Documentaries & Biographies > Animals & Wildlife Documentaries Documentaries & Biographies > up to 5 GBP

Advantages: Informative
Disadvantages: None

...above all the nightmare the snake presents to man. The programme looks into the physical composition of the snake, its lifecycle, breeding, and the potency of its venom. There is a brief look into the venom harvesting and developing anti-venom. The highlight of the programme is it being made in the most natural circumstance possible. The team have put in good amount of homework and time into trying to present the snake in its most natural surroundings. ...
...views on the snake. Local snake handlers are part of the team, which makes the tracking of snake easy and the Camera team have done some awesome work. The camerawork is excellent, given the discreet nature of the snake. A lot of thought has gone into the camerawork. It has a lot of unconventional filming. Especially one shot of the snake attacking the camera, captures the snakes mouth and the drawn fangs. The commentary is quite informative and covers ... Read review

Advantages: Steve Irwin
Disadvantages: Poor acting, terrible storyline

I like Steve Irwin. I really find him entertaining if a little over the top. But he does keep banging on about how much experience he has and how he learned it from his father - and it grates on you after a while. But my children were desperate to see this film, so off we trotted. They loved it - but then they are only 9 and 8. I enjoyed the bits with Steve and Terri Irwin, on their travels around the Outback, catching various creatures for research ...
...stop her so calls in Steve and Terri to relocate the croc. Incompetant spies are sent out and bungle the job. Steve catches croc after much difficulty and is nearly killed in the process - firstly by the croc pulling him along by the top jaw rope he attached to it and then by the spies, who are convinced that Steve and Terri are spied too. Very lame and very unconvincing. But the bits with the croc are VERY scary. I screamed. I admit it. I did actually ... Read review

Advantages: Great graphics and you're convinced the critters are actually there
Disadvantages: Doesn't quite live up to Walking with Dinosaurs as a prequel and relatively short

...of both previous series - Walking with Dinosaurs followed by Walking with Beasts, I saw this in Woolies and didn't even know it had been on TV, quite a nice surprise. So I bought it at the fairly reasonable price of £12.99 and headed home with high expectations. Since then I have also noticed one called Walking with Cave Men, which is next on my list. Rather than containing two discs, like the other series', this is only one, and I must say I was ...
...this series which I think Walking with Dinosaurs lacked, is a sense of time and it's effect. In these episodes they document the activities of a creature then focus in on it and show a time scale and as this moves along the creature evolves on screen into another species, evolved from the parent species, which is then documented as well. I thought this worked really effectively as in the dinos series it was at times hard to follow what was happening ... Read review

Advantages: Great use of footage, analysis from experts and pieced together wonderfully
Disadvantages: None

'When We Were Kings' is a documentary by Leon Gast, centred around the 'Rumble in the Jungle', the boxing match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, which will undoubtedly go down as one of the most famous sporting events in history. Held in Kinshasa, Zaire, the event generated massive interest from all around the world. The documentary focuses primarily on Muhammad Ali, who at this point in his career, and with Foreman's dominance in the boxing ...
...the fight. Ali's charisma, personality and charm meant he was always going to be the man the fight centred around. 'When We Were Kings' charts the build-up to the fight, utilising interviews with experts in the boxing field, members of the media who were in Zaire at the time of the fight, and natives of Zaire as well as interviews and press conferences with the two boxers involved. It tells of us how the natives felt a connection with Ali and supported ... Read review

Advantages: Tells you important Dates
Disadvantages: -

...myself," he once said, "but I couldn't speak for the millions they killed." In 1986, he succeeded in having gypsy representatives included on the Holocaust Memorial Council in Washington DC. His biggest disappointments were his failure to secure the capture of Gestapo chief, Heinrich Muller, and Auschwitz doctor, Josef Mengele, who died in Brazil in 1978. Simon Wiesenthal died in the Austrian capital, Vienna, aged 96. Mr Wiesenthal died in his sleep ... Read review