David Attenborough for a long time has been one of my all-time favourites and would see anything with his involvement without fail. Watching his work has always been a pleasure, reviewing it has also been just as much of a pleasure, and Attenborough is one of those rarities of a celebrity/actor/presenter with a filmography with not one dud in it (even his lesser work is worth watching). An example to all.
'Attenborough: 60 Years in the Wild' is somewhat of an atypical series for Attenborough. It's much more personal and autobiographical than one usually sees from him, with all three episodes/films structured in a way resembling a series of clips. Anybody wanting a documentary where one encounters wildlife portrayed as individual compellingly real characters without being over-humanised, footage of them living, adapting to beautiful yet sometimes harsh environments and their difficulties with adversity, all of this unfolded like remarkably relatable individual stories, has footage that one is amazed what happens is caught on film may be slightly disappointed, and this is in comparison to his other work, but that is not to say that 'Attenborough: 60 Years in the Wild' is devoid of that. All three episodes/films are fascinating and it was nice to have a different approach. Usually feel that clip-show-like formats can be done lazily, not here where it was affectionate, always interesting and nostalgic.
Just to make things clear, all three of the films part of the series are also listed as episodes of 'Nature' (individual episodes when available also sporadically being reviewed), in case anybody is wondering about the reiteration, being fed up with the review abuse happening on and off for a while.
The second episode/film "Understanding the Natural World" is even better than the previous one "Life on Camera", and perhaps my personal favourite of the three episodes/films forming 'Attenborough: 60 Years in the Wild', the next being "Our Fragile Planet" which dealt with the changes in the environment. While that was more personal and still very beautifully done, "Understanding the Natural World" felt more enlightning, dealing with the origins of life, how science and such has evolved over-time and looking back on the scientific discoveries from his lifetime and how they transformed. Not an area of expertise of mine by a long stretch, but that didn't stop me from truly educated and entertained by it.
"Understanding the Natural World's" archival footage still looks good (the earlier stuff looking better than that in "Life on Camera"), such as with the erupting volcano, and makes one feel nostalgic. It will be very interesting for anybody who is familiar with Attenborough's more recent output and hasn't seen much of his earlier/mid-career work, some of which was ground-breaking. It was fascinating to see and hear of all the different discoveries and how things scientifically and such have evolved, right from DNA structure not yet being discovered, and how the tectonic plates theory was mocked until the discovery of finger-printing and the continental drift theory with the action of tectonic plates.
Found what is said about them incredibly informative, with no signs of over-speculation and there is an admirable ability to both entertain and educate, done in a balanced and expertly way. The anecdotes are both amusing and charming. Some fine sequences here, such as with the tribesmen, the meerkats, when in Minnesota and in the Natural History Museum storeroom.
It was wonderful to see Attenborough looking back on his career with clear great affection and intriguing to see how much his career and technology progressed over the years/decades, he has always been consistent in terms of the high quality of his work and how he delivers it and these qualities grew from strength to strength the more experienced he became. What makes "Understanding the Natural World" particularly worth watching is Attenborough himself, he has always been an amazing presenter/narrator and his enthusiasm is so infectious, as is his never cold sincerity, inspirational candour and one of the most instantly recognisable voices ever to exist. Could not get enough of his anecdotes.
Overall, great and even better second instalment. 9/10
'Attenborough: 60 Years in the Wild' is somewhat of an atypical series for Attenborough. It's much more personal and autobiographical than one usually sees from him, with all three episodes/films structured in a way resembling a series of clips. Anybody wanting a documentary where one encounters wildlife portrayed as individual compellingly real characters without being over-humanised, footage of them living, adapting to beautiful yet sometimes harsh environments and their difficulties with adversity, all of this unfolded like remarkably relatable individual stories, has footage that one is amazed what happens is caught on film may be slightly disappointed, and this is in comparison to his other work, but that is not to say that 'Attenborough: 60 Years in the Wild' is devoid of that. All three episodes/films are fascinating and it was nice to have a different approach. Usually feel that clip-show-like formats can be done lazily, not here where it was affectionate, always interesting and nostalgic.
Just to make things clear, all three of the films part of the series are also listed as episodes of 'Nature' (individual episodes when available also sporadically being reviewed), in case anybody is wondering about the reiteration, being fed up with the review abuse happening on and off for a while.
The second episode/film "Understanding the Natural World" is even better than the previous one "Life on Camera", and perhaps my personal favourite of the three episodes/films forming 'Attenborough: 60 Years in the Wild', the next being "Our Fragile Planet" which dealt with the changes in the environment. While that was more personal and still very beautifully done, "Understanding the Natural World" felt more enlightning, dealing with the origins of life, how science and such has evolved over-time and looking back on the scientific discoveries from his lifetime and how they transformed. Not an area of expertise of mine by a long stretch, but that didn't stop me from truly educated and entertained by it.
"Understanding the Natural World's" archival footage still looks good (the earlier stuff looking better than that in "Life on Camera"), such as with the erupting volcano, and makes one feel nostalgic. It will be very interesting for anybody who is familiar with Attenborough's more recent output and hasn't seen much of his earlier/mid-career work, some of which was ground-breaking. It was fascinating to see and hear of all the different discoveries and how things scientifically and such have evolved, right from DNA structure not yet being discovered, and how the tectonic plates theory was mocked until the discovery of finger-printing and the continental drift theory with the action of tectonic plates.
Found what is said about them incredibly informative, with no signs of over-speculation and there is an admirable ability to both entertain and educate, done in a balanced and expertly way. The anecdotes are both amusing and charming. Some fine sequences here, such as with the tribesmen, the meerkats, when in Minnesota and in the Natural History Museum storeroom.
It was wonderful to see Attenborough looking back on his career with clear great affection and intriguing to see how much his career and technology progressed over the years/decades, he has always been consistent in terms of the high quality of his work and how he delivers it and these qualities grew from strength to strength the more experienced he became. What makes "Understanding the Natural World" particularly worth watching is Attenborough himself, he has always been an amazing presenter/narrator and his enthusiasm is so infectious, as is his never cold sincerity, inspirational candour and one of the most instantly recognisable voices ever to exist. Could not get enough of his anecdotes.
Overall, great and even better second instalment. 9/10
