Birds. Among the educational films about wildlife, a special place is occupied by works with the participation of David Attenborough, released into the world from the UK. Attenborough is an incredibly interesting presenter, who not only does not annoy with the presence of a person in the frame (after all, in films about animals, you want to look at animals, not people), but only decorates the overall picture with his interesting person. As soon as he shows up on the screen and begins his story, you immediately find yourself near the wild inhabitants, and not at home, in front of the TV screen. Wonderful programs like “Birds” were once shown by the First Channel, but that glorious time is long past, so now you remember with pleasure how you waited for the weekend not for the opportunity to relax, but for a unique weekly excursion into the world of wildlife with a competent guide to the kingdom of animals.
In this case, there is a whole cycle of films of approximately an hour's duration. This is due to the fact that the species diversity of birds is very large. They live almost everywhere, and in their long evolution have come a long way to gain wings and ascend into the sky. By the way, the very first program of the series is devoted to the origin of birds. It tells and shows the formation of birds as masters of the air. The authors trace their evolutionary path back to the Jurassic period, to the dinosaurs themselves, and this is not done in words behind the scenes. This is shown with interesting computer graphics, so a little look at the titans of the past, whose descendants are the inhabitants of the present, looks very interesting. Birds evolved from dinosaurs. And this line is revealed very clearly. The most interesting thing begins when we get closer to our time. Then birds began to grow to giant sizes, and some survived to the era of man. In New Zealand, giant moas have been seen alive, and this is unique. But this is all about content, and how beautiful the form of the story is! David Attenborough is in the middle between the past and the present. He is constantly in contact with two worlds. Here he is sitting at the excavation, holding a large bone in his hands. It turns out that this is a big beak. He puts the fossil on the ground, moves aside, and the skeleton of the bird Dinornis ("The Terrible Bird") comes to life on the screen with the help of master graphic artists! And then we talk about strange birds, as if they lived before us from that era. And then you really understand the movement of evolution and time. The program is very clear about the development of animals, and always supports this story with excellent visual illustrations. With such solid soil, the series takes place in our time, focusing on a huge variety of birds: flying, flightless, living in the tropics and ice, large and small, familiar and strange.
Each issue has its own separate theme, so the series as a whole makes a single, exhaustive impression. It is informative, and scientific, and intelligible, and fascinating, and just beautiful to admire the eyes. Each episode has its own mood, which fits well with the rest. When it comes to flightless birds, you feel the limitation of their terrestrial range, and if you start the story about flying, and even about migrants, you feel lightness and airiness. Here, of course, can not do without personal preferences. For example, I was most interested in seeing small flyers living in a dense forest, and someone likes another, but every wildlife lover will find their own here. Despite the large number of films, all this is almost not boring. Again, everything is in its place and it’s really interesting.
8 out of 10