PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Life at One (2006)

Life at One (2006)

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Released 7-Sep-2006
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Details At A Glance

General		Extras
Category	Documentary	Menu Animation
Rating
Year Of Production	2006
Running Time	108:08 (Case: 110)
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu	Cast & Crew
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	None Given
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Colin Friels
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip	Starring	Colin Friels
RPI	$29.95	Music	None Given

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (256Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.75:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.75:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No	Miscellaneous
Subtitles	English	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

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Plot Synopsis

Welcome to the 500th review I have written for www.michaeldvd.com.au. I must say I have greatly enjoyed my time here as a reviewer and look forward to doing another 500. Anyway, enough self-congratulation - on to the matter at hand...

As the father of two small boys the debate about how children are affected by their surroundings, family, upbringing and the stresses of life has certainly been of interest to me. I was therefore fascinated to watch this first instalment of a long term series following a seven year study of 10,000 Australian children to try and understand whether nature or nurture has more effect on children. The study will follow the lives of all 10,000 children over their first seven years, however this television series has chosen eleven children from the study to focus on. They have tried to get a good cross section of children from a variety of backgrounds. This first instalment consists of two episodes which really just set the scene for each of the 11 children. I will be fascinated to check in with these kids over the next 7 years.

The chosen children (who are all in their first year) are

Lou Lou - Her parents have gone through IVF. Her mother is 43 and her father is not convinced he wants children.
Anastasia - Her father is a fireman and her mother is a IT salesperson.
Benjamin - He is one of quintuplets and was by far the smallest at birth, staying behind in hospital for months after the others went home.
Haleema - She is the daughter of a Lebanese Muslim couple who are both university students.
Jara'na - He is the youngest of 8 children in his house. His parents are an aboriginal couple.
Shine - One of 5 children, Shine's parents have financial troubles and her father has just lost his job.
Declan - His parents both work and he attends childcare 4 days a week.
Sofia - Her father was diagnosed with lymphoma during the pregnancy (but is in remission) and both parents now work.
Daniel - This little guy is growing up in a stressful environment where his older brother nearly drowned leaving him with brain damage and his mother is nearly blind.
Joshua - A Chinese couple where the father has changed career to reduce his stress but the child is showing signs of stress.
Wyatt - His parents are teenagers who are trying to finish school and work at the same time.

A minor issue I noticed with the DVD is that if you choose to play the episodes individually they start at the beginning of the second chapter rather than the first, so I would recommend the play all option on the menu.

The series combines interviews with the parents, eminent scientists and a variety of personality and stress tests to try to track the children's progress. Fascinating and certainly worth seeing for parents.

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Transfer Quality

Video

The video quality is good.

The feature is presented in a 1.75:1 aspect ratio 16x9 enhanced which is the original aspect ratio.

The picture was quite sharp, however there was some light grain and a little macro-blocking to be seen (e.g. 24:05 in ep 2). There was no evidence of low level noise.

The colour was very good with no issues to report.

The only noticeable artefact was very minor aliasing.

There are subtitles in English. The English subtitles were clear and easy to read.

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

Audio

The audio quality is good.

This DVD contains an English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack encoded at 256 Kb/s.

Dialogue was clear and easy to understand and there was no problem with audio sync.

The surround speakers and subwoofer were not used.

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

Extras

None.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

This disc is not available in other regions, however the disc is coded for all regions .

Summary

A fascinating series which parents will be keen to follow over the next seven years.