Jane Goodall's Wild Chimpanzees (Large Format)

Rating:
Summary: Fabulous Production, Important Subject!
Review: A hundred years ago chimpanzies numbered between 1,000,000 and 2,000,000 in 25 African countries. Now "there are no more than 150,000 left," according to Dr. Jane Goodall.

This shocking fact underlies David Lickley's IMAX documentary about Jane Goodall and her groundbreaking research. Her remarkable 43-year career (and counting!) studying the wild chimps at Gombe National Park in Tanzania has led to several important discoveries, causing Science (capital S) to have to redefine what separates Mankind from the other animals. Goodall's own quiet tenacity has been tested as she must now spend most of her time advocating for the very survival of man's closest living relative.

The ultra-high-definition IMAX format provides a gorgeous transfer to DVD format, in both sound and image. Close-up images of the individuals at Gombe, as well as panoramic recordings of the sounds of the rainforest, make this a treat for the eyes and ears. Goodall herself does nearly all of the narration. South African musician Johnny Clegg provides several songs which integrate seamlessly into Amin Bhatia's orchestral score. Mini-featurettes on the DVD describe the difficulty of filming the notoriously-shy chimpanzies in remote Africa with the bulky IMAX cameras -- which can shoot for only 3-minutes at a time. Another featurette describes the recording of the music, including lots of rare shots of Clegg in the studio. Lickley's DVD commentary provides a ton of additional information missing from the original IMAX production.

All in all, this is a wonderful package in every regard.

Rating:
Summary: Fabulous Production, Important Subject!
Review: A hundred years ago chimpanzies numbered between 1,000,000 and 2,000,000 in 25 African countries. Now "there are no more than 150,000 left," according to Dr. Jane Goodall.

This shocking fact underlies David Lickley's IMAX documentary about Jane Goodall and her groundbreaking research. Her remarkable 43-year career (and counting!) studying the wild chimps at Gombe National Park in Tanzania has led to several important discoveries, causing Science (capital S) to have to redefine what separates Mankind from the other animals. Goodall's own quiet tenacity has been tested as she must now spend most of her time advocating for the very survival of man's closest living relative.

The ultra-high-definition IMAX format provides a gorgeous transfer to DVD format, in both sound and image. Close-up images of the individuals at Gombe, as well as panoramic recordings of the sounds of the rainforest, make this a treat for the eyes and ears. Goodall herself does nearly all of the narration. South African musician Johnny Clegg provides several songs which integrate seamlessly into Amin Bhatia's orchestral score. Mini-featurettes on the DVD describe the difficulty of filming the notoriously-shy chimpanzies in remote Africa with the bulky IMAX cameras -- which can shoot for only 3-minutes at a time. Another featurette describes the recording of the music, including lots of rare shots of Clegg in the studio. Lickley's DVD commentary provides a ton of additional information missing from the original IMAX production.

All in all, this is a wonderful package in every regard.

Rating:
Summary: Too Preachy
Review: Pretty good primate documentary. Cool parts include black and white footage of a young Jane Goodall interacting with the same chimps she visits now. [Weak] parts include the obligatory guilt-inducing checkbook-opening "don't let us go extinct" chapter at the end. Complete with Goodall lecturing a racially mixed class of schoolchildren about conservation. I'm not against racially mixed classes of schoolchildren, and I'm not against saving the apes, but I watch movies to escape rather than be reminded of reality.

There are lots and lots of cute chimps playing (with a really cool baboon/chimp playing together section), but not too much in the way of science. This may be what you want, of course.

Rating:
Summary: Too Preachy
Review: Pretty good primate documentary. Cool parts include black and white footage of a young Jane Goodall interacting with the same chimps she visits now. [Weak] parts include the obligatory guilt-inducing checkbook-opening "don't let us go extinct" chapter at the end. Complete with Goodall lecturing a racially mixed class of schoolchildren about conservation. I'm not against racially mixed classes of schoolchildren, and I'm not against saving the apes, but I watch movies to escape rather than be reminded of reality.

There are lots and lots of cute chimps playing (with a really cool baboon/chimp playing together section), but not too much in the way of science. This may be what you want, of course.

Rating:
Summary: Knowledge+Understanding=Caring
Review: What a tribute to Dr. Jane's work and the "kindred souls" she is deparately seeking to save from extinction. This IMAX edition captures the "soul" of both Dr Jane and the wild chimpanzees and will surely capture the hearts of all viewers (of any age). Sound and picture are breathtaking and will bring Gombe into your den or living room. But there is something even more important....
Now do two things (1) get this DVD right away and share it with your family, friends, students etc. and then (2) contact the Jane Goodall Institute (Roots & Shoots for the little ones in your life) and help save this species "So Like Us" for our children and their children's children.

Rating:
Summary: Knowledge+Understanding=Caring
Review: What a tribute to Dr. Jane's work and the "kindred souls" she is deparately seeking to save from extinction. This IMAX edition captures the "soul" of both Dr Jane and the wild chimpanzees and will surely capture the hearts of all viewers (of any age). Sound and picture are breathtaking and will bring Gombe into your den or living room. But there is something even more important....
Now do two things (1) get this DVD right away and share it with your family, friends, students etc. and then (2) contact the Jane Goodall Institute (Roots & Shoots for the little ones in your life) and help save this species "So Like Us" for our children and their children's children.