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Review Hit Entertainment / Living Britain - Vol. 1 [1999]
Release date: 2001-05-28
Run time: 100 min.
Price: £9.99

Review Living Britain - Vol. 1 [1999] / Hit Entertainment:


Review 2 Entertain Video / The Living Planet - Parts 1 And 2
Actors & Directors
  • David Attenborough
Release date: 2000-01-24
Run time: 120 min.
RRP: £14.99
Price: £24.80

Review The Living Planet - Parts 1 And 2 / 2 Entertain Video:

In 1979 David Attenborough presented Life on Earth, the first wildlife blockbuster series, a chronicle of three-and-a-half billion years of natural history. The Living Planet followed five years later, an equally ambitious 12-part documentary which spanned the globe with portraits of each of the major geographical regions which offer home to life. Attenborough demonstrates how even in the most hostile of environments, from the volcanic "Furnaces of the Earth" to "The Frozen World" of mountains and tundra, the Arctic and Antarctic, live maintains a foothold. He takes us to "The Northern Forests", the "Jungle", "Seas of Grass" and "The Baking Deserts", and ever the genial host, details how in all its endless diversity, life is ingeniously suited to its surroundings. With breathtaking imagery we meet our fellow inhabitants, from penguins to polar bears, lions to scorpions, oaks to eagles, and journey on to "The Open Ocean" and the "New Worlds" which mankind itself is rapidly fashioning through ever more radical technological change. The series ends with an impassioned environmental plea which rings even more urgent now than in 1984. The Trials of Life (1990) and The Private Life of Plants (1994) further detail The Living Planet. -Gary S. Dalkin Originally broadcast in 1984 The Living Planet followed five years after David Attenborough's first wildlife blockbuster series, Life on Earth. This was an equally ambitious 12-part documentary that spanned the globe with portraits of each of the major geographical regions that offer a home to life. [+]
Attenborough demonstrates how even in the most hostile of environments, from the volcanic "Furnaces of the Earth" to "The Frozen World" of mountains and tundra, the Arctic and Antarctic, live maintains a foothold. He takes us to "The Northern Forests", the "Jungle", "Seas of Grass" and "The Baking Deserts" and ever the genial host, details how in all its endless diversity, life is ingeniously suited to its surroundings. With breathtaking imagery we meet our fellow inhabitants, from penguins to polar bears, lions to scorpions, oaks to eagles, and journey on to "The Open Ocean" and the "New Worlds", which mankind itself is rapidly fashioning through ever more radical technological change. The series ends with an impassioned environmental plea which rings even more urgent now than in 1984. The Trials of Life (1990) and The Private Life of Plants (1994) further detail the Living Planet. On the DVD: The Living Planet is presented complete in this DVD box set, with a total running time of 660 minutes (12 x 55 minutes). -Gary S Dalkin.

Review 2 Entertain Video / Life of Mammals Complete
Actors & Directors
  • David Attenborough
Release date: 2003-03-31
RRP: £39.99
Price: £49.21

Review Life of Mammals Complete / 2 Entertain Video:

David Attenborough and the BBC have a well-earned reputation for producing some of the greatest nature programmes, but The Life of Mammals could well be Attenborough's magnum opus. Much of the footage shot for this series had never been seen before, and is presented with the respect and reverence for the natural world that Attenborough has made his trademark. It never ceases to surprise: the sight of a lion taking down a wildebeest on the African savannah has almost become a cliché of nature programmes, yet in The Life of Mammals the cameras keep rolling and the viewer witnesses the fallen animal's herd coming to its rescue and driving off the lion. It's a moving sight and just one of many remarkable scenes. A thorough and entertaining overview of one of evolution's greatest success stories, the series is loosely structured to follow the development of mammals, beginning with the basics in "A Winning Design", which clarifies what makes a mammal different from reptiles and birds-no, it isn't egg-laying: both the platypus and the echidna are egg-laying mammals; it's their ability to adapt. And it's this adaptability that becomes the crux of the remainder of the series. "Insect Hunters" focuses on mammals who have specifically adapted to eating insects, from the giant anteater and the armoured armadillo to bats, which have evolved into complex and effective hunters. "Plant Predators" demonstrates the particular (and often peculiar) adaptations of herbivores, while "Chisellers" is about those mammals who feed primarily on roots and seeds, ranging from tree-dwelling squirrels to opportunistic mice and rats. "Meat Eaters" talks about the evolutionary arms race that exists between predators and prey, and the unique adaptations of both individual and pack hunters. Omnivores are explored in "Opportunists"-mammals like bears and raccoons, whose varied diet allows them to occupy nearly any environment. [+]
"Return to the Water" discusses those mammals such as whales, seals and dolphins that have left behind life on dry land and adapted completely to life in the sea, existing at the top of the food chain. The last three episodes-"Life in the Trees", "Social Climbers" and "Food for Thought"-take the viewer through the development of primates, eventually culminating in that most successful mammal: man. -Robert Burrow.

