Product Description

Narrated by: Bernard Hill

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2242 in DVD
• Brand: Blu-ray Documentary
• Released on: 2008-09-15
• Rating: Exempt
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: .26 pounds
• Running time: 351 minutes

Synopsis
With splendour, scale and romance, Wild China lifts the veil on the world's most enigmatic and magnificent country, delving into its vibrant habitats to reveal a land of unbelievable natural complexity. Journey across China from the glittering peaks of the Himalayas to the barren steppe, the sub-Arctic to the tropical islands, through deserts both searingly hot and mind-numbingly cold and see, in pioneering images, a dazzling array of mysterious, beautiful, wild and rare creatures.

Customer Reviews

Very Disappointed
I was very disappointed in this Blue-ray. The quality of the images ranged from about Super VHS to DVD, it never hit the quality that I had previously seen on BBC HD.
It was such a drop that I thought the Blu-ray player or HDMI lead had gone faulty.
As this was my first Blu-ray disk purchased I even took the player (top Pioneer) back to the shop. When playing other BBC products there was a big jump in sharpness.
The BBC have produced a very poor disk.

Stunning Images
I wasn't going to do a review on this disc but thought the criticism in the other reviews is too harsh and many may miss out seeing some stunning images of China if they take note of the poor reviews. Documentaries for me are about facts than entertainment but I found it interesting and entertaining. Most of the images are way above DVD quality there are some lapses in low light conditions but that's more about the photographic conditions than the transfer. I viewed on 50' Panasonic Plasma with BD played on Playstation 3. The commentary is absolutely fine too and no female commentary on my disc.

Wild? - Flat!
I bought this hoping for transfixing images and fascinating detail but, sadly, a lot of the imagery is quite 'flat', sorry I can't think of another word to describe it, and doesn't do justice to all the work that seems to have gone into it.

As a Briton I have always been proud of the production values of everything the BBC has done in terms of Nature productions but this one simply doesn't get anywhere near the greats. The content (i.e. potential) is absolutely superb but HD is largely *not* value-added - I doubt that it has much to do with the 1080i vs 1080p production (why did I spend all that extra money on a 1080p TV for new Blu-Ray discs *not* to exploit it!!??). A number of the panning shots are jerky and colours are very often rendered in shades of dull.....*very* dull!

Bernard Hill as commentator? A great actor whose work I have watched and admired for many, many years but he is an absolutely inappropriate choice for this voiceover. He doesn't, at any time or in any way, imbue any of the enthusiasm or interest that David Attenborough does and that really detracts from the whole production.

Having said all this, at least the production treats the viewer as vaguely intelligent. It has *not* fallen to the child-appealing lows of some American productions i.e. continuous loud inappropriate music, "Gee Whizz" commentary, painfully repeated and slow motion-replays and "tell 'em what they're going to see; show 'em; tell 'em what they've seen" style of presentations.

Frustrating is perhaps the only "single word" review I can give - so much potential (everything appears to be there) but so badly executed. I am truly sorry to have to write this review in this way......