Wildlife Special-Tiger (1999)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Documentary	None
Rating
Year Of Production	1999
Running Time	49:33
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	None Given
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	David Attenborough
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$19.95	Music	Nicholas Hooper

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.75:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.75:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    I was able to watch and review this disc the same day I received it, for two main reasons. Firstly, it is reasonably short and secondly, it was very easy to talk my wife into watching!

    Tiger is a truly magnificent wildlife documentary with not a wasted moment. It is part of a series of programs made by the BBC called Wildlife Specials. This particular program was a joint production with National Geographic and was made in 1999 but has only just been released on DVD in this region. The program is narrated by the grand master of wildlife documentaries, David Attenborough.

    The show follows the story of a female tiger called Lakshmi (Hindu Goddess of fortune) who lives in the Kanha Tiger Reserve in India. It feels strange to talk about a documentary having a plot, however this one certainly does. The emotion and drama built into this 50 minute show easily betters many feature motion pictures. You are quickly drawn into the lives of Lakshmi and her three new cubs, who live in the wild within this very large Reserve. There are keepers who patrol the park. They are there to protect the tigers from human predators, not natural ones such as male tigers. Their story contains many ups and downs and you need to keep watching during the credits for some extra news.

    The photography here is magnificent with incredible close-ups of the tigers going about their normal business. You will be amazed by how much that pussy cat that sits on your lap acts like these beautiful creatures. My cat is climbing all over me as I attempt to write this review. The show also covers other animals which live in the reserve such as chitals (deer), langurs (monkeys) and other predators such as leopards, wild dogs and vultures.

    Although it only ever depicts the natural order of things, it might be worth noting that a couple of scenes here may upset some viewers, especially children. So it might be worth watching it yourself before showing this to younger kids.

    The only minor criticism I would have of this program is that at 50 minutes, you are left wanting more.

    If you enjoy nature documentaries, especially those about big cats, this is one of the best I have seen.

Video

    The video quality is excellent.

    The feature is presented in a 1.75:1 aspect ratio 16x9 enhanced which is quite probably the original aspect ratio. It should be noted that the box incorrectly lists the aspect as 4x3.

    The picture was extremely clear and sharp throughout. There was some grain in some scenes which was probably inherent in the original footage and I did notice at 13:47 that a section of shadow under a mother elephant seemed to contain some minor noise.

    The colour was excellent throughout with all colours being well saturated and free from colour bleeding.

    The only artefact I noticed was a circle which appeared for an instant at 19:50. It looked a bit like a reel change marking but considering that it was in the middle of the screen and in a television show, this seems impossible.

    There are subtitles in English for the hearing impaired which are clear, easy to read and exact to the narration.
    

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The audio quality is very good.

    This DVD contains one audio options, a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack encoded at 192 Kb/s.

    The narration was clear and easy to understand at all times.

    The score of this show by Nicholas Hooper was excellent, and well suited to the footage. It did an excellent job of increasing the emotion and drama of the story.

    The surround speakers were used to add atmosphere including various jungle noises which added to the overall feel of the show. I utilised the Dolby ProLogicII facility in my amplifier to achieve this effect.

    The subwoofer was not used.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Menu

    The menu included an ability to select scenes and turn the subtitles on and off but nothing else.

    This documentary will be released in Region 2 on 23 August 2004 in exactly the same format. It does not seem to be currently available in Region 1.

    The video quality is excellent.

    The audio quality is very good.

    The disc has no extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall