Customer Reviews

Human Body: Pushing the Limits

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This 2-disc set presents 4 episodes focused on different areas in which the human body is "pushing the limits": sight, strength, sensation, & brain power. I have actually shown some clips in my general psychology class as the material is presented in an easy to follow & interesting format -- perfect for freshmen! For anyone who is a Discovery Channel geek like myself, whether you're an educator or it's just a hobby (or both), this is a must-have for your collection. My only regret is that I bought it directly from the Discovery Channel website rather than Amazon.com -- I could've saved about $15!

This is the first year that I am teaching a human anatomy and physiology class in high school. I was looking for some materials to supplement the usual textbook/memorization that accompanies a course like this. This is an excellent video(s). It's too long to show at one long stretch in class, but broken up, it really helps to break up the monotony that can so easily come to an anatomy class. And it's well done, so the kids enjoy it for it's entertainment value as well. It can be difficult to find videos that are educational and entertaining without being cheesey, but this video accomplishes that task well.

The "Human Body" comes to us as four 40-minute episodes (Sight, Strength, Sensation, Brain Power) on 2 Blu-ray discs, housed in a standard-sized case. Each episode contains personal accounts of extraordinary survival tales, re-enactments by actors, and computer animations. The back of the box touts itself as a "groundbreaking program" with "stunning CGI", but the production is anything but innovative. The main problem is that it tries to look like an action movie instead of a science show. In an attempt to appeal to more casual audiences, Discovery has skipped over a lot of the science and medical presentation in favor of computer graphics and trendy camera tricks. It's heavy on stylization and light on the science, using a lot of fast cuts, cliche editing techniques, and repetitive CGI. For example, the first episode ("Sight") begins with a re-enactment of a high speed police car chase through crowded city streets, with overused Terminator-like cross-hair targeting motion graphics and accompanying sci-fi sound effects.

All the episodes are plagued with uneven editing that makes the series look at times like a music video or an extended car commercial. A typical example of the overused, spasmodic, and cliche editing is the stop and go motion of many shots: shots will start off in slow motion, then suddenly sped up, then slowed again, sometimes rapidly intercut with a series of other shots. This is what a science show might look like if Michael Bay directed it. While people with attention deficit disorder may find this acceptable, my patience quickly wore thin.

Secondly is the frequent, overused, and repetitive CG. You'll be seeing the same animations over and over again, several times within the same episode. Among them are 3-D rotations of a transparent human body, the skull and parts of the brain, or signals traveling through a web of nerve fibers (think Spider-Man opening credits), etc. These are shown again and again in every episode. Surprisingly, there are very few shots of actual cells or tissue under magnification. I counted less than 5 shots of actual photos from scanning electron microscopes (bone structure, muscle fiber), with no x-rays, MRI's or other medical imaging that I can remember.

The main problem is this series was designed for commercial television, not home video. Each episode is built around six self-contained 7-minute segments, with a commercial break in between. Much of the same animation is repeated in each of these segments as a reminder of what happened before the break. For Blu-ray viewers watching with the commercial breaks removed, the disruption in continuity is jarring and abrupt.

Another poor choice is the deliberate cinéma vérité feel of all the personal interviews. For every single one of these shots, the camera has that wobbly hand-held look, usually accompanied a mandatory zoom in on the speaker (think NYPD Blue or Cloverfield). Content-wise, I found these to be the most interesting part of the series. In particular, I wanted to hear more about the man who survived for 30+ days at sea, the woman who fell off the side of a mountain and crawled 2 days to safety with a fractured hip and leg bones, or the French hiker who was trapped inside a cave for over a month with no food. Sadly, the interviews with experts and accounts from survivors are short. I'd much rather hear a survivor's first-hand account of his/her ordeal or a medical experts explanation than watch a dramatized recreation or another recycled animation.

Lastly, the show is not helped by Bray Poor's over-dramatized narration. His speaking style is unnatural and his intonation makes him sound like he's voicing over a movie trailer.

To sum up, this is "science lite". Watch it on Discovery if it comes on the air again, but give this BD a miss. It's not worth owning. The poor production choices distract from the presentation of facts and there is nothing innovative about superimposing 3D animations over live shots. You may wish to check out the much better National Geographic - Incredible Human Machine, National Geographic - Inside the Living Body, or NOVA: Secrets of the Mind DVDs instead.

Human Body: Pushing the Limits reaches unprecedented heights of poor formatting. The material presented in this collection of Discovery Channel's latest consumer exploits had a massive degree of potential, nevertheless speedy production did a foul number on this beast.
Main problems:
Repetitive graphics from one human feat to the next detract from the originality of the story presented
Narrative format is poorly paced (e.g. the film watches like a long commercial)
Lacking in quantity of personal accounts
Quality suffers from numerous cuts for commercial breaks (no actual commercials are in the film)

On the plus side, the personal stories are mostly fascinating. Despite the boring CGI models that invade the screen perpetually, the information presented is highly informative.

If I were you, I would just watch it on cable if it ever gets aired again.

I agree with fellow reviewers that this DVD will appeal to students. It's educational, engaging, and very entertaining. The groundbreaking CGI effects and amazing real-life stories are riveting. From the ordinary to the extraordinary, there are great survival lessons to be learned, and how our bodies push to every extreme and challenge.

In addition to this DVD, I also highly recommend NGC's National Geographic - Incredible Human Machine, which further explores the physiological functions and inner organs of the human body. (Don't know why it's labeled as being produced in 1975. The documentary premiered late '07, if I recall correctly). Anyway, it complements DC's series very well.

I was hoping to be able to use these for high school anatomy classes, but it is too hard to dissect the meat from the fluff. There is a lot of good information in the video, but it is surrounded by these sensational stories that make good TV but are just filler when it comes to learning the material. I wish I could easily take out the anatomy/physiology information and lose the stories.

As a middle school life science teacher, it's important for me to find videos that have a high "entertainment factor" without watering down the content. This collection fits that requirement. My students enjoyed the sections we watched in class.

I viewed this movie with my children ages 8-17 and it was a great educational tool.

Worth every penny. Wonderful graphics and the limits of the human body are so well explained.

This is an excellent movie! I am very interested in the human body and I think this video is amazing!