Yellowstone: Battle for Life

BBC’s esteemed nature photographers deliver another outstanding effort with this new release focusing entirely on Yellowstone National Park . It’s a sumptuous treat for the eyes in its high definition Blu-ray format, with amazing color, detail, and sound clarity that truly makes viewers feel like they’re in the park. The Blu-ray allows viewers to see every strand of fur, every scale on the fish, and every color of the park’s Grand Prismatic Pool, while also providing crisp DTS HD 5.1 surround sound that brings the park’s ambient noise fully into the living room. Aside from the eye and ear candy, it’s also an effective and interesting concept as it follows the wildlife in the park over the course of nearly a year, exposing viewers to the park’s dramatic changes throughout the seasons.

The production is split into three 50-minute segments. Interestingly, the first segment starts in the dead of winter rather than the more obvious rebirth of spring. It’s an inspired choice that immediately pays off with stellar footage of the harsh beauty of the park at a time most people never see it. The park can get up to 50 feet of snow in the winter, effectively cutting it off from civilization and preserving the delicate ecosystem struggling for survival against the harsh conditions. The production’s primary focus is the wildlife in the park, so the initial segment explores the efforts of the animals to survive the winter, such as the bison burrowing their heads down through feet of snow to find scraps of grass and the elk attempting to thwart hungry packs of wolves by seeking temporary shelter in freezing rivers. There’s also an enthralling segment about the park’s beautiful diamond dust caused by moisture in the air freezing into ice crystals, made all the more impressive by the Blu-ray’s fine detail that captures every miniscule glittering crystal floating through the air.

In the second section, spring transforms the park into a fertile plateau able to sustain the life of the scores of resident animals. The bears emerge from hibernation with their new cubs, the flies emerge just in time to make a tasty snack for industrious birds, and the flora explodes into a concert of color. As spring gives way to summer and the snow recedes, the park’s solitude gives way to the flocks of tourists out to explore its famous geysers and other natural wonders. I had some misgivings that the production would be heavily weighted toward footage of those geysers, but thankfully there’s only brief mention of them as the crew keeps the focus firmly on the wildlife.

The final segment shows the park winding down for the year as it enters autumn. The animals begin their preparations for another winter survival, such as the birds that carry pine nuts to secret stashes all over the park and the beavers that stockpile tasty branches under water near their lodges. The migratory animals begin making their way out of the park, which leads to the only other mention of human influence in the film as it shows the precarious lowland winter pastures of the elk that have been overrun by drilling operations and cattle ranchers.

The disc has three bonus featurettes that focus on humans: one about a man who removes the deep snow from the roofs of Yellowstone’s buildings throughout the winter to avoid cave-ins, another about an odd group of geyser watchers who help to predict the activity of geysers throughout the park, and another about a man involved with the park’s fish population.

Yellowstone: Battle for Life is now available on DVD and Blu-ray. If you have Blu-ray capability, the price differential between Blu and DVD is extremely small, while the Blu definition is completely awesome even though it tops out at 1080i instead of 1080p, making the format choice an easy decision.

Wild Pacific

Did you like Planet Earth? Are you looking for some more BBC nature shows? Wild Pacific continues their string of excellence and offers a fascinating in-depth study of the flora, fauna, geology, and people of the South Pacific. The US DVD release has been retitled from the original BBC broadcast appropriately named South Pacific, perhaps to avoid any angry letters from aging US musical fans duped into a purchasing error. Unlike the US broadcast of Planet Earth, the new series retains the original British narration. Unfortunately, the narrator isn’t BBC legend David Attenborough, but the new kid with the preposterous moniker of Benedict Cumberbatch does a serviceable job.

The series has six hour-long episodes that try to assign a different theme to each one (“Castaways”, “Strange Islands”), but the formula is largely unchanged from show to show, basically stringing together an enchanting mix of rare land and sea animals with some information about their specific Pacific homes and humanity’s impact on them. Like Planet Earth and other BBC nature productions, the show has a definite evolutionary stance that may grate on some sensitive creationists out there, but there’s no denying that the footage is absolutely breathtaking and in some cases groundbreaking.

As noted in the first episode, the Pacific is largest ocean on Earth, and the series goes on to explore the isolation of its islands, the perilous journeys wildlife and humans have gone through to reach them, and what happened to both after their arrival. While the distance between its islands can be hundreds or thousands of miles, life made it to most places, although it didn’t always stay that way, as evidenced by the man-made desolation of Easter Island. Where life did flourish, it often adapted in unique ways that are explored in the series, such as giant crabs that crack open coconuts and insect-eating caterpillars. The series doesn’t just travel to Tahiti and Fiji, it digs deep and explores the entire ocean, even landing on a miniscule and remote island with only a few hundred inhabitants.

Also similar to Planet Earth, each episode contains some bonus footage at the end detailing the challenges they faced in filming a particular segment of that episode, for instance some stunning surfing footage in the first episode that required them to build a custom underwater rig for their hi def camera, avoid the jagged reef under the shallow water, and come back a second time weeks after they intended to shoot in order to capture the best waves.

Deserving of special mention: this DVD series arrived on our shores a mere two months after its original UK broadcast, a delightfully speedy turnaround. Wild Pacific is now available on DVD and Blu-ray, but if you have Blu capability you’d be doing yourself a disservice to even consider it on DVD, especially considering the Blu-ray’s relatively modest $5 list price premium over DVD.

Wild China

Arriving just in time for the start of the Beijing Olympics, this fascinating new DVD collection dives deep into the heart of China, delivering staggering footage of sights rarely seen by Western eyes. This six-episode series keeps the focus firmly on the “Wild” of its title, devoting the majority of its time to China’s natural wonders and wildlife. For viewers familiar with BBC’s recent blockbuster Planet Earth production, this fellow BBC series follows an extremely similar format and theme, ultimately feeling like it could carry the alternate title “Planet China”. It’s essential viewing for nature show fans and a vibrant introduction for any viewers interested in learning more about this expansive country.

From the birds who have been harnessed to fish for their human owners (pictured on the cover) to the rare Himalayan snow leopard (rarely seen below 15,000 feet), the series provides enthralling scenes of little-known animals in their natural habitats. Also, it highlights the habitats of those creatures, ranging from the deserts to the jungles, and from the highest peaks to the impossibly vast and desolate Mongolian steppes.

Each episode is nearly an hour long and has its own specific title, so for instance one episode is devoted to Tibet. Rather than delve into any of the continuing unrest there or highlight the life of the Dalai Lama, the producers hone in on Tibet’s animals and majestic vistas, sharing the region’s stunning beauty with the masses.

While there are occasional forays into inhabited areas, this is not in any way a study of China’s current explosive socioeconomic change or the impact of that change on nature. In fact, the producers show some conservation efforts by the populace in nearly every episode, taking pains to portray the harmony the Chinese people strive to reach with nature. It’s a refreshing perspective in direct opposition to the standard portrayal of a Chinese people completely absorbed with rapid development at any cost to the environment. While these conservation efforts are clearly more prevalent in rural areas, it’s still enlightening to find this rare positive outlook.

Like Planet Earth, the production quality here is top-notch, with hi-tech, painstaking camera work that delivers wholly unique hi-def footage. The only thing that really separates it from the BBC’s other most popular nature series is the absence of narrator and occasional host David Attenborough, but the addition of veteran actor Bernard Hill (Titanic, Lord of the Rings) for this production proves to be a solid choice.

The DVD box set contains all six episodes on two discs. The bonus features are slim, with just a featurette on the making of one of the episodes and the inclusion of traditional Mandarin subtitles in addition to English subs. Wild China is now available on DVD and Blu-Ray.