Customer Reviews

David Attenborough's Private Life of Plants: A Dazzling Kaleidoscope of the Essence of Life on Earth (Six VHS Tape Set)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is the best nature series I've ever seen. If you can buy no other series, buy this one. David Attenborough gives you both an overview and a detailed look at plants. If you thought plants were quiet, uninteresting inhabitants of the planet, these films will change your mind. David Attenborough is a very knowledgable guide who knows where to look for things and he has a splendid crew to do the photography worldwide.

As you watch the plants via time lapse you realise that they are not the passive, peaceful and pretty things we use or destroy at our whim. You see the wild and violent world with similar predators, prey and power struggles as the animal kingdon contains. It's just we move to fast (or don't look closely enough) to realise it.P.S. sorry about the alliteration. T'was an accident.

This video set is a must-buy. I know that the subject of plants doesn't sound exciting, but trust me there is more plot, suspense and adventure in these videos than you can imagine. Having bought other works of David Attenborough (Trials of Life), I knew the cinematography would be beautiful and figured that the time-lapse sequences would be exquisite. But I never imagined that these videos would forever change the way I view plants, their relationship with animals, or our place in the world.

We have watched this series several times and have always been amazed by the video. How some of the plants have evolved is incredible. It shows that the plant world based upon a different time scale than we are.

The book is OK, but the 6 video tapes of "The Private Life of Plants" are unbelievable. This series has the best time-lapse photogrpahy ever created. Plants grow before your eyes, but you simultaneously travel across the floor of the woodland or up a tree. The facts here make the Twilight Zone seem tame. Truth is absolutely more amazing than fiction -- and the uncanny clarity of this work of art proves it. Excellent. END

The private life of plants is a great way to spend an evening. David Attenborough has taken much work and care with presenting the video and talks about the plants in a short but informitive manor. He gives you an overview and and a detailed look at all the plants and tells you where they are situated an the best places for them to live.
As you watch the plants via time lapse you realise that they are not the passive, peaceful and pretty things, that they have a life of their own where each and every plant has a struggle to survive. This becomes clearer as the vidio goes on and it emphisises how essential it is for seeds to get to the right place using the right equipment.
The private life of plants has remarkable photography and videoing skills so that you can follow a plant for several weeks and it is condensed into one minute to show you the different stages of a plants life. I found that the sound effects enhanced the film to make it more thrilling.
Not only was it interesting it also taught me a lot about plants. If you want to find out about plants at home this is the only way to go for its vocabulary is easy for the whole family to understand therefore making it appropriate for everyone. It is also very interesting to watch and learn from at school for it involves the audience more than a text book and makes the information easier to understand. If you are covering the topic of seeds than it is essential you watch the private life of plants.

I have been watching this video for years. I never get tired of it and have only just recently started to loan it out. Thank goodness I have found where I could order another copy. This film relaxes and refreshes me so much, I recommend it to my friends for sickness that confines them to bed or when they wish they were confined to bed.

This great series with a provocative look at plants and David Attenborough voice is a great addition to any nature collection. This VHS series is now finally available on DVD (but requires a region free player) It is interesting to contrast this view with the Botany of Desire. In both cases, the plants a winners and subvert human efforts to survive. Only this one was first!

The Private Life of Plants is a fantastic series, well worth buying.

So why the one star review?

Because VHS is an outdated format. The same exact series is available on a 2 DVD disk set here: The Private Life of Plants [Region 2] for one tenth the cost (as of this writing).

The only problem is that the DVD disks in the link are Region 2/PAL (instead of Region 1/NTSC as is common in the USA) so you might need to use a computer or buy a special player just to play the Region 2 disks.

Hi, I'm a college student and my plant ecology professor decided to show us these videos. I highly recommend them to any teacher. The representation of the passage of time from a plants perspective is truly enlightening. They manage to speed up and slow down the passage of time when needed to allow you to actually see the changes and growth of plant, noticeably. I found this videos to come to mind quite frequently and I have even been able to apply the knowledge I gained to other plant classes. I'm truly impressed with David Attenborough and his team. Once again, great movies for high school or college science teachers!!