Blu Ray Review: IMAX Born To Be Wild

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08.26.2012

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MSRP 44.95
RATED G
STUDIO Warner Brothers
RUNNING TIME 41 Minutes
SPECIAL FEATURES
• 6 Webisodes

The Pitch

Academy Award Winner Morgan Freeman narrates the documentary adventure Born To Be Wild , an inspired story of love, dedication and the remarkable bond between humans and animals. Born To Be Wild transports you into the lush rainforests of Borneo with world renowned primatologist Dr. Birute Mary Galdikas, and across the rugged Kenyan savannah with celebrated elephant authority Dr. Dame Daphne M. Sheldrick, as they and the teams rescue, rehabilitate and return these incredible animals to the wild.

Next up, food channel and Orangutans vs Food.

The Humans

Morgan Freeman (narrator), Dr. Dame Daphne M Sheldrick, Dr. Birute Mary Galdikas

The Nutshell

A short but excellent documentary about two devoted animal lovers and the great devotion they have to saving orphaned animals and returning them to the wild.

The Lowdown

The documentary is definitely a flex of muscles by Imax. Every shot could be a money shot in any other wildlife documentary. If there were ever a guide for new wildlife cinematographers to follow, it would begin here. The animal shots are amazing, the background scenery exquisite and the colors jump from the screen. The cameras take full advantage of every lighting situation and this easily one of the best composed pieces I have ever seen.

Beware: Red dirt baths are known hangouts for elephant perverts.

The problem with Born To< Be Wild is that it is only 41 minutes long. Every minute is pure gold, but if I paid full price for the BLu or DVD I would be a little upset. It is brisk, and ends before you know it.

The doc is split in two areas of focus, and switch back and forth between the two. It’s amazing at the end how similar both the stories are when the animals are so different. On one hand you have someone raising Orangutans. and the other they are raising elephants. Both are rescuing orphans and protecting and raising them until they are ready to return to their respective natural habitats. Each reservation director was a pioneer with their species of animal and both are subject experts in the preservation of these animals whose numbers are dwindling more and more every day.

The care that the Drs. and their employees give the respective animals is top notch. Each staff is completely unique, the elephants had men feeding and playing with them where the orangutans had women who essentially acted like mothers for their first few years.

This is not an alien, maybe.

As they reach their brink of being old enough to test leaving the habitats, the elephants were placed in a spot where free elephants could interact with the orphans. The orangutans get switched to men as their providers, as they were stronger and able to climb the higher trees (they need to make a documentary about these monkey man half breeds).

I can’t speak highly enough about what was there, but what was there is extremely short. I spent more time writing the review then I did watching the movie. It’s well worth watching, but I would just make sure I got it on sale.


The Package

I guess the threat of washing your mouth out with soap would not apply to this guy.

The copy I received was the Blu, DVD and ultraviolet. There is a version with the 3-D Blu as well as the other 3 versions. It had a great presentation and the menus are top notch. They included 6 webisodes that are entertaining but also suffer from the same thing the film does, they are too short. With the extras, there was still less than 1 hour running time.


Rating:
★★★★☆

Out of a Possible 5 Stars



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