Release date: 1993-08-02
Run time: 203 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £44.99
Review Natural History Collection - The Velvet Claw / 2 Entertain Video:
![Review Imc Vision / Wild Wild World Of Animals - The Admirable Octopus / Crocodiles / Sea Lion [1992]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51M757BYTCL._SL160_.jpg)
Release date: 1997-05-12
Run time: 90 min.
Price: £9.99
Review Wild Wild World Of Animals - The Admirable Octopus / Crocodiles / Sea Lion [1992] / Imc Vision:
Release date: 2000-01-24
Run time: 171 min.
Price: £14.99
Review Super Sense - A Voyage In Animal Perception - Parts 1 and 2 / 2 Entertain Video:
Release date: 1992-11-02
Run time: 148 min.
Price: £19.99
Review Natural History Collection - Realms Of The Russian Bear - / 2 Entertain Video:
Release date: 1995-09-18
Run time: 60 min.
Price: £10.99
Review Big Cats [1974] / Carlton Visual Entertainment Ltd:
![Review 2 Entertain Video / Walking With Dinosaurs - Ballad Of Big Al [1999]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51GC9N3K4VL._SL160_.jpg)
Actors & Directors
- Avery Brooks
- André Dussollier
Run time: 58 min.
RRP: £9.99
Price: £3.89
Review Walking With Dinosaurs - Ballad Of Big Al [1999] / 2 Entertain Video:The Ballad of Big Al manages the tricky feat of making the viewer feel concern-even sympathy-for a 10m-long, razor-fanged carnivorous predator, an Allosaurus from 145,000,000 years ago. That it does so without resorting to Disney tactics makes its achievement all the more admirable-despite the title, these creatures thankfully don't even speak, let alone sing. In fact, Big Al scores precisely because it takes a resolutely low-key, restrained and intelligent approach to a subject that can all too often end up being sentimentalised. The programme contains two separate half-hour segments originally transmitted as Walking With Dinosaurs "specials" The first is a biopic of Big Al, the allosaurus whose remarkably complete skeleton, found in Wyoming in 1991, allowed scientists to piece together an accurate picture of the creature's life. We follow Al from his hatching out of an egg, then at regular stages through his development into an almost fully grown adult. Almost being the operative word since, since after suffering a series of injuries Al becomes too ill to hunt and suffers an arbitrary, unspectacular demise (all the more believable and touching for it) in late adolescence. The second programme is a "making of" documentary, showing how scientists analysed Al's bones and came up with a plausible series of adventures for him. It's easy to forget that these recreations can only be educated supposition-the camerawork and narration (by Kenneth Branagh) exactly mimic actual wildlife documentaries about living species, while the computer-generated depiction of the dinosaurs is never less than utterly convincing. We're in danger of taking this kind of dazzling FX work for granted, but Big Al freshens it up by putting it at the service of a well-structured, very specific narrative. The programme doesn't hold back on realities of the Jurassic period's harsh, kill-or-be-killed ecosystem, but while it carries an official warning about "mild wildlife horror", Big Al sensibly never dwells on the gory stuff. [+]The most graphic section is also, strangely, the most alluring, as a hungry pack of Allosaurs patiently stalk a herd of colossal Diplodocus across a dry salt lake. The images of these enormous creatures trotting and lumbering along against a stark white background have a surreal, dreamy beauty-the spell abruptly broken when an ailing Diplodocus collapses, exhausted, and the ravenous Allosaurs quickly move in for their bloody feast. -Neil Young.
Release date: 2001-03-05
Run time: 58 min.
Price: £12.99
Review National Geographic Video - Killer Whales - Wolves Of The Sea / Quadrant Video:
Run time: 90 min.
RRP: £12.99
Price: £6.95
Review Kingdom Of The Ice Bear / 2 Entertain Video:
Run time: 50 min.
Price: £7.99
Review Man Eaters - Vol. 2 / Artsmagic:
![Review Academy Video / 90 Degrees South - With Scott To The Antarctic [1933]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41A8EP3E7JL._SL160_.jpg)
Release date: 1994-04-25
Run time: 72 min.
Price: £15.99
Review 90 Degrees South - With Scott To The Antarctic [1933] / Academy Video:
Run time: 60 min.
Price: £10.99
Review Amazon [1968] / Imc Vision:
![Review Quantum Leap / First Steps To The Furrow [1995]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51RX8CCTYZL._SL160_.jpg)
Actors & Directors
- Roger Clark
- Paul Heiney
- Cheryl Clark
RRP: £14.99
Price: £15.95
Review First Steps To The Furrow [1995] / Quantum Leap:
![Review 2 Entertain Video / The Blue Planet [2001]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/415YXDVEKFL._SL160_.jpg)
Actors & Directors
- Sami Lukis
- Tania Zaetta
- Alastair Fothergill
- Don Hany
Run time: 485 min.
RRP: £29.99
Price: £1.97
Review The Blue Planet [2001] / 2 Entertain Video:An epic, eight-part series that took five years to complete, The Blue Planet firmly re-establishes the BBC as the world's pre-eminent producer of top quality nature documentaries. Exploring every aspect of marine ecosystems, from coastal marshes to deep-sea trenches and from polar waters to tropical reefs, The Blue Planet is thorough and informative, yet never less than thrilling. Sir David Attenborough is one of the most well-respected (and well-known) personalities in the field of nature programmes and his narration is flawless as he educates and inspires without patronising his audience or anthropomorphising his subjects. Spectacular camera work (of a standard not seen since the BBC's classic Life on Earth series) captures images of a fascinating world rarely seen by human eyes-in fact, in several instances, the subjects and behaviours filmed for this series have never been witnessed before, let alone caught on camera. This is particularly apparent on the series highlight, "The Deep" (Programme 2), where film crews discovered two new species in the depths of the ocean: a grotesque fish named the Hairy Angler and a fantastic, pink octopus-like creature, which is so new that it remains unnamed (but was nicknamed "Dumbo"). Both are testament to the fact that, although oceans cover two-thirds of the Earth, we know less about them than we do the moon. It is proof that, to us land-dwellers, much of our Blue Planet is alien indeed. A handsomely illustrated companion book is also available. - Robert Burrow.
