"Life in Cold Blood" DVD (BBC America)

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Madkins007

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"Life in Cold Blood" (DVD) BBC America, David Attenborough, 2008, 5 episodes, 250 minutes total run time. Amazon.com for $19.99

Sir David Attenborough has been producing a series of BBC videos for several years called the 'Life' series. The series has been wonderful and groundbreaking- I vividly remember many scenes from may of the earlier episodes.

"Life in Cold Blood" is the last of the series and focuses on reptiles and amphibians. Each section is bout 50 minutes long with a ten minute behind the scenes section at the end.

The five episodes are:
- The Cold-Blooded Truth- a general overview of reptiles and amphibians, showing their incredible diversity. Of special interest was some great footage of Bowsprit Tortoises (Chersina angulata) on Africa's Dassen Island- home of gulls and penguins, and an amazing density of tortoises.
- Land Invaders- amphibians, with a special focus on the Central American Golden Frog and the fungus threatening them.
- Dragons of the Dry- Lizards with some excellent footage, and a focus on the Shingleback Lizard in Australia- a lizard that seems to form a strong emotional bond with its mate for life!
- Sophisticated Serpents- focus on snakes- wonderful, but I admit to be being a bit burnt out on snakes on TV.
- Armoured Giants- the chelonians and crocodilians. Focusing on the bigger species, it presents a fascinating look at these animals.

The gestalt of the imagery, music, storyline, and Sir Attenborough himself is mesmerising. The science is incredible and almost a character itself. He smoothly weaves his fascination for animals with local information, new research, environmental issues, threats, and more. This is all done to the sort of incredible, impossible only a few years ago cinematography we have come to expect from the BBC's nature documentaries, like Planet Earth.

There is no attempt to cover every species, or even every group or ecosystem. These are carefully chosen vignettes that convey strong stories. I can easily see this series (if it would get larger distribution) influencing an entirely new generation of herpetologists and enthusiasts. I think even dedicated reptile haters would think twice seeing some of the stories presented. The tale of the Shingleback Skink nudging his dead companion and staying at her side for days is surprisingly touching.

I've been interested in reptiles for something like 40 years and have had many reptilian pets, been the editor of a local herp newsletter and the herp resource for a local nature center- and every few minutes I was going 'Wow! I did not know that!", alternating with a long, drawn-out 'Co-o-o-o-l" with some of the images.

Sir Attenborough has lots of screen time and interacts with many of the animals shown. He shares tales of his early days, conveys his deep fascination with animals, and manages to utterly charm the pants off the viewer. Many on-screen herp people (I shan't name names) irritate me after a very short time. Their enthusiasm is exhausting, or their approach scares me, etc. Sir Attenborough on the other hand offers a human touch in the very best sense of the phrase.

Unlike many self-congratulatory 'behind the scenes' stories, the "Under the Skin" segments in this series tend to focus on local experts, plights of the animals involved, and the sort of insider stories that make you feel a part of the program.

"Life in Cold Blood". Get it, watch it, share it. The other episodes of the "Life" series are also worth your attention. "Life on Earth" (1979) has some great stuff on reptiles as well, and other episodes of the series caught some incredible imagery that is now famous- chimp hunting, shark and croc attacks, etc.

(reposted and edited from turtleforum.com)
 

Stephanie Logan

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Netflix has it. I just added it to the top of my queue. Cooooool! Thanks for the recommendation.
 

Stephanie Logan

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I just finished watching the series. It was beautifully done and both interesting and sad because some species are likely to become extinct in our lifetime--I almost cried at poor "Lonesome George", the last of his sub species of Galapagos tortoise, living out his long life alone in his sanctuary.

My only disappointment was that tortoises didn't get much coverage in all the hours of the different episodes. I wonder if anyone knows of other documentaries that cover tortoises more specifically than "Life in Cold Blood"? I would love to learn more about tortoises since I am now a tortoise keeper.
 

Kayti

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I just started watching this show (it's online at ninja video if anyone's interested) and it is SO good. I am obsessed. I love that the narrator seems genuinely interested in herptology and the well-being of the species he 'interviews'. Really awesome.
 
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