Life (TV Mini Series) Hunters and Hunted (2009) User Reviews

Tastefully Done (No Pun Intended)

[ccthemovieman-1 · 8/10 · 28 June 2010]

Frankly, I was expecting a gruesome episode with lions and tigers and such chasing down animals and eating them, but there was very little of that. Mostly we, the viewers, were spared the horrible part of the animal existence of predator and prey.

What seemed a little odd was that a good chunk of the footage shown here, I believe, was shown elsewhere (as in other episodes). In other words, I've seen three cheetahs going after an ostrich, the Brown Bears catching salmon, the baby Ibex eluding a wolf, and another segment or two. Whatever, there was still enough new and fascinating material here to make this another very interesting episode. In fact, the closeup and slow-motion photography in here is about as good as it gets in any of the episodes, particularly the closeups.

You see some incredible sights in this edition of "Life," such as a bulldog bat, cute little stoats, Bottlenose dolphins and the oddest of all: a star-nose mole, who hunts for food both on land and underwater. For sheer drama, the story of one particular Orca whale is amazing and one you won't forget.

This episodes keeps things moving a very brisk pace.

A must hunt down

[TheLittleSongbird · 10/10 · 7 January 2018]

Despite how much he apparently dislikes the term "national treasure", that term really does sum up David Attenborough to a tee. He is such a great presenter (in his 90s and still sounds, and looks on a side note, great) and whenever a new series of his is aired they are often among the best the BBC has done in years.

Am a great fan of a lot of Attenborough's work and BBC's nature documentaries with his involvement are among their best work in years. Have been watching the BBC less over time, but there are always exceptions, unexpected gems and expected treasures that come our way every now and again and their nature documentaries are the perfect examples of expected treasures. 'Life' is a crowning achievement for a documentary series and actually, like the best documentary shows, feels much more than that. As far as Attenborough's work goes too, 'Life' to me is one of his biggest achievements.

"Hunters and Hunted" is agreed not the most original of episodes, some of the footage has been recycled from elsewhere. Not that that matters, because it is footage that one could not get enough of in the first place and visually it's stunning. It may explore the challenges of survival for animals, but for the viewer watching it's an awe-inspiring delight from start to finish.

First and foremost, "Hunters and Hunted" is exceptionally well-made. Hardly surprising, one comes to expect that from Attenborough's work. In fact saying that doesn't do the production values justice. It is gorgeously filmed, done in a completely fluid and natural, sometimes intimate (a great way of connecting even more with the animals), way and never looking static. In fact much of it is remarkably cinematic. The editing is always succinct and smooth and the scenery and various habitats are remarkably diverse and look speechlessly spectacular.

On a documentary level, "Hunters and Hunted" continually fascinates and illuminates, while there are some familiar facts here a lot of it was very much new. By the end of the series for me more was gotten out of it, and educated me much more than, anything taught when studying Geography and Science in secondary school.

Attenborough's narration helps quite significantly too, he clearly knows his stuff and knows what to say and how to say it. He delivers it with his usual richness, soft-spoken enthusiasm and sincerity, never talking down to the viewer and keeping them riveted and wanting to know more.

The wildlife and life-forms are both adorable and dangerous, the wide-ranging diversity in personality and ability of what was included was staggering and it was lovely to see a mix of the familiar and the not-so-familiar. How they adapt to their environments, why they behave the way they do, how nature works and how what the wildlife and life-forms do affects their environments were all touched upon and made their points subtly, not hammering it home too much (a potential danger with documentaries).

The bottlenose dolphins, the mole and the orca sequences are especially memorable, the orca one unforgettable.

Not once does "Hunters and Hunted" feel like an episodic stringing of scenes like it easily could have been. Instead it feels like its own story and journey, with real, complex emotions and conflicts and animal characters developed in a way a human character would in a film but does it better than several. One really cares for what they're told and the wildlife.

Overall, a must hunt down. 10/10 Bethany Cox