Great Barrier Reef, The (Blu-ray)

Although other DVDs cover this fantastic natural wonder, there was plenty of new information in this one, including numerous new and amazing species of wildlife which are part of God's awesome creation which I had not seen in other DVDs. Also, the material was presented in a slightly different and effective way by Monte Halls.This is simply three hours of top-notch enjoyment!

I am a sucker for well crafted nature videos. My five year old, who is uninterested in the Blue Planet (Philistine!) ADORES this series. I think it may be because Monty Halls appears in the video personally and may be more accessible than a narrator (not that it is aimed at children). The sea turtle sequences were particularly interesting. I highly recommend this series. I wish more Monty Halls videos were available in Region 1.

the best show under water, depicted with enthusiasm

The original of this was on VHS, and so I opted to get the DVD. Well, it was a reissue or whatever, and there was way too much dialogue and human action in this video. Not nearly as good as the original which is what I thought I was getting.

The Great Barrier Reef is informative, the reef is dying, but not as fun as the BBC Natural History Collection series: The Life of Birds, The Blue Planet, The Life of Mammals, Planet Earth I and II. The History Channel's Universe series and the two Cosmos series are also good.If the above don’t sound interesting you might like a couple of space race shows. I spent a month on a space race binge. First I read Space by James A. Michener. Then I watched two movies, The Right Stuff (1983) and Apollo 13 (1995), and then two great series, From Earth to the Moon (1998) and The Astronauts Wives Club (2015). They’re a great combination.If the above shows don’t sound interesting here are a few of the series I really enjoyed watching more than once. I love good miniseries like Band of Brothers (2001), Frank Herbert’s Dune (2000), Into the West (2005), Lonesome Dove (1989), Pride and Prejudice (1995), Taken (2002) and The 10th Kingdom (2000) because they have beginnings, middles and endings, like a good novel.Other shows I’ve really enjoyed include Battlestar Galactica (2004-2009), Breaking Bad (2008-2013), Cowboy Bebop (1998), Downton Abbey (2010-2015), Firefly (2002), Game of Thrones (2011-2019), The IT Crowd (2006-2013), Jericho (2006-2008), Lost (2004-2010), Merlin (2008-2012), Rome (2005-2007), Spartacus: Gods of the Arena (2011), Spartacus: Blood and Sand (2010), Stargate: SG-1 (1997-2007), Stargate: Atlantis (2004-2009), Star Trek The Original Series (1966-1969) and Star Trek Voyager (1995-2001). I didn’t list any contemporary series I’m following that don’t have an end date yet, not conducive to binge watching from beginning to finish, or the hundreds of other fantasy and science fiction shows I’ve watched.If you like reading try some of my favorite fantasy and sci-fi authors: Richard Adams, Palo Bacigulupi, Suzanne Collins, Abe Evergreen, Diana Gabaldon, Hugh Howey, George Martin, Brandon Sanderson, John Scalzi, and Andy Weir.

I enjoyed watching this movie with the family. We purchased it on sale and it was something that I was able to sit down and watch with my 6 year old son. While we did not get through the entire documentary in one sitting the visuals were very impressive. The "snorkle talking" as other have mentioned was a little annoying however it was only a part of the video and there was a lot of more to this video than just that. All in all we enjoyed watching and learning some very interesting things with this video

Some folks may have issues with the way the BBC presents Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, but if you are interested in the educational content you will find this film well worth the price. I see a great opportunity to learn and understand more about one of nature’s best known wonders in the world. There is great photography here as well as animal life and the role it plays within the reef. I recommend this film and it also has great value for the class room.

Great documentary! Covers alot about the sea creatures who live there. I never like to see fish eating other fish or creatures but almost every video has that in it. Amazing colorful corals.

So was kann sich nur die BBC leisten: Unglaubliche Aufnahmen, z.B. das Wachstum einer HARTKORALLE über ein ganzes Jahr hinweg im Zeitraffer. An diesem Film müssen viele begnadete UW-Fotografen mitgearbeitet und eine unglaubliche Geduld aufgebracht haben. Wenn man in Betracht zieht, wie wenig Sensationelles man bei einem durchschnittlichen Tauchgang zu sehen bekommt, und in welcher Häufung hier Sensationen auftreten, kann man ermessen, wieviel Zeit in dieses Projekt geflossen ist. Schöner Schnitt, der weder überfordert noch langweilt. Diesen Film kann man sich oft ansehen, er ist beinahe so schön wie selber Tauchen.

