Don't miss this one.


"Small but perfectly formed"   March 4, 2004
 44 out of 46 found this review helpful

I've always been fascinated with the Antarctic- I watched this religiously when it first came out & it must have made it's mark as many of the scenes I remembered after 10 years.

There are some incredible moments- the life and death of creatures who's whole lives seem to consist of nothing but hardship, huge mountain ranges untrod by human footsteps and the driest place on earth; where the only living things are algae in the rocks.

It's not an epic like the other Attenborough titles- the episodes are 1/2 hour or so long but what it seems to do is cover a bit of everything.

Not such a bad thing when you consider there really isn't that much there:

birds (mostly penguins)
krill (lots of)
whales (not enough of)
seals (can be nasty)
algae (a bit dull)
man (can also be nasty)

Very well put together with breathtaking camerawork this is well worth having and watching again & again.

My favorite bit of all is the Emperor Penguin, standing in a screaming blizzard for months, in darkness, huddled together in the middle of the continent, incubating his solitary egg and waiting for his partner to return so he can then walk 100 miles to the ice edge to eat himself.

Brilliant.


Let nature be your teacher.   May 8, 2003
 28 out of 31 found this review helpful

Amazing. Sir David Attenborough's contribution to our understanding and appreciation of the natural world cannot be surpassed. As an Englishman in America - life in a cultural freezer you might say - I have really come to appreciate the quality of BBC programming and here it is epitomised.

The photography (BAFTA award winning) is superb and the narration is exactly what you would expect from Sir Attenborough, humourous, informative, and accessible to all ages. I can thoroughly recommend not only this title but all of Sir Attenborough's programs, from Blue Planet to Life of Mammals - They will be a much valued part of your DVD collection for years to come.