Trials of Life-The Complete Series (1990)

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General		Extras
Category	Documentary	Featurette-Making Of
Rating
Year Of Production	1990
Running Time	359:43 (Case: 380)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Multi Disc Set (3)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Michael Gunton
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	David Attenborough
Case	Gatefold
RPI	$79.95	Music	George Fenton

    I'm sure most of us have at one time or another watched one of David Attenborough's many wildlife documentary series, all produced by the BBC's Natural History Unit. Indeed, they have become so ubiquitous that numerous comedy shows and even commercials have parodied David's conversation style and look/feel of the programmes.

    The Trials Of Life (1990) is a 12-episode series that eventually became the concluding set of what is now collectively referred to as "The Life Trilogy" - which started with Life on Earth (1978) and was followed by The Living Planet (1984). As with previous programmes, this documentary series showcases the incredible variety and diversity of plant and animal life on this planet.

    The series is subtitled "A Natural History of Behaviour." The episodes chronicles the entire cycle of life from birth, growing up, eating and homemaking, to mating and continuing the line. Each episode focuses on a particular part of the cycle of life.

    To try and integrate the episodes together into a more seamless whole on the discs, the opening and closing titles are omitted from all the episodes apart from the first and last on each disc, so that if you want you can watch an entire disc in one sitting (about three hours) or even the whole series (about 6 hours) if you are really keen.

Episode 1 (Arriving) (28:42)

    This is about the variety of ways in which new babies of all kinds are born into a world that can be very cruel and full of predators. It features:

• land crabs releasing their eggs on the shores of Christmas Island
• various sea creatures including sea urchins and giant clams releasing their sex cells into the sea
• owl butterflies hatching out of their eggs
• various species of wasps and their grisly uses for caterpillars
• praying mantis hatching
• Trinidad tree frog creating a nursery
• South American rain frog
• a bird growing within an egg and then hatching
• creatures that keep their eggs warm in rotting leaves, including the mallee fowl and saltwater crocodiles from Australia
• peripatus and fungus gnat grubs giving birth to live young
• an example of a male giving birth - pipefish
• examples of mammals giving birth - antelopes, chinchillas, bats

Episode 2 (Growing Up) (27:49)

    This is about how various babies grow up to become adults, avoiding being eaten in the process. It features:

• elephant seals sucking milk
• snow geese protecting their young in the Arctic
• lace bug protecting her infants from the larva of a lacewing and a jumping spider
• shrew feeding her babies
• Mexican three-tailed bats nursing their young in a communal nursery
• Florida scrub jay participating in communal rearing of their young, as well as elephants
• chimpanzees on the Ivory Coast teaching their young how to use tools to crack nuts
• baby albatrosses learning to fly on the Leeward islands

Episode 3 (Finding Food) (32:34)

    This is about how various animals and plants find nourishment. It features:

• spectacled bear finding a snack in the Andes
• woolly spider monkeys picking young shoots from poisonous leaves
• various beetles plundering leaves, whilst defeating the plant's poison distribution system
• plants encouraging animals and insects to feed on them as a means of pollinating and seed distribution through flowers and fruits
• specialisation of hummingbirds to particular species of plants
• ants that use their own bodies as storage pots for nectar
• various animals (including agouti, aye-ayes, and macaws) feeding themselves on fruit, and using various techniques for breaking the hard shell of a seed or nut
• eating other animals - hunters and robbers - barracuda, gulls, pelicans, nephila spiders, argyrodes, frigates

Episode 4 (Hunting and Escaping) (28:17)

    As we move up the food chain, there are increasingly violent ways of obtaining food. They include:

• puffins being hunted by the greater backed gull on the Shetlands
• South American sea lions being hunted by orcas who can beach themselves intentionally on the shores of Patagonia
• slugs being hunted by a thirst snake
• frog defending itself from opossum
• various ways of preventing oneself from being eaten - tomato frog, spotted skunk, salamanders
• various insects camouflaging themselves - as means of defence or as a hunting strategy
• an ant colony
• chimpanzees hunting colobus monkeys using a complex team strategy

Episode 5 (Living Together) (30:25)

    This features various animals living together in partnership - sometimes for mutual benefit, but also through exploitation

• samba deer and egrets
• langur monkeys and spotted deer
• goby and shrimp
• hermit crab and anemone
• ants and caterpillar
• monkeys and fleas
• moth and mites
• finches parasite hunting on a tortoise
• giraffes and oxpeckers
• internal parasites - roundworms and tapeworms
• flukes and snails

Episode 6 (Home Making) (32:18)

    Various animals find different ways of making themselves feel "at home."

• hermit crabs
• prairie dogs
• web spinners
• hermit hummingbird
• tent-making bats
• weaver birds
• shags
• beavers
• wasps
• termites

Episode 7 (Finding The Way) (31:33)

    Various animals use different senses and methods of finding their way around, even in the dark or in featureless environments.

• spotted hyena hunting in the darkness
• bushbabies in the Galagos
• tent caterpillars
• swiftlets and bats in caves
• rufous elephant shrew in Africa
• cataglyphis ants in the Sahara desert
• spiny lobsters in the Bahamas
• green turtles in the Ascension and Galapagos Islands
• Arctic tern migrating from North to South poles
• albatross and eels

Episode 8 (Fighting) (26:47)

    Various animals fight within the species for food, territory or breeding mates.

