Customer Reviews

The Life of Mammals, Vol. 1-4

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've watched this series three times over the last couple years. I can say that after seeing tens of thousands of movies and documentaries over my entire lifetime that this is hands down the greatest series I've ever seen.

It will change your life and make you look at the world differently. You will never look at a non-human the same way again.

The photography is perfect. It never gets boring. It's like seeing an alien world that you live on. You will see things that you would never see if you spent a lifetime searching.

I have been showing BBC documentaries to help supplement our science lessons. After showing The Planet Earth series, I scoured the Internet for something that could replace it. The Life of mammals was perfect. The kids enjoy it as much if not more than the previous series. The cinematography is amazing and the footage of the animals is unreal. Usually, I work on grading through videos, but when this is on, I can't keep my eyes off the screen! I'm very pleased with my purchase. A+!

As somebody who loved Planet Earth and The Blue Planet, I would definitely place this 10 part series close to the level of quality that those two achieved. Of course, this isn't going to be in HD, but it still looked pretty impressive on my 60 inch DLP TV. Unless you sit two feet from the screen, you are not going to notice any problems with picture quality.

What sets this series apart from Blue Planet and Planet Earth is creator David Attenborough's direct involvement with the source material. Almost every episode opens and closes with Sir David standing face to face with an animal to featured in the episode. You get a true appreciation of Grizzly Bear salmon hunts when the host is literally standing 10 feet away and narrating as it is occurring. Some casual fans of Planet Earth may not like this, as it grounds the documentary and prevents it from reaching the near art-based quality of some of the BBC's more recent productions. Personally, I love seeing how excited Sir David gets when he finally sees a Blue Whale, or as he explains how monkeys react to leopard decoys he places in the African rain forest. Although I would highly recommend all of his "Life of" DVDs, the massive variety of animals featured in this set will likely be appreciated by all.

This is the 7th entry in the David Attenborough Life series following The Life of Birds. The groundbreaking first series Life on Earth was based on evolution and started with bacteria making its way up to modern humans over the course of 13 episodes. The Living Planet was 12 episodes long and dealt mainly with adaptation over a wide range of environments that also incorporated more Earth science along with the life science in terms of geology and environments. The Trials of Life was 12 episodes long and all about animal behaviour. Life in the freezer was 6 episodes long and specialized on the Antarctic. The Private life of Plants was another 6 episode series and focused entirely on botany. The Life of Birds was 10 episodes long and is one of the best documentaries about birds ever made.

With Life in the Freezer and The Private Life of Plants Attenborough made a new move to specialize instead of following the 12-13 episode discipline that started with Clark's Civilisations and Bronowski's The Ascent of Man and birthed other great series like Sagan's Cosmos. Attenborough, after deciding to detach from the shorter episode format of Freezer and Plants (an such as was in previous non-life series such as The Tribal Eye, The First Eden and Lost Worlds, Vanished Lives) and after going for a higher number of 10 episodes instead of 6 for a specialized theme on birds, goes for mammals for what will be the last of his longer running shows in the Life series as he would afterwards cut back considerably for the remaining ones.

Apart from the extremes of Life in the Freezer, Mammals maybe his most dangerous production. Skunks spray. Grizzly bears are hungry. Big cats are filmed in close-up hunting, not to mention that Attenborough does all this at 76 years of age. The series requires that they fly to and visit multiple places around the world. Because mammals are warm-blooded the producers make full use of the latest night vision and heat sensitive technology. Attenborough looks at why mammals have evolved and why the mammalian design works. He covers insect hunting mammals and plant predators, herbivores, before turning to rodents and how they chisel their food. Then we get carnivores meat eating and the opportunistic feeders that take advantage to also eat plants, the omnivores. Mammals have also evolved to return back to the water so a large part of the series is marine based. Then we turn to the trees for the final few episodes concentrating on primates and their social structures before finally veering to man with special emphases on the extinction of other civilisations and why we must conserve the diversity of life.

Overall this is some of the best of Attenborough's incredible life series. Some of the most memorable scenes are whale mating and the indigenous bushmen of the Kalahari Desert going on a long endurance hunt, not to mention the sheer scope of the social behaviour of primates that is investigated. This is an utterly fantastic and unbeatable view of mammals. Attenborough does it yet again.

The Life of Mammals, Vol. 1-4 is another Attenborough masterpiece in the "Life of" Series (other installments include The Life of Birds and Life in Cold Blood).This series covers all the major types of mammals, large and small, ending with homo sapiens (humans).

There is some amazing and unique footage on these discs, such as the Chimpanzees hunting monkeys in Kibale Forest, Uganda. I'll never forget the image of the Chimps chasing the poor monkey, or the sound of their hunting cry. I was amazing at the size of blue whales and humpback whales (as well as the size of the male genitals of the former!). I also found the last disc on humans interesting, since it demonstrates how ancient humans hunted antelope on foot.

The DVD series is well organized, beginning with marsupials and with each disc covering a different class of animal. In fact, it almost seems like a natural progression as each disc points out new adaptations that allowed that particular mammal species to survive. Unlike Planet Earth - The Complete BBC Series (which in my view is simply a collection of pretty clips), The Life of Mammals, Vol. 1-4 has a clear focus and and is actually a great educational tool for learning about mammals and evolution. I'd recommend this for all individuals interested in wildlife, as well as biology students.

What can I say? My husband, myself, and our 5-year-old are fans of David Attenborough's nature documentaries and "The Life of Mammals" is one of our favorites. Intrepid naturalist Sir David Attenborough hosts this series and this is one series where he features prominently in the actual shots - be it narrating in the foreground as an anteater devours a termite mound, sitting happily amidst a colony of feeding bats, passing humorous commentaries as in the scene of mating hedgehogs, his presence makes for an enlightening and entertaining viewing experience.

This particular series focuses on mammals, one of the most diverse population on Earth - from the tiniest mammal to the largest and most advanced, they are all portrayed here in all their beauty and natural glory. All aspects of how mammals live and feed are explored - it was interesting to see how certain bats fed up high, and others foraged on the ground, for example. Watching how some mammals lived in the most inhospitable surroundings was also illuminating.

There are 10 episodes on four discs:
Disc One
A Winning Design
Insect Hunters
Plant Predators

Disc Two
Chisellers
Meat Eaters
Opportunists

Disc Three
Return to the Water
Life in the Trees

Disc Four
Social Climbers
Food for Thought

This is one of the best documentaries I've watched on mammals. Highly recommended!

This series is one for the archives. Sir David Attenborough makes it so interesting and entertaining with his British wit and vocal style.
The photography and content is top notch without the feeling of a lecture.
Great for everyone...armchair travelers and real scientists alike.

David Attenborough presents a fascinating look at life on earth. The photography is stunningly beautiful and gives an intimate look at many animals most of us have never before seen. I first viewed it as a rental but soon felt I absolutely had to own this beautiful set of DVDs. Definitely worth every penny!!

Great footage of various mammals in water, air, on land and in the soil. David Attenborough at his best! Wonderful themes and subjects. I use it in my college-level mammalogy course.

Good series,Although I would like More Tiger Footage and Big Cat Footage,alot is focused on Rats and Rat Sized Animals for some odd reason,but it is good with good typical british narration. Do the British hold a Monopoly on Nature Documentaries?