Life Blu-ray
BBC and the Discovery Channel brings the 11 part series that looks at the diversity and adaptability of life on Earth with plenty of never before footage and some incredible species to Blu-ray.
Film making 25/25
Video 23/25
Audio 20/25
Bonus Features 24/25
Total 92/100
I love, nature documentaries and the Discovery Channel makes me a kid in a candy store with a remote, Life continues the Discovery channel penchant for documetaries looking at the world of nature. Species including plants, animals, invertebrates and more are all deeply researched and you will not tire of hearing Oprah Winfrey tell you this is yet again never before seen footage.
Oprah Winfrey narrates the four disc, eleven episode series filmed in high definition with not only good looking shots but incredibly new and rare footage. Never before scenes including cheetahs working together to hunt an ostrich and komodo dragons defeating a water buffalo are just the start.
You not only get the large animals like these but smaller and even tiny life such as insects are included with rare footage and things that you probably never knew about. Plants being able to attack and kill insects as a defense mechanism but not the Venus Fly Trap or Honeydew plants are also shown from common plants like the Milkweed.
There are so many new and amazing things to see in Life that I was astonished at the scenes that were truly new to me, an avid nature buff. I enjoy watching shows when I can like Jack Hannah's Animal Adventures and I seek out shows on the internet with nature but many of them are lacking in both quality and something new.
Seeing the new ways the BBC looks at the plant and animal kingdom and finds those newn rare, never before seen moments in the animal kingdom is great. The BBC Natural History Unit has really made a leap forward with their series and can be proud to have created a masterpiece that will thrill audiences, entertain young and educate all.
Life shows so much that giving away all the scenes would be a shame so I will not, suffice it to say that all of the show was not your typical nature documentary. Camera crews spent years deep in jungles, deserts and other treacherous locations to get this footage and really did risk serious injury for the series.
Not only getting there and facing dangers like shooting within feet of things like hunting cheetahs and komodo dragons but just figuring out how to get the shots is great. The series comes with extra footage of scenes like the monarch butterfly segment and how the camera crew got a camera a hundred of feet in the trees.
I really enjoyed watching the full series on Blu-ray and was thrilled at the extra bonus content but there was a bit of a problem for me and many others from what I found on the internet. Oprah Winfrey narrates the series and does good but I really do not think she was the right choice for this job. She just has a voice that hits the wrong emphasis and her enunciation is off for many of the things she is trying to get across.
I don't mind her as a talk show host but throughout the show her emphasis and some of the jokes make it sound like she is making her emphasis for kids and younger watchers. I would definitely have enjoyed it with another narrator who can make the documentary a family entertainment instead of making it sound like a kids classroom documentary.
The series Life was shot over a four year time span with high definition cameras and the series on Blu-ray really shows the better technology. The video looks exceptional with clear and crisp color, deep blacks and no grain or other problems except for underwater scenes.
The video is absolutely fantastic but underwater shots leave a bit to be desired as you would expect and overall I am quite happy with video but audio, not so much. Most of the audio is excellent and you do have a nice surround sound but the front heavy documentary with voice is a bit too much at times.
The audio is brought in Dolby DTS-HD 5.1 surround sound that is clear and precise for the full spectrum of sound but voice often drowns out the full spectrum of the sounds we paid to hear. From the smallest little noises that tiny insects make like the leathery rustle when their limbs move to those roars and harrumphs large animals like hippos make you hear it all as long as Oprah is not talking.
The Blu-ray edition of Life is truly the better format for both audio and video but I would have preferred if the narration had taken a back seat to letting the sounds of nature come through more. I am not at all disappointed in the additional features with this documentary release but it is after all a full series of 8 hours including three hours of special features.
The extra content is all in high definition with full 5.1 surround sound and has three parts with a making of feature, a series of mini documentaries about each filming location and a deleted scenes set. The making of titled The Making of Life and the miniseries are both basically the same giving in depth shots of not only the wildlife but the crew filming them and the dangers, hazards of location and difficulties they faced.
Both the making of and the miniseries is well worth viewing not only once but again with the whole series to see the interaction between nature, the subjects and the filming. The deleted scenes is just another set of scenes they did not include with the on air version but finalized with editing and narration then stuck on the end of the final disc.
All the extra content more than makes the set worthwhile and really shows the dedication of the crew and BBC-Discovery for bringing this new look at our world to us on Blu-ray. This is a classic must have collection for any home theatre and family who want to show and enjoy the world of nature right in their own home.