Showing posts with label national geographic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label national geographic. Show all posts

5/31/2012

Africa's Lost Eden (2010) Review

Africa's Lost Eden (2010)
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The quality is typical of what National Geographic always delivers with the added bonus of incredible footage of crocodiles hidden in the natural grasses of the waterways, with only a single eye peaking out, laying their eggs and hatching them on the sand, and the most amazing footage I've ever seen of an African eagle fishing. I would recommend buying it for that alone. There aren't words for how stunning the photography is in this film and the message behind the restoration project of the park and its people is even more breathtaking. You will not regret getting this.

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5/27/2012

The Little Polar Bear - Lars and the Little Tiger Review

The Little Polar Bear - Lars and the Little Tiger
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Let me admit that I'm a childless adult. A child or the parent of one may be more enthusiastic than me.
In the same way that "Shrek" (at least the first installment) had the message of not judging a book by its cover, this work has several stories in which characters are kind to strangers in need. The work could have been broken up into three minisodes: Lars visits the city, Lars takes a tiger home, Lars and father visit Color Island.
I find that children's cartoons on DVD usually lack the foreign language and subtitle options that DVDs for older audiences have. This DVD had many language and subtitle options. (The original cartoon is German.) I watched in Spanish with English subtitles. Sometimes adult Spanish speakers talk far too quickly for me to understand (not like they are wrong for not slowing down); but this kiddy dialogue was slow and simple enough for a dude that just took one year of Spanish to understand it. For teens and tweens older than this DVD's target audience, listening to the foreign languages or reading the subtitles may make the work more valuable.
This work really doesn't have villains. It's just 90 minutes of friends helping friends. Issues are resolved quickly: lost characters are found within minutes, tensions are resolved in a snap.
When seeieng the tiger on the cover, I assumed that Lars would travel to India. However, this was a snow tiger in Russia. In the first Lars movie, having a WHITE bear and a BLACK seal become friends screamed that this borrowed from "The Fox and the Hound" and was similarly a metaphor for interracial friendships. That same message is here, but more subtly.
In the first Lars film, Lars was deep underwater, yet his mouth was opening and closing as if he were taking in air. This cartoon at least recognized animals' limitation. The seal had a hard time moving across a stone fence. The tigers feared water. The arctic was too cold for a butterfly.
Some adults disliked that "The Land Before Time" showed adult and child dinosaurs interacting with each other when modern reptiles lay their eggs and move on. Here, the polar bear and tiger cubs were mostly cared for by their fathers. In the real wilderness, I'm almost sure they would never have even seen their fathers. Perhaps the downplaying of mothers meant this work was targeted to boys.
If you liked Winnie the Pooh with that Heffalump or loved the moral messages at the end of He-Man or She-Ra, then you should appreciate this DVD.

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1/16/2012

National Geographic - Inside the Vatican Review

National Geographic - Inside the Vatican
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Martin Sheen skillfully narrates this colorful and wonderfully-shot depiction of the inner workings of the Vatican. The film shows us the printing service, post office, art restoration lab and choirs of the world's smallest state. You will also learn about site's history, starting as Saint Peter's tomb and growing to a small "trophy," and to two successively larger basilicas. The section on the search for Saint Peter's tomb is especially well done, with computer graphics used to explain the location of a 1st-century necropolis beneath the basilica's massive dome. The Swiss Guard is depicted through the eyes of the young men who swear to defend the Pope with their lives. It is also depicted via the tailor who must design each of their 100+ piece uniforms. You will meet Arturo Marti, the Vatican photographer, view some of his quietly-touching photographs and accompany him to a papal audience with visiting dignitaries. You will meet the Franciscan nun who has devoted decades of her life to hand-restoring some of the Vatican's priceless artworks. You will encounter the Sampietrini workers, who labor unsung to clean the floors and haul the massive draperies used during beatification and canonization ceremonies. And you will glimpse the Holy Father himself as he ordains another crop of bishops who follow in the footsteps of the Apostles to do Christ's work on earth.
"Inside the Vatican" is a loving look at part of the Church's material edifice. The film does not sugarcoat the real-life historical excess of those who walked its marbled corridors. Crusades, Inquisitions and venality -- all parts of the human experience -- have colored the history of the place. Yet one would have to be a rabidly anti-Catholic polemicist (or just plain stone-hearted) not to admire the craft, effort, love and piety that also went into shaping these hallowed palaces.
"Inside the Vatican" is a wonderful choice for Catholic Sunday school teachers who wish to impart a bit of the positive side of the institutional Church to their students.

