March of the Penguins (Widescreen Edition)

Buy This Item March of the Penguins (Widescreen Edition) by Warner Home Video  Available from Amazon  $15.99  on 8-28-2008     In the Antarctic, every March since the beginning of time, the quest begins to find the perfect mate and start a family. This courtship will begin with a long journey - a journey that will take them hundreds of miles across the continent by foot, in freezing cold temperatures, in brittle, icy winds and through deep, treacherous waters. They will risk starvation and attack by dangerous predators, under the harshest conditions on earth, all to find true love. <P><b>DVD Features:</b> <b>Documentaries:</b>CRITTERCAM : EMPEROR PENGUINS: penguin diving and feeding <b>Documentary:</b>OF MEN AND PENGUINS: The incredible filmmaking process of the movie <b>Other:</b>8 BALL BUNNY: A classic WB animated short with Bugs Bunny and a penguin </p> Reader Reviews I saw this finally with great anticipation. It was one of the highest grossing and best-reviewed documentaries in years. Wow, was I disappointed. NOTHING. HAPPENS. There is one, I repeat one, moment of suspense in the entire show (when a mother who has lost her chic tries to steal another). In a 15 second flash, it's gone, and we are back to Morgan Freeman's soothing-yet-sleep-inducing narration. Otherwise, there is no great revelation in this piece. There no moment of amazement. I love nature shows. I watch all those discovery, national geographic, Nature, shows, etc. I thought this was a good, albeit long and boring one. So I give it three stars. But there isn't any of the sense of wonder or enlightenment that you find in other, better productions. The cinemetography is brilliant. Some amazing shots. And the idea of having a crew sit in Antartica over winter is a fascinating story itself. But the Penguins just don't have any interest for me. I will give one example, but this is how the whole movie is. Of course not all penguins live through each year and each breeding season. Of course some eggs do not hatch and some young do not make it. In a good documentary, though, there would be foreshadowing of this fact before and exposition after. Not here. Here, we get 10 minutes of the father penguin hiding his egg in silence, and then Morgan Freeman breaks the silence with "of course, not all eggs make it" and two seconds later, we get a picture of a freezing/frozen egg. And then that's it. No exposition, no foreshadowing = no emotional reaction. I give it three stars for the photography. But good documentaries establish an emotive experience and build a relationship between the subject and the viewer. This -- especially in light of how wildly it's liked -- was a great disappointment for me in that respect.

March of the Penguins (Widescreen Edition) Available from Amazon Price: $15.99 Updated on 8-28-2008.

SPONSORED LINKS