• sea anemones
• male strawberry frogs in the jungles of Costa Rica
• hummingbirds in Trinidad
• damselfly larva in Panama
• mantis shrimps
• rattlesnakes
• wolves
• zebras, giraffes, and hippos
• Malaysian flies, mud crabs
• Bull elephants, stag beetles, Australian antler flies, ibex, gazelles

Episode 9 (Friends and Rivals) (32:40)

    The episodes starts with footage of an eagle, to contrast its solitary existence with that of other animals. This episode discusses how animals live in social groups.

• Hooper swans
• Chickens on a farm
• Pride of lions
• Baboons
• Vampire bats
• Dwarf mongooses
• Naked mole rats
• Ants

Episode 10 (Talking To Strangers) (29:38)

    Various animals have developed ways of communicating with each other, as well as with others - friends as well as rivals, and even to humans!

• honeyguide in Kenya guiding humans to bee nests
• gazelles "stotting" to avoid wild dogs
• ringed plover luring predators away from its eggs and pretending to be injured
• hairy mole rats sending messages by beating their heads on tunnels
• palm cockatoo using a branch as a drumstick
• indri crying out territorial claims
• vervet monkeys making complex word-like calls in Lake Naiyasha and communicating with starlings
• fireflies making synchronized twinkles in Malaysia
• communicating with fireflies in eastern US
• deep sea communications
• squid communicating using colour changes
• dolphin talk

Episode 11 (Courting) (28:24)

    Ahh - the things we will do for love, or to increase our chances of securing a hot date on a Saturday night!

• Indian florican jumping up and down to attract females
• dwarf Siberian hamster secreting a perfume to attract males
• Boobies advertising and confirming their species through their courtship ritual
• Different duck species and their courting behaviour, including one very confused individual
• helicopter damselfly fighting over a pool
• Hanging flies offer food to prospective girlfriends
• Male epauletted bat shows off what he has
• Various birds serenading and strutting their stuff to prospective mates - lyre bird (Australia), Palawan peacock pheasant (Philippines), standard-winged Bird of Paradise (Molucca Islands), rifle bird (Australia), peacock, bowerbirds, various kinds of mannequins
• male antelope defending a court

Episode 12 (Continuing The Line) (30:10)

    The last episode is about how various animals transcend their own mortality and give birth to a new generation.

• palolo worms in Samoa
• Barnacles and their extremely long ... uhmm ... reproductive devices
• Madagascan tortoises making a porn film (judging by the explicit grunts the male is making!)
• Elephants
• Crabs can only do it when the female is shedding her armour
• blue gill sunfish dancing around the eggs, plus a female impersonator!
• Role reversals with the jacanas
• sea lions in Patagonia
• royal albatrosses mating for life

Video

    This is a full frame transfer spread over two discs (the third disc features an extended "making of" featurette).

    The 12 episodes, each lasting just under half an hour, are divided 6 per disc. On each disc, they are grouped into two titles of 3 episodes each. Each episode is further divided into 3 chapters.

    Considering the age of the feature, and the fact that it was originally intended for broadcast TV, I was not expecting a great transfer. Still, I was a bit disappointed by the persistent and recurrent pixelization present throughout the entire programme. The pixelization is not really visible on an interlaced display, but quite noticeable on a large screen.

    There are various minor analogue video glitches, such as around Title 2 Chapter 7 (67:06), but no major artefacts. There are also some film artefacts including various scratches and marks, and moderate levels of grain. As a result, detail levels are mediocre. Colours are a bit under-saturated.

    There are two subtitle tracks: English and Greek. The accuracy of the English subtitles is high - I seldom noticed anything other than a completely faithful transcription of David's narration. Occasionally we get transcriptions of animal sounds.

    Both Disc 1 and 2 are single sided dual layered discs (RSDL). The layer changes occur between titles so are not normally observable. Disc 3 is a single layered disc.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    There is only one audio track: English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s).

    The quality of the audio transfer is about average, consistent with the programme being produced for TV broadcast. Dynamic range has been compressed and extreme low and high frequencies attenuated away.

    David's narration is clear and easy to understand throughout, and I did not notice any issues with audio synchronization.

    The original music by George Fenton is orchestral and fits the programme well.

    Needless to say, there is no surround nor subwoofer activity.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    There is only one real extra, but it is a substantial "making of" documentary occupying a disc of its own.

Menu

    Full frame and static.

Featurette-Making Of (49:18)

    This is also presented in full frame and Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s), and is titled "Once More Into The Termite Mound with David Attenborough". It features David interviewing the various scientists whose research and knowledge have made the documentary possible, as well as techniques for how some of the shots were captured and interviews with the crew. We also get occasional outtakes and bloopers.

    Interviews include:

• Christophe Boesch (for the scenes where the chimpanzees are hunting the colobus monkeys)
• Nigel Franks (army ants in Panama)
• Cynthia Moss (elephants in Kenya)
• Paul Fisher (waders in Norfolk)
• Glen Woolfenden (Florida scrub jay)
• Hussein Isack (National Museum, Nairobi, honeyguide)
• Craig Packer (lions in the Serengeti)
• Rudiger Wehner (cataglyphis ants in the Sahara desert)
• Mark Collins (termite mounds)
• Paul Atkins (orcas and sea lions)

    This title does not appear to be currently available in R1.

    The Trials Of Life is another triumph in natural history and wildlife documentaries produced by the BBC and starring Richard Attenborough.

    The video quality is mediocre and somewhat pixelated.

    The audio quality is acceptable and TV-broadcast quality.

    The only extra is a 50-minute making-of featurette.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall