The Life of Mammals
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Movie Reviews of The Life of Mammals
Movie Review: great animal film
Summary: 5 Stars
This was a great piece of animal cinematograhpy. It shows how things really came to be. The big bang is true and yes we evolved from ancestral primates. If you hide your kids from evolution they will be made fun of and harassed for being so old fashion and closed minded. Attenborough was not trying to stuff evolution down your throat, but rather tell the really story of how mammals and ourselves came to be. Anyone who enjoys nature will like this program. If you are really into church and don't believe the true origins of life then this title is not for you. Movie Review: Excellent
Summary: 5 Stars
It's too bad that many people are too closed minded to realize that evolution is not something you can believe in, but something that happened/happens. Saying you don't "believe" in the color yellow doesn't mean it doesn't exist. This documentary helps show the microcosm of evolution...the amazing way many animals developed to live in their environments. It is excellent.Movie Review: Simply beautiful
Summary: 5 Stars
Mammals is another must see from David Attenborough. These DVD's are simply amazing. The photography they shoot in these is just incredible. David Attenborough has the perfect voice to commentate. I love every aspect of these and I watch them over and over again.
If these were just music and the films they shot it would still be amazing without all the fun, exciting, and interesting things you learn. It is that beautiful. There is something about these DVD's that is so relaxing, I just love to turn them on and lay down and nap to the relaxing background music and David talking me to sleep.
This is a DVD set that will rarely leave your player, it is the fruits of a lot of hard work by the crew. Buy it and enjoy it to the fullest.
I also strongly recommend Blue Planet in addition to the Mammals DVD's, buy them both, sit back, relax, learn, and enjoy. David Attenborough does very good work and I highly recommend all of his documentary work.
Good stuff.
Movie Review: jaw-dropping
Summary: 5 Stars
Hands down this is one of the best nature documentary series I've ever seen. My jaw was on my lap for many scenes and I found myself laughing loudly, getting chills, yelling at the screen, and clapping when the prey escaped (or sometimes when the predator won). There is tons of footage using the latest infrared technologies which enable us to witness night action that we could rarely otherwise see. The marine mammal episode was utterly astounding, as were the beginning and ending episodes both introducing the topic of mammals and showing us our primate kin in its fascinating variety. My personal taste would have preferred more framing the action within an evolutionary narrative, but I suppose for a large TV. audience these things are usually "softened" to remain as uncontroversial as possible. But now if I ever get the chance to choose, I'll come back in another life as a flying squirrel!Movie Review: Excellent BBC nature documentary series...
Summary: 4 Stars
In my home, we're all big fans of nature documentaries, Discovery Channel, National Geographic, etc. We bought The Life of Mammals sight unseen after having enjoyed the entire Blue Planet series. My two year old loved Blue Planet so much that, while I hate to admit it, my wife and I were looking for something else for him to watch. By looking at Amazon's "customers who bought this also bought" area on Blue Planet, we've since acquired other BBC documentaries for the kids to watch - The Life of Birds and Walking with Dinosaurs.The Life of Mammals is a series of episodes, similar to Blue Planet. However, I will say that the footage, while excellent, is not nearly as spectacular as I found Blue Planet to be. I think that's the only reason The Life of Mammals gets 4 stars from me and not 5. Our son loves it just as much, so who am I to complain?
The episodes in this series are as follows:
A WINNING DESIGN - sort of an overview on mammals, their variety and why they thrive; features echidna, platypus (a favorite of our little boy), possum, kangaroos, and yapoks.
INSECT HUNTERS - features some unbelievable aerial footage of bats catching bugs; the anteater and pangolin are also excellent.
PLANT PREDATORS - our son's favorite episode largely due to giraffes and elephants; the picas and bison are also favorites, as well as a sequence about how African plant eaters deal with predators that consists mostly of running
CHISELLERS - mostly deals with rodents and other...well...vermin, including beavers, prairie dogs, ground squirrels, marmots, etc.
MEAT EATERS - another favorite of my sons, mostly because of the lions and other cats - we were concerned that some of the predation scenes might be a little bloody for him, but that wasn't the case at all; the tiger footage is spectacular
OPPORTUNISTS - can't say I enjoyed this one that much, as it features a lot of animals I consider to be pests; I will say that it gave me new insights into racoons and the rat scenes were incredible (although disgusting)
RETURN TO THE WATER - featuring sea otters, seals, dolphins and whales, this episode is most similar in footage to Blue Planet
LIFE IN THE TREES - deals with the tree canopy as a distinct ecosystem, requiring specific skills to survive; features meercats, sun bears (the best climbing bear), fruit bats, loris, lemurs and gibbons
SOCIAL CLIMBERS - largely about primates, and how monkeys and apes have complex social structures; features uakaris, tamarin, guenons, macaques, and geladas.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT - I hate to say it, but I think this is my least favorite episode because it seems to deal as much with people as it does with mammals. It is interesting, but I can't say that it has the same replay value as the rest of the series, particularly for our son.
Throughout the series, David Attenborough is his stately, understated self. Unlike in Blue Planet, where he simply narrates, Attenborough makes appearances in this series. He's so scientific that sometimes, it's kind of funny - like when he narrates hedgehogs trying to mate in his back yard. Anyway, we found this entire series to be thoroughly enjoyable, educational and a treat for our son as well.