Great Wildlife Moments Introduced by David Attenborough

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
Introduced and presented by David Attenborough, Great Wildlife Moments is a feature-length anthology that compiles some of the most memorable moments from the BBC Wildlife Unit. With a running time of 108 minutes it consists of 38 sequences drawn from the greatest archive of natural-history filmmaking in the world, breathtaking television spanning the entire biosphere from never-before-seen creatures in the ocean depths (Blue Planet, 2001) to Attenborough himself in zero gravity high above the Earth (The Living Planet, 1984). The anthology is divided into seven chapters covering different environments from "Snow and Ice" to "Jungles", an approach that both gives structure to the film and offers an effective vision of the sheer diversity of life on planet Earth.

Most people's favourite sequences will be found here, from a killer whale taking a sea lion on the beach in The Trials of Life (1990) to Attenborough communing with mountain gorillas in Life on Earth (1979). Other segments come variously from BBC wildlife specials, Wildlife on One, The Natural World, The Kingdom of the Ice Bear (1985), Life in the Freezer (1993), The Private Life of Plants (1995), Attenborough in Paradise (1996), The Life of Birds (1998) and The Life of Mammals (2002), with additional narrators including John Hurt, Andrew Sachs and Simon King. This is a fine selection made all the more rewarding by Attenborough's endless enthusiasm and celebration of the world about us.

On the DVD: Great Wildlife Moments is presented at 16:9, anamorphically enhanced for widescreen TVs. Unfortunately most of the material was originally shot for traditional 4:3 broadcast and so has been reformatted by carefully cropping shots at the top and/or bottom. For the most part this works acceptably with little of visual significance lost, though a sequence of emperor penguins from Life in the Freezer is ruined. Only one 4:3 segment--Attenborough high in the rainforest from Attenborough in Paradise--has been presented in its original ratio. Picture quality varies depending on the age of the clips, with material from Blue Planet and The Life of Mammals being flawless and older footage offering some grain, which is never too distracting. Sound is again variable, the Dolby Prologic soundtrack effectively smoothing the transitions between older mono soundtracks and more recent surround sound. The main extra is a fine commentary that is specific to each sequence and calls on the original producers, directors or cameramen (most but not every section has a commentary), while a 12-minute "making of" is actually more of an extended trailer for other BBC wildlife DVDs. The disc also includes a useful BBC Natural History Unit filmography. --Gary S Dalkin

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2005-08-08 rating:
a great summary!
This is an ideal introduction or if you are a DA fan then a super summary of wildlife filming at its best!


review by: date: 2004-01-03 rating:
A Grand Tribute
The title says it all: "Great Wildlife Moments" and "David Attenborough". What more could you want? This is a grand tribute to 50 years of wildlife documentaries from the BBC and from the Master. Not all are Attenborough productions but there are only so many places he can be at any one time. For the uninitiated, this is an excellent introduction to the scale and range of BBC productions in this field and, for afficianodos, probably every favourite moment will be found, from DA and the mountain gorillas (naturally), to the treacherous zebra crossing, the grotesque python sequence and the fabulous mimickry of the lyre bird. All 38 sequences are presented as they were originally and this leads to my only quibble for I think the production would have benefited from a narration linking the sequences and celebrating the BBC's achievement in virtually creating the wildlife documentary genre. David Attenborough does an introduction but then the sequences are played with no further commentary apart from that on their original tracks. There is an option to turn on a commentary by the producer of each sequence but these, though interesting in themselves, are individual to that particular excerpt (and a warning: not all sequences have a commentary, which could have you, like me, trying to turn it on for some time before realising you've chosen a sequence without it). Quibbles aside, this is a terrific compilation and a real tribute to the producers and presenters and especially the camera teams that provided us with such outstanding films.

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