San Francisco Chronicle

Its gently delivered theme and friendly images of nature (no lions eating antelopes here), this is a fine thing for families and school groups.

San Francisco Chronicle by Walter Addiego

Its gently delivered theme and friendly images of nature (no lions eating antelopes here), this is a fine thing for families and school groups.

Los Angeles Times by Kevin Thomas

It's an ideal film to open on Earth Day, for in the least preachy way possible it celebrates the natural world to make viewers pause and consider the profound importance of preserving the planet.

The New York Times by Stephen Holden

What the movie lacks is contrast. The sped-up ribbons of traffic in a city look as pretty as the interior of a redwood grove. As for the perils of logging, one brief shot of a clear-cut forest flashes by so quickly it is almost subliminal.

L.A. Weekly by Chuck Wilson

Despite his obvious passion, Long never fully ties together the human and animal footage, and so the film feels disjointed, as if two different documentaries are being fused into one.

The Hollywood Reporter by Sheri Linden

In this well-intentioned celebration of nature and traditional ways of life, giant-screen images feel generic when they should inspire wonder.

TV Guide Magazine by Maitland McDonagh

Swaddled in terms so trite and cliched that they're almost guaranteed to bring out the closet cynic in even the most sympathetic viewers.

Variety by Robert Koehler

Respecting Mother Earth should never be as dull as watching Sacred Planet, a repetitive, globe-hopping Imax project that dresses up well-known ecological truisms with pretty nature photography.

New York Post by Lou Lumenick

Beautifully shot and well-meant -- but fairly snoozy.

New York Daily News by Jami Bernard

If Sacred Planet helps kids appreciate the beauty and wonder of nature and animal life, it will be worth it. But surely civilization can come up with a more generously entertaining delivery system.