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1/02/2012

National Geographic's The Photographers (1996) Review

National Geographic's The Photographers (1996)
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WOW! What more can I say! Just watching this was an absolutely extraordinary experience. This is a "behind the scenes" look at photography. It gets you up close and personal with the photographers and lets you know what is involved in trying to capture the "shot of a lifetime". I own many National Geographic books, but you won't be able to appreciate what goes into each photograph without watching this DVD. Even those who are not interested in photography will be able to appreciate it.

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The Photographers includes a behind-the-scenes look into the lives of National Geographic photographers and how they get the shot presented in a compelling one-hour program; plus the bonus half-hour film on wildlife filmmakers Dereck and Beverly Joubert entitled A Passion for Africa; an assortment of photographs in the Photo Gallery; biographies and photos of the photographers; an interactive trivia quiz; and trailers of other related National Geographic programs.

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12/01/2011

Animal Atlas: Animal Passport (2010) Review

Animal Atlas: Animal Passport (2010)
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My 5 year old animal-loving son seemed to like this DVD well enough when we watched it for the first time, but I was annoyed to see that all the animals were filmed in zoos or wild animal parks with fences and cement barriers clearly visible in the shots. In an apparent attempt to minimize this, most of the shots were framed very tightly - head and shoulders, mostly.
The narrative contains a solid stream of facts and isn't cloying as it can be in some videos marketed to younger kids, but telling us that the lion roams the grasslands in search of prey, while we see a lion lying down in a dusty enclosure with a fence behind him was less than impressive.

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9/11/2011

National Geographic: Arlington - Field of Honor (2005) Review

National Geographic: Arlington - Field of Honor (2005)
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I visited Arlington National Cemetery for the first time in 1992. I was 30 years old. It moved me so deeply that I stood watching at the Tomb of the Unknowns for 3 hours.
If you love your country and it's history you must make this exceptional DVD documentary a part of your family collection. It is comprehensive and sensitive in it's detail, taking us along as witnesses to the most solemn and private moments in the daily operation of our nation's most beloved military cemetery. The three star review by Jean E. Pouliot (below) is incorrect on numerous points.
As a former cemeterian, I found the material completely accurate without being morose. A true glimpse into a national treasure.

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9/08/2011

National Geographic - Lewis & Clark - Great Journey West (2002) Review

National Geographic - Lewis and Clark - Great Journey West (2002)
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This is a fascinating re-enactment of Lewis and Clark's original journey, told with Jeff Bridges doing the voice-over but with real actors and the original locations. It is authentic down to the last detail, including such remarkable scenes as the expedition shooting rapids in canoes made from burn-out trees, and pulling their boats by rope over the mountains of Montana.
If you possibly can, though, catch this one in its IMAX version. The movie's story is entertaining enough but imagine it on a screen several stories high - literally larger than lifesize - with a powerful sound system to match. Imagine how much cooler shooting those rapids is in the IMAX form! If you can't find an IMAX, make sure you've got a big screen and turn the sound up. This is history as exciting as it was when it happened the first time.

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8/31/2011

Discovery Essential Dinosaur Pack (2008) Review

Discovery Essential Dinosaur Pack (2008)
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Finally, after waiting years for several shows to come out on DVD from Discovery Channel. Yes, we get these shows all on two DVDs! Including the very popular Dinosaur Planet. Here is a list is a shows that are one the two DVDs.
- Valley of the T-Rex
- When Dinosaurs Roamed America
- Utah's Dino Graveyard
- Dinosaur Planet (includes all 4 episodes!!!)
- The Mystery Dinosaur
- Dinosaurs: Return To Life
- T-Rex: New Science, New Beast
Trust me, this is a must have for anyone who loves dinosaurs and loves to learn about them and be entertained. Buy this set! It's worth the cost, which is pretty good. It's eight hours of pure entertainment!


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