Documentaries & Biographies > 2005 Documentaries & Biographies

Advantages: Stunning scenary, excellent commentary
Disadvantages: Is a little sad what with all the penguins getting killed

General This is a simple production of what must be one of nature's greatest feats and an example of sheer tenacity to survey and a commitment to parenting which humans should aspire to! Thousands of Emperor Penguins bravely trek the arduous 70 mile journey through some of the most hostile terrain in the world. Morgan Freeman narrates this Warner / National Geographic festival of stunning artic beauty. As I watched the movie I was awed ...
...I saw what human avarice is slowly destroying with our over indulgent world wide consumerisation. Freeman tells us a story; it is a story of deep love and the struggle to survive, as the handsomely beautiful Emperor's commence their journey to find a mate, through the hostile winter of the Antarctic South Pole, this quest by the penguins has been going on from before the time of the Pharaoh's. We see a society in which the male penguins appear ... Read review

Advantages: Masterfully edited, full of astounding footage both familiar and otherwise...a classic.
Disadvantages: None.

...rarely-seen footage and interview material, No Direction Home is, for the first half at least, as much about America in the pause-for-breath moment between the beat writers of the 1950s and the counter-culture student movements of the mid-to-late 1960s as it is about the life and work of Robert Zimmerman. It is - clichéd as it sounds - a sweeping, engrossing portrait of a time and of a place, scouring the terrain leads from the rattle-tattle zap-pow ...
...of Odetta's acoustic guitar, from the wandering shoes of Neil Cassidy to those of Woody Guthrie. Dylan features heavily throughout this section of the film, of course, but he is very much a character-in-the-making. When he does take centre-stage in time for the second half (the film is, incidentally, almost four hours long), it is via some of the most compelling footage available, some of it assumed lost or destroyed. A talking heads documentary ... Read review

Advantages: Great scenes that you can't imagine exists
Disadvantages: Could be a little longer

This is the best dvd set I've ever bought and I got the blu ray edition. Each dvd is on a topic about some landscape/water part of the earth and they use the best examples to show (ex: biggest cave, largest reef, etc.) You feel like each topic can actually be a 2 hour movie by itself, but they do a great job of picking the best images into each dvd. The only exception is the first dvd, which is a preview of all the other topics. It gathers the best ... Read review

Advantages: Border Collie Owners Will Love It, Shows The True Active Side To The Border Collie
Disadvantages: Not for none doggie people

Border Collie Sheepdogs - Off-Duty I was bought this a couple of years back by a friend for Christmas, I had never even heard of it un-till they but did have various other border collie videos/dvds being mad on border collies I knew I would like this dvd as it has border collies in which are my favourite breed of dog. I am reviewing the dvd version Border Collie Sheepdogs - Off Duty and as far as I am aware this is the only format it can be purchased ...
...Border Collie Sheepdogs who work on a farm enjoying their spare time being allowed to just be dogs and play and have fun just like any other dog is allowed to do. This dvd includes puppies being reared and bought up with the older dogs and many other key features through out the dvd all though not worded it is still clear to understand. There are also brief scenes shown of the border collies doing what they are best bred to do, working sheep on a ... Read review

Advantages: Great story, told by a great film maker.
Disadvantages: DVD itself is a bit threadbear.

...stance against abuse of the grizzly bear. When these vicious carnivores got too close, he would talk them out of it with a sappy, childish voice. Timothy Treadwell was ever so resourceful. The landscape involved is stunning through a camera but must be hellish in reality. However, he seems to have survived on whatever he took with him on the flying boat, or fished for, and never seemed to mind the inevitable mouthful of flies at every breath. Timothy ...
...close to two huge male grizzly bears fighting over a female. Over a ton and a half of bear colliding, brawling, shouting each other down and wrestling, ever so close over a sandy patch of land. Timothy Treadwell was pulled apart by a grizzly bear one day, just before his season was ending and he was due to be airlifted away. The silly voice must not have worked. The ending of TT's life is only a small part of this excellent documentary, and is ... Read review