DVD review: National Geographic: Everglades - America's Wild Spaces

Genre: Nature show.

The Everglades are subtropical wetlands located in the south of Florida. Everglades has a large amount of biodiversity and hence should make for a interesting nature show.

Just like most of the worlds natural habitats the Everglades are threatened by human settlements and human tampering of the ecosystem. The DVD touches on this and explains just what has been done to threaten the Everglades. It also touches on the restoration and conservation efforts that have started.

A fair bit of the DVD is spent following a German photographer, who is kayaking in the Everglades for the first time. Other times we are introduced to various biologist who are studying the Everglades, both to understand the natural system and also to see how best to conserve it.

Unfortunately not enough time was spent actually looking at the various plants and animals in the Everglades. The biologist are interesting enough, however the time spent following the German photographer is boring. The DVD is still interesting from time to time, since the Everglades is interesting. However by not showing enough nature this DVD is firmly in the average category.

Rating: 2.5 / 5, Average.

DVD review: Bugs! A rainforest adventure

Genre: Documentary about rain forest bugs. Nature show.

A cool movie that explores the life of bugs in the Amazon rain forest. This movie is technically impressive. As per the official blurb they magnify bugs up to 250,000 times their normal size. This creates some unique moments like being able to watch a bug hatch from its tiny egg.

A lot of the footage is staged and some digital effects are used like combining multiple shots into one. However the film is very well crafted and it all comes together very well. The DVD extras includes a "Making of" documentary which is as much fun to watch as the movie itself.


Rating: 5/5 , Highly recommended.