Customer Reviews

Imax / India: Kingdom of Tiger [VHS]

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

 

 

You will most likely be very disappointed if you expect to see footage of Bengal tiger in its natural surroundings. There is very little footage of real tigers in the wild. Most of the movie is about some Indian villagers who hired a British hunter to kill a tiger that attacked and killed one of their villagers. Even a National Geographic documentary utterly sucks on this DVD. It shows some Indian movie star that lives in New York City and then goes back to her country to see tigers in the wild. They talk about poaching and loss of natural tiger habitat, but there is very little footage of tigers in this documentary. So far, I could not find anything that even comes close to BBC series: The Life of the Mammals, Blue Planet, and Life in the Freezer with David Attenborough.

Thid DVD is essentially a documentary on Jim Corbett. He is the prime focus, and is portrayed as the man responsible for starting movement to protect tigers. It has boasted quite a lot about India and indian values. However, silently, the onus of tiger killing has been put on indians. It says that the indian kings loved killing tigers, which some britishers too picked up a little in the beginning. Jim Corbett is described as a guy who killed tigers not for his passion, but only for saving indian villagers from man-eating tigers. In these killings, Corbett realised the importance of tiger protection. It could be a true story, but I doubt its integrity. And yeah, the title of the DVD should have been more apt, for example, Jim Corbett: The Protector, in which case I wouldn't have bought it.

I rented this DVD with high expectations, hoping to see some of the amazing footage of the majestic tiger that were captured by the BBC Production "India-Land of Tiger". However this one really turned out to be disappointing. It is a poor attempt to make a documentary on Jim Corbett and his association with the Indian jungles and tigers .. moreover, the documentary makes an averse pervertion of truth when it says that Corbett only hunted tigers when they were man-eaters. However in his books, Corbett himself had given accounts of how he hunted down animals for trophies(for example, The Bachelor of Powalgarh and The PipalPani Tiger in his famous book, Man-Eaters of Kumaon) which were ordinary tigers bereft of any man-eating tendencies...it is however a matter of fact that later in his life Corbett was full of regret and remorse and advocated conservation and a stop to wanton killing of tigers and leopards for trophies. apart from this, the documentary lacks any really interesting footage of the tiger in the wild which we see in other tiger documentaries like, for example, BBC's "India:Land of Tiger" or even National Geographic's "Land of Tiger". With a title like "India : Kingdom of the Tiger", one would expect to see beautiful footages of this colorful country and its diverse wildlife the cynosure of which is the tiger, the king of the jungle. But in this documentary I did not see any such interesting footage. Just some haphazard footages showing tigers and some babble about ancient Maharajas of India and their royal passion of hunting and it's all over even before you realize ! DVD sound and picture quality is just average !! Very very disappointing, I can't give it more than one-star.

I preordered it from amazon before anyone wrote any reviews on it. I personally got the impression from cover and the DVD title that it will be more a documentary on India. Didn't expect it to be a documentary on Jim Cobert on whom I heard so many stories as a child. A documentary that is made very poorly without creating any interest in it!

The only reason I gave 3 stars is the nostalgic appeal it had to me reminding of my school days when we all loved hearing stories about Jim Cobert and his hunt for man-eating tigers!

"Tiger - the king of India" would have been an approprite name for this documentary.

Beaytiful scenery, but an utterly boring story.Perhaps it came off better in the original IMAX, but I doubt it.

Still have not received it--been a month since my order. I sent you the new address and I still do not have the item.

This was well done and very informative. A perfect choice to watch for relaxation and learning together. I found the video to be just the right length.

I've seen this film several times and I must admit that it is by far the best IMAX film ever made! The DVD is very good, complete with some nice extras- but if you get a chance see it on the big screen first.

History of man's contact with tigers in India. My kids loved it! far better than the usual cartoon, more in line with National Geographic specials. Spectacular scenery.