroaching beach erosion is affecting the breeding and habitat of sea turtles on a tiny island in The Great Barrier Reef.

We’re fine with that; we’re keen on seeing how human activity has directly affected habitats in real time. That’s the most affective way of showing it, rather than flashes of scenes of garbage piles and smokestacks, which we saw in the first episode. We know what the culprits are; we just want to understand the direct affects.

Sex and Skin: None. There isn’t even any mating going on.

Parting Shot: Obama, now at Yellowstone, tells the audience, “Join me as we explore the wonders and secrets of some of the most extraordinary national parks around the planet.”

Sleeper Star: We’re not sure why, but we loved seeing that three-toed sloth slowly reaching for a leaf, slowly traversing a branch while hanging from its feet, and slowly craning its neck up to get some sun.

Most Pilot-y Line: As we see pictures of workers on a garbage pile, Obama says that some of climate change is “due to choices we make in our everyday lives.” Sure. But the vast majority of it is from industrial sources. While recycling, using less, using paper straws and reusable bags, driving less, etc. all helps, both we and Obama know that’s only going to go so far.

Our Call: STREAM IT. While Our Great National Parks doesn’t do anything new in the nature docuseries genre, the cinematography is spectacular, and Obama gives just enough of a different narration style to make the series very accessible.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.