Speed of Life - DVD

Film: Nature is full of beauty and fascinating secrets. However, much of it often remains hidden from the human eye. Because apart from the fact that they usually take place in very remote places on our planet, the very special snapshots of life often take place at a scale or speed that can hardly be grasped by us. Filmmakers Philip Lott and Donald Schultz now give their viewers the unique opportunity to witness such very special moments in the three-part series Speed of Life.

Using state-of-the-art technology, images were captured in extreme slow motion and magnificent macro shots were taken that reveal very special facets of the wonders of our natural world. Filming took place in the Sonoran Desert (USA/Mexico), in the rainforest of Costa Rica and in the Serengeti. Viewers can watch a desert buzzard foraging for food or experience the desert from the point of view of a turtle with a camera mounted on its back shell. One learns that the sidewinder rattlesnake can survive in the desert because it can minimize contact with the hot sand by moving sideways. And a desert bird spider can be admired in minute detail thanks to macro photography. Frogs, scorpions, monkeys, lizards or birds - they all show a very special side here.

Shots such as those of the formation of a spider web and the desperate struggle of the potential victims who get caught in it, or the lightning-fast attacks of snakes against their unsuspecting victims have a very special fascination in this form. But it is not only the macro shots and the extreme slow motion that make these three parts of the docu-series worth watching. Also the fact that the work of the camera team is thematized here makes Speed of Life extremely interesting. For example, it shows how the microscopic lenses are mounted on the cameras with meticulous precision, or how steel trusses are erected in the treetops of the Costa Rican rainforest so that the cameras can track shy animals at lofty heights. In such moments the viewer gets an impression of how difficult the work of nature filmmakers can be.

So if you have a soft spot for special animal and nature shots, the three 45-minute films on the DVD offer plenty of fascinating, beautiful and impressive moments, for which there can ultimately only be one conclusion: Worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: Thanks to the high-quality camera equipment that was used here, the picture has a very high image sharpness, which reveals some wonderful details, especially in the slow-motion sequences. The coloring is also very powerful and atmospheric, which ultimately leads to an all-around positive overall impression. The sound, on the other hand, is rather unspectacular, as the rather centrally mixed voice over commentary sets the tone here. However, some nice sound effects and the music ensure that the surround channels also get something to do now and then. For a docu-series, this is more than satisfactory. Good!

Extras: Unfortunately, the DVD has no extras to offer.

Conclusion: Speed of Life is a fascinating nature documentary that uses state-of-the-art camera technology and thus captured slow-motion sequences to present footage that can otherwise hardly be seen with the naked eye. Whether in the Sonora desert, the African Serengeti or in the rainforest of Costa Rica, what the filmmakers have captured here with their cameras should not be missed by lovers of nature and animal documentaries in any case. There falls then also the missing bonus material hardly negatively into the weight. Recommendable

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp