Nature documentaries seem like they should be easy enough to do well: get a hi-def camera, find a specimen, and then sit and wait. Yet as countless recent, mediocre nature docs have shown us, that’s not really enough. An eye for angles and an incredible sense of timing are just the beginning elements who come together to make something beautiful when you add in the catalyst of luck. While Disney has recently tried its hand in the genre, the unchallenged heavyweight in the field is undoubtedly the BBC. They’ve created some of the most breathtaking documentaries and captured natural phenomena that the average Joe would never have seen otherwise. BBC continues its revelation of the natural world in their series Life, which looks absolutely glorious on hi-def Blu-ray.
Whether you watch it with or without Oprah Winfrey’s capable narration, Life will show you things you’ll likely never see anywhere else. No longer content to just examine the creatures of the deep blue sea or a single continent, the BBC has tackled a rather broad topic: life. Dancing from a different tier of the animal kingdom with each episode, Life will leave you in awe of the natural world.
It starts with an overarching look at the entire animal kingdom and its struggle to create progeny in seemingly impossible living conditions. Think of it as the introduction to the rest of the course and just know in advance that you’ll be seeing unique footage as well as previews of what will be covered in more detail when episodes are devoted to the clip’s specified kingdom. Watch as cheetahs take down an ostrich or as hippopotamuses battle for territory. Both are incredible spectacles.
Kick-starting the kingdom-centric trend, reptiles and amphibians produce some of the most jaw-dropping slow-motion footage the entire series will produce. Of particular interest is the footage of the chameleons and small tropical frogs. Watching the chameleon’s tongue shoot out in slow-motion, snag a praying mantis’s face, suck it in, and then retract into the chameleon’s mouth would be nearly impossible to fully appreciate with the blind human eye. But slowed to a crawl it’s among the coolest moments you’ll see here. Later on there’s a moment with a frog hopping down the roots of a tree and for a moment it looks like CGI, but really it’s just telling of how pure and pristine the footage is that real-life could look so surreal. Oh, and watching komodo dragons down a water buffalo is just fun.
They Might Be Giants sung of them, and now mammals get their moment in the sun. Lions, polar bears, meerkats, ibices, and elephants come into focus and yield some great cinematic moments. It might not be one of the better episodes in the series, but as par for the course you’ll see some of planet earth’s most amazing sights without leaving your couch. What more could you ask for from a nature doc? What would a documentary on mammals be without some terrific whale footage? Pointless. The aquatic cinematography is some of the richest in the series and looks majestic.
Before long the series has gone through its “Fish”, “Birds”, and “Insects episodes (all on the second disc) and of the three “Fish” and “Insects” win the prize for producing the best visuals. Gigantic, mindblowing schools of fish and insects so weird they look like aliens will change your perspective on wildlife. Humans might be considered the ranking pros on the planet, but we’re woefully outnumbered and not nearly as fascinating (at least anatomically) as some of the splendors in these episodes.
Breaking away from the kingdom-theme, Life turns to two more popular subjects for nature enthusiasts: predators and the mysteries of the deep blue sea, with episodes devoted to each. The sheer carnage of “Hunters and Hunted” makes for riveting television and it’s inevitable that it will prime your appetite for Shark Week. As stated in the mammals summary, the underwater cinematography in Life is easily one of the highpoints thus making “Creatures of the Deep” one of the most serene and awesome episodes in the series. The series wraps with separate episodes devoted to plants and primates. If you’re immediate instinct is that a documentary on plants won’t yield some amazing footage, you’re wrong. The colors in this piece are some of the richest and will make you value your HD television set all the more.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
As mentioned before, you can choose to watch the series with or without Oprah’s narration. Oprah does a spectacular job (though the option to hear David Attenborough’s original narration would be a nice addition), never sounding too hammy or pandering to children who may be watching. Yet, all the same, turning off her informational voice track lets you just soak in the sights captured herein and enjoy them. Though you might not always know what’s happening, so in that way her narration serves a definite purpose. Along with deleted scenes (which are just as beautiful as the material in the finished episodes), “Life on Location” is a documentary devoted to the people who created this fabulous documentary and all of the days, weeks, and months spent in the field, up close and personal, with some of nature’s most incredible specimens. It’s a brilliant documentary and the people behind it have compelling stories to tell.
"Life" is on sale June 1, 2010 and is not rated. Documentary. Directed by Simon Blakeney, Stephen Lyle. Starring Oprah Winfrey.
