Life on Earth (TV Mini Series) The Infinite Variety (1979) User Reviews

Has all of David Attenborough's best lines

[craig-hopton · 10/10 · 5 March 2013]

"There are some four million kinds of animals and plants. Four million different solutions to the problems of staying alive. This is the story of how a few of them came to be as they are."

What a tour-de-force. The first episode of a truly ground-breaking and historic wildlife documentary series. This episode has it all. Countless fascinating shots of primitive and prehistoric species and a truly comprehensive approach from David Attenborough in telling the story of the origins of life. I'm not sure you'll ever hear a better explanation of natural selection or a grander, more sweeping overview of the phases that life has gone through on this planet:

"If we condense the history of life on earth into one year - then 10 million years become one day. On that calendar, I talk in the last moment of Dec 31, man arrived a few hours ago in the afternoon, the first back-boned animal crawled on to land in the last week of November, and these gunflint cherts were formed on June 15th."

There are not many people that could tell the complicated story of early evolution and the fossil record and still make it so exceptionally engaging. Attenborough is clearly in awe at his subject and this rubs off on the viewer.

Infinitely brilliant

[TheLittleSongbird · 10/10 · 9 January 2018]

David Attenborough is nothing short of a national treasure. He may apparently dislike the term, but it is hard to not say that about such a great presenter who has contributed significantly to some of the best programmes (of the documentary genre and overall) the BBC has ever aired/produced.

It is really hard picking favourites, let alone a definite favourite, among what Attenborough has done because he has done so many gems, it is the equivalent of trying to choose your favourite ice cream flavour or your favourite operatic role (for examples) and finding you can't pick. When it comes to talking about Attenborough's work, one cannot mention his all-time best best work without putting his first masterpiece 'Life on Earth' up there. It was a ground-breaking milestone for documentaries, television and anywhere, and to this day it is still an awe-inspiring work that is unlike anything one hadn't, and has, seen before. On the most part the BBC today can only dream of having something this amazing or influential, and under forty years on it's one of their greatest achievements.

"The Infinite Variety" is an incredible example of 'Life on Earth's' appeal. It's only the first episode and one already feels like they're watching a ground-breaking masterpiece. The diversity and variety of the material is just one of the most striking assets.

Visually, "The Infinite Variety", and the whole of 'Life on Earth' for that matter, must have left viewers in shock and awe at the beauty and uniqueness of the images and they have held up incredibly today. Perhaps not quite as polished or as refined as some of Attenborough's recent efforts, but as amazing his recent work looks they don't quite have 'Life on Earth's' originality, awe or haven't-seen-anything-like-it feel that sets it apart.

"The Infinite Variety" is gorgeously filmed, done in a completely fluid and natural, sometimes intimate (a great way of connecting even more with the invertebrates), way and never looking static. There are some beautiful shots and editing that is never rough and always cohesive. The scenery is richly magical and appreciatively diverse.

In terms of the music score, it is one of the best and most dynamic scores of any of Attenborough's documentaries, almost cinematic in places. The main theme is unforgettable and gives the immediate impression of "as soon as the theme plays one knows they're in for a treat."

Again, like so many Attenborough nature/wildlife documentaries, "The Infinite Variety" fascinates, teaches, moves, entertains and transfixes. In terms of the facts there was a very good mix of the known ones and the unknown, some facts being familiar to us while going into detail about complicated subjects and making it easy to understand and be riveted. Evolution of life on Earth has never been more fascinating or engrossing since.

Narration by Attenborough helps significantly. He clearly knows his stuff, "The Infinite Variety" is also one of the series' finest examples of him himself being in awe of the subject, 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.

Found myself really caring for what we're told. Like much of Attenborough/BBC's other work, "The Infinite Variety" doesn't feel like an episodic stringing of scenes, but instead like the best nature documentaries each feels like its own story and journey, with real, complex emotions and conflicts.

Overall, infinitely brilliant. 10/10 Bethany Cox