Life Story

The inimitable David Attenborough hosts this latest BBC Earth series offering another visually eye-popping journey through the animal kingdom—a project that took four years, spanned six continents, and visited 26 countries. Divided into six chapters following various species from birth (“First Steps”) to adulthood (“Parenthood”), the show captures a number of behaviors that have never been filmed before, ranging from an arctic fox snow-diving for lemmings underground, to a Japanese pufferfish creating an incredibly complex crop-circle-like design on the seabed that is used to attract a mate. Each episode covers a handful of animal species—cutting back and forth between locales to tell dramatic stories—starting with an incredible sequence in which Barnacle goslings born on a rocky tower must fall some 300 feet to the ground below in order to begin their lives. Naturally, not all of the chicks will make it, and this brings up a fair criticism of Life Story: namely, its continuous (and predictable) scenes of animals in danger, always accompanied by ominous music while Attenborough's voice drops into a lower register—sequences that are manipulatively edited for maximum emotional impact, featuring writing that is (in a word) cheesy. But the stunning cinematography, with intrepid filmmakers following a bonobo troop deep into the Congolese forest, or the long-eared jerboa in the Gobi Desert, or meerkats fighting a scorpion in South Africa, easily trumps the boilerplate writing and nature-red-in-tooth-and-claw ratings-boosting segments. Extras include a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at how camera crews were able to get their jaw-dropping footage, an interview with Attenborough, and a short sequence of Attenborough's very close-up encounter with meerkats. Highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (R. Pitman)