The Great Barrier Reef is the largest living structure on earth, extending 2000 km parallel to the eastern coast of Australia. Chances are we've all heard of it, but in this 3-hour series we get to know it much more intimately. The beauty and biology of it are equally captivating, with the spectacular 1080p images -- many time-lapse and some slow-motion sequences -- revealing an astonishing variety of creatures, some microscopic and some very strange indeed. In the narrative commentary, beautifully delivered by marine biologist Monty Halls, it's the complex ecology of the reef system that comes across most powerfully. The lives of the thousands of individual reefs that make up the outer reef are interconnected, not only with the fish and other animals that swarm around them, but also with the deep water lagoon and its 600 islands, the mangroves along the coast and even the rainforest inland.Everything about this series, from script to soundtrack (both natural and musical), shows meticulous attention to detail. In some locations, Halls talks to us underwater (rather than by voice-over), using a mask with a mike inside, lending a greater immediacy to his commentary. Each of the three hour-long episodes can stand alone, and is probably more informative (though maybe a bit less dramatic) than the typical BBC Earth episode. This leaves no room (and no need) for extras on the blu-ray disc. There is a little duplication of content across episodes -- the annual spawning of the coral polyps appears in both the first and third episodes, for instance, but it's worth seeing twice. A few details may be familiar to BBC Earth fans, such as the race of newly hatched turtles to the sea (which was even more beautifully shown in the new Africa series). But by the end of the series, you are likely to feel personally concerned about the future of the Reef, which is uncertain due to climate change and other human-caused factors. This series is as unique as any of the other masterpieces from BBC Earth and its production partners.

Great Barrier Reef is most famous for its underwater world and of course, Monty Hall is not Attenborough. But Attenborough's projects are unique and cannot be compared to any others. I'm not forgetting Cousteau's legacy, but Attenborough whom I consider a man of Science was the pioneer of these subjects with no competitors for at least two decades. Though, fortunately he has today excellent followers doing excellent works (I'm thinking about the stunning Docs. South Pacific, Wild China, Yellowstone, Galápagos and Wild Rift that I own and highly recommend), and now Hall's project, another example to consider, that completes our Knowledge and delights our senses. A great job done underwater and on land very well documented and narrated, (congratulations to BBC Director James Brikell and Team) showing us the most important aspects of the monumental environment inside and beyond the Reef.To complete the scenery, one more case of stunning Photography!I think the essencial has been said about this series, by ACB(Swansea)on 16th Jan 2012 review. Although I should like to reinforce some aspects of this excellent work that caught my attention as no other documentary had done before.I've seen several Docs about these magnificent Creatures, but none of them was so complete, realist and wonderfully pictured as this one as far as I can remember. I'm speaking about the impressive odyssey arrival of the over 26000 green turtles Migration in Raine Island! Their exhausting journey to find a place to lay eggs, their terrible struggle to reach the Ocean before sunrise in way to avoid to be literally "cooked" by an unmerciful Sun, (if you're attentive you can listen to their hard breath when they push those heavy bodies over sand and rocks), the spectacular miracle of those baby turtles silmultaneous birth, a painful run for Life, a breathtaking example of Natures's cruelty and power, that hurts and gives no place for indifference!Some examples of other great moments are those with the magestic and dangerous Tiger Shark looking for surviving turtles, the view of the amazing and apparently gentle Queensland giant Grouper, the impressive parasite removal of a great Grouper's mouth done by a specific little fish, the astonishing moment of White Tip Sharks hunting at night sleeping Parrotfishes, a great Hammerhead Shark killing a huge prey, the sympathetic and gentle Dugong or Manatee (also called sea cow) feeding on sea grass, the glimpse of a Goana jumping to catch its prey on Lizard Island, the aerial views of those spectacular Rainforests, Tropical forests with Rivers and Waterfalls, the no less important Mangrove forest for reasons very well explained, and that incredible Lagoon, a kind of private ecosystem protecting a great variety of Life.Of course nothing of this would be possible without high technology! High Definition cameras, mini cameras, remote cameras and the well known ROV, are no doubt a fantastic help to all these enthusiastic People who work hard, and most times in the worst conditions, to make possible these Home Journeys through the Superb Mysteries of Nature!I hope you don't miss This! You will not regret!

J’adore ce film

This 3 hour documentary focusing on the Great Barrier reef off the coast of Australia is the best I have seen. The three parts of the film cover the reef itself as a biological entity, the other types of communities linked to the reef (e.g. mangroves and tropical forest) as well as the migrants (birds, whales turtles) that visit the reef as a resource. The overall impression is that the film makers provide a powerful image of the reef as an evolutionary and ecological entity connected with the surrounding biological communities. The photography is OUTSTANDING and the biological content is quite good. I must agree with another reviewer that the narrator speaking under water (bubbly narration indeed) was a bit annoying, but that is just a minor glitch in the overall work. These films deserves to get a wide distribution as the state of our reefs are dire indeed, and most biologists seem to think that we have reached the end of the road. This will have grave repercussions for other biological systems and the overall biodiversity on our planet. Sadly, I sense that a film like this one will be a postcard to future generations of what life was like on the reefs in the early 20th century before the algae and the jellyfish took over. Regardless, this is an outstanding documentary that everybody interested in natural history should enjoy and share with others. Bravo BBC Earth!!!