Madagascar
The Wilds of Madagascar
A research team investigates a sunken forest rich with lemurs in northern Madagascar. They have to assemble canoes and navigate underground rapids and giant caverns to access the area, a spikey limestone massif called Ankarana. Once arrived, they watch crowned and Sanford's lemurs frolic and a rare black sifaka clamber about, as well as hawks the size of eagles and rare chameleons. One of the scientists describes how the furry faces of the gentle lemurs come alive with curiosity when visitors arrive. A growing and poor population clears land right up to the edges of the massif, creating massive erosion. This video underscores conclusion of the first chapter of An Amateur's Guide to the Planet, which notes that a ruined Madagascar will support neither the rare lemurs nor the Malagasy themselves. The clock is ticking on the Big Red Island.
Manitoba
Polar Bear Alert
The age of this 1982 video shows in its wavering soundtrack and overly dramatic narration by Jason Robards. Still, we get to see nerve-wracking shots of a photographer in a cage surrounded by giant bears just waiting, ever so quietly persistent, for him to come out so they can kill him. Of course he doesn't oblige. Scenes of bears and humans encountering each other at the town dump in Churchill, Manitoba, where the bears visit every summer during their circular migration, are quite similar to shots in the video Giant Bears of Kodiak Island. No one seems to arrive at the conclusion that humans are slobs and despoiling the Arctic wilderness by discarding their half-empty jars of mayonnaise and other leavings into smoldering garbage heaps. Instead we learn that bears get helicoptered off to be dumped 30 miles to the north for breaking into cabins and eating food and about 12 are killed each year in confrontations with residents of Churchill.
Mexico
Also shows Honduras, Guatemala, Belize
Lost Kingdoms of the Maya
Wonderful looks at the less-touristed sites of Copan and Dos Pilas, as well as the more famous Tikal and Chichen Itza. We see highly effective re-enactments of Maya playing life-or-death games of pelote and the royals' blood-letting rituals in all their gruesome splendor. This video focuses in part on the desperate last days of the Maya at Dos Pilas. They ransacked their temples to create a wall and also erected two sets of wooden palisades (described in the February 1993 National Geographic) to protect themselves against attackers. The fortifications attested to a switch from ritual to all-out warfare among the Maya. Shortly thereafter, each of the Southern Maya sites (Copan, Dos Pilas, Tikal and Caracol) ceased creating glyphs and began to be lost to the jungle.
Namibia
African Wildlife
A typical video of the early style of Geographic documentaries: Lots of action, much pretty photography, but lacking the plotlines and named, individually identified animals that make the more recent generation of wildlife filmmakers so extraordinary. Nonetheless this video shows a lot of sights I haven't seen before, including a mother cheetah with four grown offspring, striding like speedcats near herds of prey, and a dove being captured by (yes) turtles. A good look at the Etosha Pan for anyone planning to visit this changeable area of flood and (in the dry season) near desert.
Survivors of the Skeleton Coast
One of National Geographic's most interesting videos, for those of us who love elephants. Des and Jen Bartlett find the world's tallest elephants surviving in the awful terrain of Namibia's Skeleton Coast, where shipwrecks line the Atlantic beach and fog provides most of what little moisture reaches the inland desert. They film the elephants skidding down sand dunes on their circuits to widely separated small lakes. You'll enjoy seeing the outdoor life of the Bartletts, who spend months at a time gliding over the desert in small ultralight aircraft and alighting at remote areas to camp under the stars. A subplot examines the plight of the 12 lions living in the Skeleton Coast's too-narrow wildlife park, all of whom die out during the film, most apparently by human hands. This provides a classic look at habitat loss decimating wild creatures.
Nepal
Everest: 50 Years on the Mountain
Even after Krakauer's "Into Thin Air" and the IMAX video of Everest, this offering from NatGeo still finds plenty of additional imagery to thrill and scare. The sons of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, who first climbed Everest in 1953, attempt a repeat climb. Lots of archival footage and some new digital video that shows just how impossible the knife-edge stretch between the South Summit and true summit appears to the eye. People who climb K2 maintain that Everest is a comparatively straightforward hike requiring less technical expertise, but that doesn't lessen the fact that the final stretch, and some of the overnight camps on the way, are a misstep away from a long free fall. This video also features a good bit of first-hand interviews with the Sherpas themselves, who speak of their risks and injuries and deaths.
VHS version
Return to Everest
Perhaps one of the most egregiously titled videos ever, with a misleading cover photo of the giant mountain and misleading copy on the back of the box as well. Disregard all of the above and enjoy this video for what it really is: "Catching up with Sir Edmund Hillary." The celebrated first men to climb Everest, Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, return 30 years after their 1953 ascent to Nepal, and throw themselves into school and clinic construction for the Sherpas. Some interesting biographical information about Hillary as well, best not to give away some of the surprises in this review.