Review Fremantle Home Entertainment / Eyewitness - Volcano [1996]
Actors & Directors
  • Andrew Sachs
Release date: 2000-03-13
Run time: 35 min.
Price: £6.99

Review Eyewitness - Volcano [1996] / Fremantle Home Entertainment:


Release date: 1993-03-08
Run time: 67 min.
Price: £5.99

Review Animals Of Africa - A Day With The Lions / The Lion As Family Patriarch / When The Lions Go To Drink [1987] / Video Gems (Defunct):


Review 2 Entertain Video / The Human Animal - Parts 1 And 2 [1994]
Actors & Directors
  • Desmond Morris
Release date: 1995-04-03
Run time: 293 min.
Price: £19.99

Review The Human Animal - Parts 1 And 2 [1994] / 2 Entertain Video:


Review 2 Entertain Video / David Attenborough's World Of Wildlife 2 - Great Apes
Actors & Directors
  • David Attenborough
Release date: 1995-09-04
Run time: 58 min.
RRP: £10.99
Price: £16.99

Review David Attenborough's World Of Wildlife 2 - Great Apes / 2 Entertain Video:


Review Quantum Leap / First Steps To The Furrow [1995]
Actors & Directors
  • Roger Clark
  • Cheryl Clark
  • Paul Heiney
Release date: 1997-01-20
RRP: £14.99
Price: £15.95

Review First Steps To The Furrow [1995] / Quantum Leap:


Review Beckmann Visual Publishing / Christian - The Lion At World's End
Actors & Directors
  • George Adamson
  • Bill Travers
  • Virginia McKenna
Release date: 1997-09-08
Run time: 90 min.
RRP: £12.99
Price: £9.99

Review Christian - The Lion At World's End / Beckmann Visual Publishing:


Review 2 Entertain Video / Universe [2000]
Actors & Directors
  • John Hurt
Release date: 2000-05-15
Run time: 200 min.
RRP: £14.99
Price: £24.99

Review Universe [2000] / 2 Entertain Video:


Run time: 53 min.
RRP: £10.99
Price: £7.00

Review BBC Wildlife Special - Squirrel On My Shoulder / Brockside / 2 Entertain Video:


Review 2 Entertain Video / BBC Wildlife Special - Eagle: The Master Of The Skies [1997]
Actors & Directors
  • David Attenborough
Release date: 1998-10-05
Run time: 50 min.
Price: £9.99

Review BBC Wildlife Special - Eagle: The Master Of The Skies [1997] / 2 Entertain Video:


Review Quadrant Video / Londolozi - Hyaena - The Great Opportunist [1994]
Release date: 2000-09-11
Run time: 52 min.
Price: £9.99

Review Londolozi - Hyaena - The Great Opportunist [1994] / Quadrant Video:


Review 2 Entertain Video / David Attenborough's World Of Wildlife 6 - Sea Otters And Elephant Seals
Actors & Directors
  • David Attenborough
Release date: 1995-09-04
Run time: 58 min.
RRP: £10.99
Price: £8.99

Review David Attenborough's World Of Wildlife 6 - Sea Otters And Elephant Seals / 2 Entertain Video:


Review Quadrant Video / National Geographic Video - The Great Indian Railway [1995]
Actors & Directors
  • Linda Hunt
Release date: 2000-03-13
Run time: 104 min.
Price: £12.99

Review National Geographic Video - The Great Indian Railway [1995] / Quadrant Video:


Actors & Directors
  • Thomas Skinner
  • Dennis B. Kane
Release date: 1995-09-18
Run time: 60 min.
Creator: Barry Nye
RRP: £10.99
Price: £24.98

Review Land of the Tiger [1985] / Carlton Visual Entertainment Ltd:

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.

Release date: 1995-09-18
Run time: 60 min.
RRP: £10.99
Price: £5.99

Review National Geographic Video - Elephant / Carlton Visual Entertainment Ltd:


Review 2 Entertain Video / Life In The Freezer [1993]
Actors & Directors
  • Alastair Fothergill
Release date: 1994-03-07
Run time: 178 min.
RRP: £14.99
Price: £2.49

Review Life In The Freezer [1993] / 2 Entertain Video:


Run time: 58 min.
RRP: £10.99
Price: £6.99

Review BBC Wildlife Special - Bird Brain Of Britain / The Flying Gourmet's Guide / 2 Entertain Video:


Review Unique Films / Cane Toads - An Unnatural History [1987]
Actors & Directors
  • Bill Freeland
  • H.W. Kerr
  • E.S. Edgerton
  • Glen Ingram
  • Tip Byrne
  • Mark Lewis
Run time: 46 min.
Creator: Tristram Miall
Price: £9.99

Review Cane Toads - An Unnatural History [1987] / Unique Films:


Browse Natural World:

Models & Brands:
Living Britain - Vol. 1 [1999], The Living Planet - Parts 1 And 2, Life of Mammals Complete, Eyewitness - Volcano [1996], Animals Of Africa - A Day With The Lions / The Lion As Family Patriarch / When The Lions Go To Drink [1987], The Human Animal - Parts 1 And 2 [1994], David Attenborough's World Of Wildlife 2 - Great Apes, First Steps To The Furrow [1995], Christian - The Lion At World's End, Universe [2000], BBC Wildlife Special - Squirrel On My Shoulder / Brockside, BBC Wildlife Special - Eagle: The Master Of The Skies [1997], Londolozi - Hyaena - The Great Opportunist [1994], David Attenborough's World Of Wildlife 6 - Sea Otters And Elephant Seals, National Geographic Video - The Great Indian Railway [1995], Land of the Tiger [1985], National Geographic Video - Elephant, Life In The Freezer [1993], BBC Wildlife Special - Bird Brain Of Britain / The Flying Gourmet's Guide, Cane Toads - An Unnatural History [1987]

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