"LIFE"
Blu-ray Review
by Kevin Carr
| MOVIE: **** (out of 5 stars)
BLU-RAY EXPERIENCE: **** (out of 5 stars) Not Rated Available on Blu-ray and DVD on June 1 Official BBC America Site Studio: BBC Back to DVD Review Home |  |
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
As a follow-up to the “Planet Earth” series on the BBC, “Life” is a global look at nature, filmed over 3000 days on every continent, telling 130 stories of the natural world. Shot in high-definition, this four-disc, ten-chapter series focuses on various topics: “Challenges of Life,” “Reptiles and Amphibians,” “Mammals,” “Fish,” “Birds,” “Insects,” “Hunters and the Hunted,” “Creatures of the Deep,” “Plants” and “Primates.”
WHAT I LIKED
I love the BBC nature series. I absolutely love these shows. I grew up watching nature documentaries on television, from the National Geographic specials to various PBS documentaries. I about jumped out of my skin when the Discovery Channel took this to a 24-hour network. Now, the BBC’s nature photographers capture some of the most spectacular things you’ll ever see.
Like last year’s “Nature’s Most Amazing Events,” which continues to be one of my favorite Blu-ray disc sets ever created, “Life” is a reference standard for high definition brilliance. When I upgrade my television and my disc players, I always pop in these discs to show how spectacular the image can be.
Breaking up each segment of this series gives a neat look at various aspects of the natural world. Even something I normally am not blown away by (like botany) can be fascinating. The “Plants” episode is just as exciting and thrilling as any of the other nine.
Quite simply, “Life” is one of the best Blu-rays to come from the BBC’s library in terms of education and entertainment.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
Oprah Winfrey... that’s what I didn’t like. Look, I respect the lady for what she did in her field, but choosing her as the narrator for this series knocked it down a few notches. I’d rather have the Blu-ray set narrated by David Attenborough, who lent his voice to the British broadcast of this. Sadly, you can’t toggle out of Winfrey’s condescending tone. There is the option, though, to turn off the narration altogether if you just want to watch the plants and animals, but you lose the story.
The only other problem with this series is there is a certain degree of overlap from episode to episode, so not all 484 minutes is unique among itself.
BLU-RAY FEATURES
Each disc contains a video diary of the different episodes, running approximately a half-hour. These are nice to watch to see how the nature photographers capture some of the more brilliant moments.
There’s also deleted scenes and a “Making of Life” featurette on the final disc
WHO’S GOING TO LIKE THIS MOVIE
Nature documentary junkies.