New Zealand
Those Wonderful Dogs
Obviously this video isn't primarily about New Zealand, as we visit Lassie's trainer, watch dogs who aid people in wheelchairs and learn how dogs assisted the war effort in WWII. However, this video begins with a look at sheepherding dogs on New Zealand's South Island, with lovely aerial views of remote valleys full of waving grass. A family of shepherds farms thousands of acres with the help of their 10 dogs, who begin their training in puppyhood and respond to various whistles.
Pacific Northwest
Killer Whales, Wolves of the Sea
Also shows Norway and remote islands near Antarctica
Orcas practice their killing technique on penguins and seals, and "practice" apparently involves flinging, with powerful flicks of their tails, their still alive victims around like toys. Plenty of sudden attacks shown, and also one act of mercy by the orcas--an interesting parallel to an act of mercy in Crocodiles: Here Be Dragons.
Red Sea, Saudi Arabia
Arabia: Sand, Sea and Sky
We enjoy sights of undersea life in the Red Sea, baboons in the precarious fringe of coastal vegetation, acrobatic birds, and most memorably, camel sex, aided by Bedouins. Apparently camels might die out were it not for human intervention during the reproductive act!
Russia
Russia's Last Tsar
The most telling remark in this video may be the observation that "Tsar Nicholas would have made a fine English king." As a Russian emperor-cum-diety, he left much to be desired. Nicholas hated administration and preferred dressing in uniform and sitting on an elegant horse while reviewing troops, and boating with his handsome family. Thus he presided over Russia's nightmarish descent into war, famine, anarchy and ultimately revolution. New footage shows the discovery of the Romanovs' burial place and the exhumation of their remains, which lay on the floor of an institute at the time of this documentary.
Tigers of the Snow
It's tough to learn there are just 300 Siberian tigers left and to see the shocking footage near the opening of three dogs hunting one of these rare creatures, later killed by hunters. In the next shot, rangers who have confiscated tiger pelts are shown loading them onto a bonfire. Such a waste.
You may also be conflicted watching the efforts of biologists to track the range of the tigers, presumably to argue for expanded biological preserves, as the males typically seem to need 500 square miles. Yet the biologists nearly kill one of their darted targets, who stops breathing briefly. Further, they collar the animals with devices that require battery replacement every two years -- quite a lot of stress to be chased around that frequently by scientists with dart rifles in helicopters! Let alone anesthetized, a risky adventure that I try to avoid even for my dogs' dental work. They even disturb a den to ear-tag a tiny cub.
Still, the video delivers simply beautiful images of some wild and some captive Siberians. And in an amusing segment, a Russian tiger aficionado introduces a tiger model into a multi-acre pen containing a male and female to test their territoriality. Overnight, the male mauls the model until all its painted stripes are removed.
VHS version
Rwanda
Gorilla
Also shows U.S. and foreign zoos and private estates
Includes sweet encounters between zoo director John Aspinall and his 20 gorillas in England, as well as footage of Dian Fossey's work in Rwanda. Though an updated film would no doubt be much bleaker, given Fossey's slaying and the war in Rwanda, we still get a giant dose of the gentle and beguiling nature of gorillas. One quibble, as one watches many National Geographic videos back to back: the scientists seem to be endlessly darting gorillas, bears and cubs and other creatures to check their health and log measurements, and removing babies from their mothers Š after a while, one wonders, is this always necessary? Probably it is, but still, watching groggy animals scattered throughout National Geographic's videos, we seem to be meddling even when we are trying to help.
Solomon Islands
The Lost Fleet of Gaudalcanal
An extraordinarily rich look at a vicious six-month battle that sank 50 warships in a channel north of the island. Former President Bush narrates the introduction. Then we learn the history of the battle, the terrifying night attacks by the Japanese, the fighting over the island's Japanese-started airstrip. Years later, Buddhist monks come to bless the riverbank where many staring dead Japanese came to their rest after a bayonet charge at fully armed Allies. Survivors and family members of the departed join a dive crew lead by Dr. Robert Ballard that returned after 50 years to map the wrecked ships and place a plaque of remembrance on the sea floor.
Anyone contemplating a visit to the Solomon Islands will remark at the sweetness of the islanders who served as scouts and were recently awarded medals, and notice the ruggedness of the terrain rising behind the beaches.
You can also purchase this as part of a DVD set entitled
Mysteries of the Deep - The Lost Ships of World War II Collection, which also includes Search for the Battleship Bismarck and The Search for Kennedy's PT 109.
South Africa
Lions of the African Night
The filmmakers put together a classic Geographic brew of everything from closeups of lion kills to scorpion and snake attacks. Still, this is an older and far more limited film than the similarly named Lions of Darkness, reviewed above under the Botswana category, and the better choice if you only have time for one of these films. Lions of Darkness uses a powerful narrative rather than episodic closeups, and the fact that its lions have African names (the ones in Lions of the African Night are not identified) reflects the amount of time the Jouberts spent observing their pride of lions.
