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Product Description Over the years, BBC wildlife documentaries have featured the most incredible footage, illustrating just how ingenious, beautiful, frightening and even how funny the natural world can be. Now the most amazing and dramatic moments of these programmes have been collected on one DVD. A combination of talent, patience, split-second timing and not forgetting good luck, has allowed some of the worlds most famous natural history film-makers to capture these unique and extraordinary moments on camera. The tension mounts as crocodiles prepare to ambush zebras at a river crossing; a ruthless python kills and eats a gazelle; unbelievable underwater filming captures the elegance of elephants swimming and David Attenborough gets close to mountain gorillas. Along with bears, monkeys, meerkats, lions, whales and some of the more bizarre members of the animal world, these wildlife stars reveal the sheer awe-inspiring magic of the natural world. .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
R**E
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.
G**N
Very Interesting
David Attenborough brings things to life like no other naturalist can. Yes, I have got David Attenborough "The Life Collection" and a lot of the extracts from that are made into this DVD, but this does not bother me. I am not fussy about the quality of some of the filming, as I am old enough to remember black and white television (I am nearly 52) and anything in colour (to me) was an absolute bonus. I also know how difficult and expensive it is to film animals, and I think the BBC have done a superb job in putting the DVD together. Attenborough is an extremely competent naturalist! This alone makes it very interesting.
M**O
enjoyable
most of the scenes i have in other collections, so it was nothing new for me. but i like how they arranged them, in sections. and it's also nice to watch other then attenborough's shows (although he is still my number one!). i definitely recommend it for nature shows' lovers...
J**D
Fantastic dvd for the price
I bought this as a christmas present for my 18mth old son who loves watching animals. The dvd is divided up into 6 or so themes with some of the highlights of the best known wildlife documentaries (eg blue planet). I wasn't sure if he would be ready for watching wildlife documentaries so didn't want to spend loads on a box set, and at this price you can't possibly go wrong. 10/10
S**X
If your stuck for entertainment
Not what I expected a bit disappointed with the coverageok to watch if your stuck for entertainment. I have seen a lotbetter CDs on animals
E**A
Amazing!
This is another great video of David Attenborough, the man I admire. Only if everyone in the world would value our world and the wild life as he does, then we will have a true world at peace with nature. This video captures the fantastic moments in natural world. Amazing video!!!
M**R
Excellent program
Bought this DVD for my wildlife-adventure-at-heart son. But he's not the only one enjoying it. Our family is great fan of David Attenborough and although some of the narrators are not David himself (I thought this was taken from David's programs), overall they are really good.Really worth it!
I**E
supern show and wonderful to see -my teenage grand daughter loves all his ...
What is there to say about Davi that ajs ot been asaid befpre he has bought so much into out living roomsas always fascinating, informativ, supern show and wonderful to see -my teenage grand daughterloves all his shows also
R**F
David Attenborough
Alles bestens gelaufen. Schnell und zuverlässig.
A**R
Five Stars
Excellent
M**R
Call of the wild.
Quite interesting dvds. Into all animal doco's. And David Attenborough is a legendary producer. Great camera shoots.
W**S
So the disappointment was multiplied
This was NOT a region 1 disk ---- and was not advertised as playable in regions other than ours. Recompensed but Attenborough's wildlife presentations are treats and exacting in information. So the disappointment was multiplied.
Trustpilot
2 weeks ago
2 months ago
