Life (TV Mini Series) Plants (2009) User Reviews

Fantastic Photography

[ccthemovieman-1 · 10/10 · 28 June 2010]

Time-lapse and high-speed photography - a "must" for this topic - makes this episode one of the best in the series, if not the best. As narrator David Attenborough explains in here, you never appreciate how incredible plant growth is because it happens so slowly we can't see it. But when it's sped up many times, and you can see vines sprout up hundreds of feet on trees and flowers opening up, closeups predatory plants doing their thing, etc., the sights are simply amazing.

It doesn't take long in this episode to make us begin looking at plants almost like animals and all other living things on this planet. The lengths to which some plants, particularly trees, go to, to survive in brutal conditions, is incredible.f We see the oldest - Bristlecone Pines which were around 1.5 million years ago - and fastest-growing plant: bamboo.

We learn how important light is to plants and how plants can grow in the unlikeliest of places. We get some seriously-closeup photography of a predator plant: the Venus Fly Trap. We learn about the purpose of flowers on plants and how some exotic plants spread their seed.

I found this to be one of the most interesting "nature" shows I have ever watched.....just a fantastic episode in this great BBC series and magnificently-looking on Blu-Ray.

The life, purpose and struggles of plants

[TheLittleSongbird · 10/10 · 8 January 2018]

Despite how much he apparently dislikes the term "national treasure", that term really does sum up David Attenborough to a tee. He is such a great presenter (in his 90s and still sounds, and looks on a side note, great) and whenever a new series of his is aired they are often among the best the BBC has done in years.

Am a great fan of a lot of Attenborough's work and BBC's nature documentaries with his involvement are among their best work in years. Have been watching the BBC less over time, but there are always exceptions, unexpected gems and expected treasures that come our way every now and again and their nature documentaries are the perfect examples of expected treasures. 'Life' is a crowning achievement for a documentary series and actually, like the best documentary shows, feels much more than that. As far as Attenborough's work goes too, 'Life' to me is one of his biggest achievements.

"Plants" is one of the best episodes of the series. It not just managed to make me appreciate plants more but also feel for them, not many people can do that but Attenborough and co. certainly can. It was the same with reptiles and insects, not just in 'Life' but also in their respective documentaries also with Attenborough's involvement.

First and foremost, "Plants" is exceptionally well-made. Hardly surprising, one comes to expect that from Attenborough's work. In fact saying that doesn't do the production values justice. It is gorgeously filmed, done in a completely fluid and natural, sometimes intimate (a great way of connecting even more with the plants), way and never looking static. In fact much of it is remarkably cinematic. The editing is always succinct and smooth and the scenery and various habitats are remarkably diverse and look speechlessly spectacular.

On a documentary level, "Plants" continually fascinates and illuminates, while there are some familiar facts here a lot of it was very much new. By the end of the series for me more was gotten out of it, and educated me much more than, anything taught when studying Geography and Science in secondary school.

Attenborough's narration helps quite significantly too, he clearly knows his stuff and knows what to say and how to say it. He delivers it with his usual richness, soft-spoken enthusiasm and sincerity, never talking down to the viewer and keeping them riveted and wanting to know more.

Loved the diversity of the plants, in personality, ability, their purpose and whether they were prey or predator. It was lovely to see a mix of the familiar and not-so-familiar, mostly the latter, and done in a way that made its point without being heavy-handed like it can potentially be with documentaries.

The bristlecone pines and bamboo were fascinating, even more so and the most visually stunning of all images was the Venus Fly Trap.

Not once does "Plants" feel like an episodic stringing of scenes like it easily could have been. Instead it feels like its own story and journey, with real, complex emotions and conflicts and animal characters developed in a way a human character would in a film but does it better than several. One really cares for what they're told and the wildlife.

Overall, one of the best 'Life' episodes, and the series is consistently amazing and considered a crowning achievement for Attenborough for very good reason. 10/10 Bethany Cox