![Review 2 Entertain Video / Land Of The Tiger [1998]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/515TXY7JSFL._SL160_.jpg)
Actors & Directors
- Dennis B. Kane
- Thomas Skinner (II)
Run time: 290 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £11.93
Review Land Of The Tiger [1998] / 2 Entertain Video:Not just tigers, but a wide range of indigenous creatures are the subjects of Land of the Tigers, a two-tape set. In a fascinating contrast with the curatorial reverence with which most narrators of wildlife programmes treat their subjects, the hyperanimated Valmik Thapar not only presents some superb footage of the wildlife of the Indian sub-continent but describes how these animals are regarded within Indian culture-sometimes deified and revered, or the subject of dance or art or part of daily life. Of course, one disadvantage of transferring nearly five hours of factual TV programming to video is that the continuity and the revisiting of key ideas and impressions can become grindingly monotonous if, as here, no attempt is made to edit the material into a single-package format. However, treat it exactly as it was first broadcast, by rationing yourself to one programme-sized chunk at a time and letting Thapar's recapitulations and lingering, revelatory moments happen as they were originally intended and, if you've any interest at all in the wild life and cultural heritage of the region, you won't be disappointed. -Roger Thomas.
![Review Quadrant Video / National Geographic Video - Secrets Of The Titanic [1986]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41MRTEKK9YL._SL160_.jpg)
Actors & Directors
- Martin Sheen
- Nicolas Noxon
- John Jacob Astor
- Margaret Brown (IV)
- Bob Ballard
- E.J. Smith
Run time: 60 min.
Price: £12.99
Review National Geographic Video - Secrets Of The Titanic [1986] / Quadrant Video:
Release date: 1995-09-04
Run time: 58 min.
RRP: £10.99
Price: £8.90
Review David Attenborough's World Of Wildlife 3 - African Big Cats / 2 Entertain Video:
![Review Fremantle Home Entertainment / Eyewitness - Cat [1994]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71EDG6P8Z1L._SL160_.gif)
Run time: 28 min.
RRP: £6.99
Price: £4.95
Review Eyewitness - Cat [1994] / Fremantle Home Entertainment:
![Review 2 Entertain Video / Life On Earth [1979]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/516KMVPWF1L._SL160_.jpg)
Release date: 2000-01-24
Run time: 150 min.
RRP: £12.99
Price: £6.70
Review Life On Earth [1979] / 2 Entertain Video:David Attenborough had been a celebrated natural-history presenter ever since Zoo Quest in the 1950s, yet Life on Earth (1979) was something on an entirely different scale. With 150 minutes of the best selected clips from the 13-programme series, this offers a chronological account of the flora and fauna of planet earth over a period of 3,500 million years. Whether recounting the first journey from the sea to the land, the development of insects and flowers, or "The First Forests" and "The Lords of the Air", Attenborough's enthusiasm is infectious. He guides us through "The Infinite Variety" of life from microbes to marsupials, via an unforgettable meeting with mountain gorillas, to conclude with "The Compulsive Communicators", mankind itself. Three years in the making, involving one-and-a-half million miles of travel and featuring some of the most beautiful, breathtaking and ambitious photography then seen on television, Life on Earth was the first natural history blockbuster. It redefined TV by showing that an epic, serious wildlife documentary could be a massive popular success. As such it remains a true television landmark, and paved the way for Attenborough's The Living Planet (1984), The Trials of Life (1990), The Private Life of Plants (1994), as well as The Planets (1999) and Walking With Dinosaurs (1999). -Gary S Dalkin.
![Review Meridian Entertainment / The Flight Of The Condor [1985]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41XWPV8AP1L._SL160_.jpg)
Release date: 1997-05-19
Run time: 60 min.
RRP: £9.99
Price: £34.99
Review The Flight Of The Condor [1985] / Meridian Entertainment:
Release date: 1999-03-29
Run time: 50 min.
Creator: David Attenborough
RRP: £9.99
Price: £6.99
Review BBC Wildlife Special - Great White Shark, The Silent Stalker / 2 Entertain Video:
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Natural History Collection - The Velvet Claw, Wild Wild World Of Animals - The Admirable Octopus / Crocodiles / Sea Lion [1992], Super Sense - A Voyage In Animal Perception - Parts 1 and 2, Natural History Collection - Realms Of The Russian Bear -, Big Cats [1974], Walking With Dinosaurs - Ballad Of Big Al [1999], National Geographic Video - Killer Whales - Wolves Of The Sea, Kingdom Of The Ice Bear, Man Eaters - Vol. 2, 90 Degrees South - With Scott To The Antarctic [1933], Amazon [1968], First Steps To The Furrow [1995], The Blue Planet [2001], Land Of The Tiger [1998], National Geographic Video - Secrets Of The Titanic [1986], David Attenborough's World Of Wildlife 3 - African Big Cats, Eyewitness - Cat [1994], Life On Earth [1979], The Flight Of The Condor [1985], BBC Wildlife Special - Great White Shark, The Silent Stalker |