Tanzania
Among the Wild Chimpanzees
An interesting blend of biography of wildlife researcher Jane Goodall and on-the-scenes history of how she got the chimps at Gombe Stream Game Reserve in Tanzania to gradually accept her presence after she arrived in 1960. She had been selected by Louis Leakey to fill much-needed gaps in our understanding of chimps because of she hadn't spent many years in academia; he felt she would make a better and more open observer, apparently. Over time, as Goodall observes, the chimps demonstrate familial attachment and varying degrees of skill at mothering. Memorable scenes: a female chimp studying another's infant with intense concentration, and a portrait of a baby-killing female whose visage seems quite malevolent.
Crocodiles: Here Be Dragons
Also shows river in northern Uganda.
This passed the "Lamont battle test," whereby my husband will normally only be interested in nature films if they have some good fights and destruction. Wait till you see what happens when the annual wildebeest migration arrives at Croc Alley, a tiny stream in Tanzania. The results are shown in slow motion. Fascinating footage as well on the rivalry between crocodiles and monitor lizards, and images of how female crocs cradle their babies in their powerful jaws, carrying them down to stream after hatching.
Lake Tanganyika: Jewel of the Rift
A quietly lovely video that looks at cichlids, a type of fish that has flourished into more than 200 species in Lake Tanganyika. First-class photography shows otters eating crabs, terrapins having to fight off giant fish and cichlids that raise their young in their mouths. Lamont and I both fell fast asleep toward the end of this video: it's not boring at all, just incredibly restful!
Jane Goodall: My Life with the Chimpanzees
The middle film of the Goodall trilogy by National Geographic focuses most on Goodall's biography, though it overlaps somewhat with the earlier and later films. We learn of her childhood in Bournemouth, and how she once disappeared for four hours to sit in a henhouse to watch egg laying, as the local constabulary searched in vain for her. Her two marriages are described briefly. Lately she has focused on helping chimpanzees around the world: those stuck in U.S. labs and zoos and those kept as pets (until they grow up and become unruly) in Africa. The Gombe preserve is now isolated, with no chimps around it, so the gene pool of its 160 chimps seems in danger of becoming limited (a topic addressed vis a vis lions, cheetahs and elephants in An Amateur's Guide to the Planet). Since this film was made, the issue of Africans hunting chimps and other wild animals for food ("bush meat") has intensified, adding yet another threat to the continued existence of these intriguing primates.
The New Chimpanzees
Also shows the Ivory Coast.
The New Chimpanzees updates events at Gombe first explored in Among the Wild Chimpanzees 11 years earlier. This too passed the "Lamont battle test," as the chimpanzees go off to war and brutally kill a member of a rival troop. Apparently Brazzaville Beach, the novel by William Boyd with a chilling portral of primate violence, is well grounded in reality. Another sequence shows a male chimpanzee grabbing an infant suspected to be sired by a male outside the troop. He climbs a tree, banging the infant like a rag in its frantic mother's face. We won't spoil the suspense by telling you the gruesome events that follow. Suffice to say that you may have an epiphany on the origins of random human aggression watching The New Chimpanzees.
Wyoming
The Grizzlies
Also shows Alaska
A cousin to the videos described above, Giant Bears of Kodiak Island and Polar Bear Alert. The Grizzlies again shows bears feeding on garbage left by humans, despoiling pristine areas: in this case, Yellowstone Park. Finally we see efforts to remove this trash, which began in Yellowstone in 1968. Again we see bears killed for getting too near humans that don't know any better than to bother the bears when they are eating or caring for cubs, and again grizzles pay the toll for this transgression (about three per year were killed in Yellowstone at the time this film was made). Interesting background on how the last grizzlies were killed in California and Mexico as recently as the 1920s and 1930s, and how they once roamed east of the Mississippi. What a staggering toll habitat loss has extracted worldwide in this century for wild creatures.
Yellowstone: Realm of the Coyote
Young Cain the coyote lives in spectacular Yellowstone. A youthful indiscretion with the alpha female gets him in trouble with her mate, who drives him into the harsh wilderness of winter. We see the agonizing fate of buffalos who tred on too-thin ice, the life-giving warmth of Yellowstone's geysers and lava pots, and how the promise of spring brings a new chapter for the outcast Cain.
This video reminded me of how a Yellowstone coyote tried to lure our sheltie Beau into a life in the wild. I stopped to photograph a roadside coyote, who sent Beau a mesmerizing look. When I opened the door to get a camera lens out of the trunk, Beau squeezed out of the car. Only screaming "Beau!" at maximum volume got through to our sheltie, who crouched down and waited to be leashed . . . halfway the 10 yards to the waiting coyote.
Zaire
Heart of Africa: Forest PrimevalA treasure trove of rare creatures, including the forest elephant, crested eagle, fishing genet, goliath beetle, bushbaby, peacocks and pheasants and unusual snakes. Narrated a bit disconcertingly by Avery Brooks, the over-the-top Star Trek Capt. Cisco.
