Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

The era of Murdoch has arrived at National Geographic. The sneaky indoctrination, the half-truths, the thinly disguised falsehoods and the pandering for the lowest common denominator. Origins, their new "documentary mini-series", is a disgusting product of the Fox "imagination". I'd be very, very surprised if there are scientists that appear here and there that are comfortable with the editing. From homo sapiens "swinging in the trees" to fire being a game changer a stupidifing mere 12,000 years ago, in an age with "no society, no protections, no guarantees", to cooking at such a time mandating a society were "women cook and men hunt." A totally idiotic, scientifically-illiterate, mischievous narrative of nonsense. Fire predates homo-sapiens. The protections of society are a major hominization driver from millions of years ago, and there are no evidence whatsoever that points to a women-cook, men-hunt, sexual division of labor at such times. This is what you get when scientific literacy takes a nose dive. this is what you get when you pander to the prejudices and illusions of knowledge from the dregs of your costumer base. This is where National Geographic goes to die in everything but a hollow brand name. Yes, I am furious. You should be too.

Many of us who like documentaries have lamented how American television outlets, such as the National Geographic Channel, have dumbed-down the genre. (In the case of NGC this was not unexpected especially after Fox got involved with them and took significant ownership.)"Origins" is further evidence of the sad state of this genre.One key problem is the presenter. Nominally this series is anthropology illustrated, and typically such a presenter would be an expert in the field. That is not necessary though as often a great orator or actor can present in a documentary; but here we get neither. The presenter is too forced, too fake. If this series is aimed at 5 year-olds (as the narration may suggest) using exaggerated speech might be acceptable, but this series is being presented as something for the wider audience.Then there is the content. Oh dear, the content. The opening scenes of the first episode focus on "fire" and the present goes on about man harnessing the power of the sun (cue image of our star) and... wait.. what? The sun? Our star runs by nuclear fusion, but then the narrative switches to humans with wooden fires...The show doesn't get better.This is just television for busy parents, to place their children in front of the screen to keep them occupied.

I am an Anthropologist, and when I saw this show it got my hopes up. Pros: It does touch on some things that are instrumental to human survival (fire), and briefly talks about some characteristics that make us human (large birthing canals, cooking, using fire, metallurgy, etc.) . This would be a good show to watch for people that know nothing about human history, or are in junior high to high school.Cons: #1 Humans have been using fire for 300,000-400,000+ years (maybe even longer, it's not my specialty), but the program estimates ~14,000 years. Along with other nit-picky issues I had (elaborate "nomadic" houses surrounded by bones that no group of people could transport long distances).#2 The show is a flashy and VERY dramatic depiction of early homo sapiens with an over-the-top style narration. This is fine if you forget what fire is every 5-10 seconds. I found myself skipping ahead to forego repetitive talking points.#3 I would have rather preferred more in-depth information about the various reasons why fire was beneficial, instead I got 300+ statements about how cool fire is. For Example: Fire and heat breaks down the proteins in food to aid in the digestion process, which results in a more efficient absorption of calories. Or: If you look at many indigenous cultures around the world, you can see many (if not all) have some form of rituals surrounding fires, which reflects the importance of fire to social interactions.Summary: This show is a mild attempt at education, which focuses primarily on the delivery instead of the content. It might be good as an introductory lesson in human history for those who know little about it.

◦ An overacted and melodramatic series of speculations, conjectures, dramatizations, & fictional speculations woven into a 'story' of key elements of mankind's progress: i.e., fire, cooking, gunpowder.◦ The narrator, Jason Silva, presents dialogue with overacted caffeinated gusto, using a repetitious series of stiff, wooden gestures reminiscent of President George Bush. The format and style of the show is so amateurish that it made me wonder if the target audience was elementary or junior high. LCD in High-Def.