Customer Reviews

30 Years of National Geographic Specials

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

With 30 years of some of the best documentaries around to choose material from, it scarcely matters that there is no new footage. The narration seamlessly bridges the gaps between the various shorts from National Geographic specials of the past. I wasn't sure what to expect, since it is essentially teasers of other films, but this is a great film in its own right.

We got the film for our little boys, and they've loved it from day one. My older son is learning a lot about the differing relationships of the natural world, and the broad expanse of this film is perfect for him. It never gets bogged down in the mundane, but it also panders to a long attention span. This is a big difference from the National Geographic videos intended specifically for kids. They tend to be the same basic idea...cut footage from older films, but cut so that there is no footage of animals eating each other, no mating, and it is interspersed with unneccesary music videos and cutesy animation. Even with Dudley Moore's narration, it can't compete. Skip the kid stuff and give your kids the real thing.

National Geographic does a wonderful job with beautiful footage of some of their most memorable topics. The sound is clear and the colors vibrant.

My children were spellbound...The topics ranged from lions, tigers, apes, insects, whales, mating practices of many animals (10 minutes worth, it seemed. We could have done without that part) sharks, snakes, alligators, explorers, volcanoes, dancers and more.

This video excites interest in many topics. Because of time constraints and the quantity of information, it doesn't go into detail. It does, however, give you a sneek peak of several NG videos as each segment is labled according to the video clip it came from. I would suggest watching this video in segments as so much information is presented that it is almost an overload!

I have purchased several bargain nature videos and am invariably disappointed with the quality. I would trade all my bargains for two or three of the National Geographic videos. This would be one of them.

This movie will be one of the cults of natural geographic's. The subjects differ from dancers to insects. I think everybody can find something about himself in this dvd. Sound quality and scenes are perfect. Extra features (pictures, cameramen dared movie)are good. This movie must be in all documentary lovers' library.

This was probably the best purchase I ever made on amazon. I'd recommend it to anybody.. especially families with children.

For a family living overseas without access to National Geographic broadcasts, this DVD was a nice introduction to the variety and beauty of the the specials. And it left us and our kids hungry for me. The downside, is that there the selections are very brief and we think we will find the full length DVDs and videos much more satisfying.

This video is great , especially for children to open their eyes to the world. I am so absorbed by it.

I didn't realize this DVD is only clips a few minutes in duration from such a wide variety of episodes. Not really useful in a sense but more distracting and jumbled. Some clips are cute or funny but the whole episodes would be of more value in those cases.

I thought this was a collection of specials. It is really a scrapbook of 30 years of National Geographic specials

When I was in high school, watching National Geographic specials on television was a requirement in science classes. At times, we were shown the older ones on film. This tape is a brief synopsis of many of the specials, starting out with a title image and then showing a few minutes of the original.
This is nature programming at its most raw and best. In general, the specials are not for children, the one depicting lions shows them taking down, killing and consuming their prey. However, they are as educational as film can ever be because after a certain age, nature should not be sugar-coated. It must be presented in the natural form, complete with the birth, growls, snarls and the blood of a violent death.

This is pleasant National Geographic video. It covers a lot without going into any real detail. It is worth viewing but already seems a little old fashioned.