Terrifying chase scene in new David Attenborough movie likened to James Bond film

But a thrilling chase scene in a new documentary from revered British naturalist Sir David Attenborough has been declared by social media as better than any James Bond action sequence.

At 90, Sir David has delivered a scene that has simultaneously thrilled and terrified social media users, in his long-awaited follow-up to the popular series Planet Earth.

More than nine million Britons tuned in to watch Planet Earth II when it aired on the BBC on Sunday night, but one scene in particular has captivated social media users.

Filmed on the Galápagos Islands, it shows a hatchling iguana fleeing for its life from, first one, then an entire army of racer snakes.

The scene has astounded critics and social media users alike.

The Telegraph TV critic Gerard O’Donovan wrote that the gripping scene would, “prompt many an anxiety dream in years to come.”

“This was thrillingly, and with no exaggeration, the stuff of nightmares,” he wrote.

“As if the adult iguanas (7,000 of which cling to the edges of this desolate lump of volcanic rock in the Pacific) weren’t ugly enough to star in a sci-fi slasher movie, their only neighbours had to be still creepier, lurking amid rocks and crevices for the hatchlings to emerge from the sand.

“Thus, the race for life was on as newborns dashed for safety, pursued by masses of slithering, coiling serpents.

“Rarely has any real-life footage made the heart thump so hard in my chest as during this sublimely edited five-minute sequence.”

Twitter user Luke Johnston tweeted the sequence, under the words, “possibly the greatest scene in documentary history.”

It spread like wildfire across the globe, with nearly 70,000 retweets in just more than 24 hours.

Social media users have been divided over the scene being thrilling and terrifying.

The two minute sequence begins with a single hatchling iguana being chased by one racer snake on the desolate Fernandina Island.

In a sequence of slow motion and close-up shots, the thrilling scene unfolds as the iguana stops and the slithering serpent slowly encroaches.

Beneath the rocks, it becomes apparent that the snake has dozens of friends and soon all give chase as the lizard scurries for its life, jumping from rock to rock in a desperate bid for survival.

It has been declared by many social media users as a more thrilling scene than any James Bond movie has delivered.

The six part series is expected to screen in Australia next year.

kim.stephens@news.com.au

Planet Earth changed our view of the world. Now we take you closer than ever before. This is life in all its wonder. This is Planet Earth II.

Originally published as Iguana vs snake chase video goes viral