The Great Barrier Reef - DVD

Content: The Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia is undoubtedly one of the great natural wonders of our planet. 2300 kilometres long and 350,000 square metres in size, the reef was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1981 and can even be seen from space with the naked eye. Filmmakers James Brickell and Richard Fitzpatrick have taken a closer look at the reef and its inhabitants in a three-part BBC Earth series. This, of course, introduces not only the reef's master builders, the tiny coral polyps, and their importance to the reef, but also the many other creatures that exist in this unique habitat and their interrelationships.

In addition, a look is taken at the complex ecosystem that includes, by far, not only the coral reef, but also the more distant rainforests and mountains of coastal Australia. How the different parts of the system affect each other, and how drastically interfering with just one small part of this habitat can affect the other parts and their creatures, is illustrated in an interesting and visually stunning way. And finally, the series introduces the sea creatures that come to this unique place year after year to breed, lay their eggs or simply to find food.

What makes this documentary so worth watching is not only the great pictures, but also the way in which really very interesting information is conveyed here. Because even though the whole thing is educational and wants to convey a certain ecological message, the whole thing never comes across as doctrinaire, too pushy or factually dry. For all their ambition, the makers have never lost sight of the entertainment value and do not tarnish the beautiful images with a flow of information that overwhelms the viewer.

Fascinating, exciting, amusing, surprising and simply enchanting, this is how the journey through the Great Barrier Reef presents itself. If you want to know why the corals here shine in so many colours and why they are so important for the ecosystem, why of all things a shipwreck offers a very special habitat for countless fish or what efforts turtles take on themselves to lay their eggs on the coast, you should not miss this great nature documentary. Absolutely worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: The color splendor of the coral reef and its inhabitants comes thanks to the good color mixing and the overall very good image sharpness to excellent advantage. In addition, the visual pleasure is not marred by any pollution, allowing the viewer to dive into the fascinating world of the Great Barrier Reef without a care in the world. The sound, on the other hand, is relatively unspectacular. The off-screen narrator, the music make good use of the stereo mix with the rather subtly mixed natural soundscape. No real surround feeling, but a purposeful and therefore satisfying implementation. Good!

Extras: Apart from a couple of trailers, the DVD has no bonus material to offer.

Conclusion: The Great Barrier Reef is a great nature documentary that introduces the World Heritage Site in three episodes, its breathtaking beauty, its richness of species, but also its enormous vulnerability. Wonderful footage makes this interesting BBC Earth production an absolute must for all lovers of high quality nature documentaries. The fact that the technically well realized DVD has no extras to offer, hardly falls into the weight negatively. Recommendable

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp