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"Big Sur--Wild California" is a wonderful film narrated by Hector Elizondo. It's about one of the most beautiful places on Earth and you can't help but be captivated by this exceptionally well-filmed documentary from National Geographic. You see a lot of wonderful footage of not just life in the Pacific Ocean but in nearby meadows and forests. In the process, you see magnificent footage of foxes, seals, otters, whales, mountain lions, condors and many other wonderful creatures. And you really have to admire the cinematographers--and you wonder HOW they got these great shots.

My summary talks about perhaps the best reason to watch the film--just to relax and rejuvenate yourself. With terrifically relaxing music and great footage, you can't help but be captivated.

By the way, I visited Big Sur just a few months ago and it's every bit as beautiful as you see it in the film. Plus, oddly, while it's between two HUGE cities (LA and San Francisco), the area is VERY sparsely populated and it is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen--even prettier in some ways than Alaska! See this film and then see it in person. Also, if you suffer from Ophidiophobia (the fear of snakes), the film does include a few closeup shots of the Western Diamondback Rattler. It also includes a few yucky shots of animals feeding on floating carcases. It's all part of nature but does make the film less than relaxing for some.

This NatGeo-branded feature is far, far below the historical standard of NG productions. For one, the video is surprisingly bad: shaky cameras, not particularly sharp film segments, and repeated subjects, suggesting a lack of sufficient content. In addition, the 47-minute feature includes amazingly little science for such a rich subject, and what's there is imprecise (if not wrong): e.g., a young sea otter is described as having an "inherited taste" from its mother. What exactly does that mean? While the program shows some variety of wildlife (nowhere nearly enough...lack of budget?), few species are actually named. The writing belies a lack of scientific understanding and a paucity of local natural history knowledge. Finally, the gratuitous scenes of a millipede and perhaps reptile (not identified, as usual) eggs burning, not to mention dead and rotting sea lion corpses, was enough for this bored, frustrated, and disgusted father to turn the poorly written and even worse produced so-called "documentary" off.

Very pretty documentary on the surface, but I can't think of anything that can be said that can be more damning to a "documentary" than "I learnt nothing because it taught nothing." Be warned, this is no Attenborough.