Customer Reviews

National Geographic: The Wildlife Collection

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This DVD set has four National Geographic TV specials about jaguars, bears, lions, hyenas, and whales, along with some bonus material on the programs. You are treated to some of the great wildlife photography that you expect from National Geographic. However, I wish that more of the wildlife specials that were made over the years were included in the set. I would rather have much more of the artful film photography than the video included in the bonus footage. Still, it is a very entertaining and educational set, not too expensive and well worth your viewing time.

In our opinion, the best video of the set was the Lions and Hyenas. It was the only one that focused on the animals and their habitat. The other videos in the set strayed often into "crusader-mode" by dealing mostly with people involved in their own research/quest with the animals and environment as the back-drop. Although their endeavors were interesting, some of the portrayals were rather dramatic and personal - "reality show."

We much rather prefer a more objective concentration on the interaction with the animals and their environment. The "Wildlife Collection" title is then rather misleading. Should have some component of "Wildlife Crusaders" to explain the contents better.

Great for the classroom. I teach 7th grade life science, and this fits into the latter part of the year when we start talking about the Animal Kingdom. The students love it. Lots of interest and lots of questions.

This set contains 4 dvds. I saw only 2 of them. 1 of that was very good (eternal enemies, lions and hyenas) and the other sucked, in my opinion (in search of the jaguar). The rest of them seem to be in the 'would suck' theme. Perhaps its my mistake. I bought the dvds expecting good footage about the animals, their behavior, their life in the wild and some good insights into understanding their behavior. I wouldn't mind a conservation message in the end and maybe some stills about people who 'conservate' them :). But damn, the dvd titled 'in search of the jaguar' was 60% about some guy who does takes part in the conservation, his regular doctor visits to fight his cancer, his family and daughters, him waiting in the pedestrian crossing at a light, with some light jaguar footage thrown in here and there. I hated it. I think that most of the dvds in this set is about conservation. I'm living a stressed life in the concrete jungle and I don't care (no immediate effect) if the jaguar population went down by 100 in some remote jungle or if some conservationist spent 30 mins in the doctor's waiting room! I don't want to see his early life! So, if you want to see something about the animals, this set is not for you. The eternal enemies dvd is awesome though with only a narrator's voice and awesome footage of lions vs hyenas and their societies...buy that alone if you get a chance. Read ALL reviews. Some of them have touted this set and I got beguiled into buying it.

Unless you're ready to discuss the multi-sexual status of hyenas with your 2nd grade son, I'd avoid the Lions & Hyenas DVD.

If you are trying to motivate your kids or yourself to work for a conservation organization, you might find a use in the other DVDs.

I'm a NatGeo baby. I loved the content from the 70s & 80s, but I'd rather watch Life or Planet Earth than this "Wildlife Collection" that's more focussed on the "wild" lives of conservationists.

Having the Lyons and Hyenas alone makes this collection amazing. These DVD's are fantastic. I love harsh reality nature shows.

It was well worth the price just to obtain "Eternal Enemies", my favorite sincerely dramatic animal documentary.

Oh,boy! I have different programs from National Geogarphic on DVD. Any animal lover will never get enough of this set. Whether you are a beginner or an expert on animals, you will find these programs a wonderful reference to look into. I'm grateful that I had the opportunity to purchase this. I hope to find other National geographic programs soon!

WARNING: Tigers of the Snow DVD is a Jeff Bridges Documentary, no tigers! So far that's the only one we've found to have the wrong documentary on the DVD, but we have not watched them all. The ones we have watched that are National Geographic Documentaries are a joy to watch.

I recommend this set of 4 dvds to all wildlife entusiasts. It's one great collector's item.