DVD : Tiger - Spy in the Jungle [2008]

Rating: - a fair chunk missing
I bought this for a present having seen the original enthralling series on the BBC. Imagine my surprise when we watched it together as only part was included on this DVD. There is a chunk of the televised version that is not in the package, so the narration rather stops in mid-flow. The cubs/young tigers are in peril...what happens? Those with the DVD will never know. A great show, but a poor show, BBC

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Rating: - They're not so great!
From the lofty heights of fronting ad campaigns for Kellogs Frosties, Tigers have taken a tumble in popularity and population. Like most ginger haired creatures, they seem to be the subject of persecution and unfortunate circumstance. See also the Red Squirrel and it's reduced population at the hands of the Grey Squirrel, the Fox chased all around the Village and fields, and Chris Evans. Tigers though will always struggle to maintain a balance in life because they are so unnatural.

This program is heavily biassed towards the Tiger side of things with only the occaisional other animal featured. The fact that the Tiger is an endangered species highlights its plight in regard to it's habitat. As our world spills over into theirs then they must adapt or move on. As Tigers don't really do that much they are not that exciting to watch.

However, watching all the log-cams and other camera tricks used to film them is more fun. Elephants are also employed to film the Tigers in this series, but I can't help but feel that the Tigers used come across as professionals or ex-safari park cats and appear familiar with cameras being around them and thats why they employed hidden camera's to try and keep them looking 'natural'.

The sets where the Tigers are seen playing, eating and fighting etc look plasticy and prepared, like how a golf course looks compared to wild woodland, the jungles here are a little like I'm a Celebrity - Get me Out of Here and not authentic at all.

This DVD series is okay if you really dig Tigers but for everyone else it's a poor show about a bland jungle relic making its journey into obscurity. Tigers look more at home in the zoo than a plastic jungle.

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Rating: - what can you say but- wow
Covering 2 years in the life of a tigress and her 4 cubs, this 3 part documentary is truly - well- amazing. I'm so pleased that it remains unsentimental- the only tiger with a name is the father, "Charger" (after his unnerving habit of charging the film crew). (I just couldn't watch Meerkat Manor which I found cloyingly anthropomorphic). Yes it does slightly overplay the tension in the 3 episodes (will their mother return after a mysterious absence to catch them dinner?). But injury from territorial scraps with other tigers is a real threat to survival- as evidenced in the documentary. It's quite astounding that these cubs grow so quickly, yet are incapable of learning to catch their own food for such a long period of time- in fact they bounce around interfering with their mother's stealthy attempts, setting off the deer alarm calls.

It's great that technology presumably derived from the robotic equipment developed to explore Mars is being targeted at a better understanding of this planet and its vanishing inhabitants. The film crew use both static, elephant held and remotely controlled self propelling cameras to catch intimate shots of the tigers and other inhabitants of the park. One seeming problem is that most of the resident wildlife likes to check out its reflection in the camera lens- and one of the cubs wasn't adverse to giving a camera a dip in the pool.

When the cubs grow and start scrapping you suddenly see the unleashed raw power of what started as bundles of fluff tumbling uncontrollably down rocks. You wouldn't want to meet one of them unexpectedly. Yet you so admire their strength and beauty. Also available by the same production company are Spy In The... Complete featuring lions, bears and elephants and a two parter Trek: Spy On The Wildebeest [2007] .

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Rating: - Simply Fantastic
One of the best and most detailed insight into the Tigers secret life. Superb close ups of a Tigress and her four cubs from birth to adulthood. As always superbly narrated by David Attenborough, which holds your attention during the three programs.
As the programs were filmed in High Definition, I am hoping the HD version in Blu-ray will be released in the near future.
Not to be missed by Tiger and other Big Cat fans.

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Rating: - Stunning
This DVD (from the BBC series) is truly stunning. It grabs your heart from the first minute and doesn't let go until the end and beyond. It is the story of a female tiger in India and her 4 cubs (2 girls, 2 boys) from when they are 10 days old and we follow them through babyhood, adolesence and watch them as they make their first steps to becoming independent. Most of the filming is done by "trunkcam" which are log shaped cameras that elephants carry on their trunks as they wander through the jungle. The cubs don't seem at all phased by them and indeed are sometimes so intrigued that they get so close that one trunkcam ends up submerged in the pool and being tossed around by an over excited tiger cub!

The DVD is a story, narrated by David Attenborough, rather than bitesize chunks about various animals. It's narrated cleverly so that we feel compelled to keep watching the tigers as they go about their daily business. There are some very funny parts and some sad parts but ultimatley it is a joy to watch them develop into adulthood. I may be bisaed as I am a tiger fanatic but I would wholeheartely recommend this DVD to all.