Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I chose to see "March of the Penguins" as a diversion to a 100+ degree day, and saw that cold weather is worse than hot weather. Now, in the brisk part of autumn, it still holds up.
Penguins from several areas of Antarctica converge on land, safe from predators and the ebbing ice shelf. They are there to mate, birth, and care for their chick.
Monogamous for that year, penguins pair up and the mother lays an egg.
The mother dashes off back to the sea, which, thanks to the winter and new ice, is as far as 70 miles. She's starving, having lost one-third of her weight in laying the egg. The trip is long, and she's not fast. Hungry seals await them, some penguins lose their way, and some are too exhausted to continue.
Well-fed, full of food for her chick, she returns, and the father makes the same trip so he can eat. The father stayed behind to incubate the egg, and protect the new chick. He has lost one half of his weight.
The pair trade places a few more times as winter plods on. With temperatures 80 below zero, and winds up to 125, I felt cold just watching. The penguins huddle to keep warm, rotating which must do outside duty.
Morgan Freeman narrates. His voice does not overcome the story. Better written than any documentary I have ever seen, Freeman respects the script. Having never seen a documentary in a theater before, I was impressed at how well it worked on the big screen.
There is no plot, even though there is a beginning and an end. Unlike many documentaries, it does not detail the intricacies of eating, mate choosing, or science of penguin living. It is more about watching the arduous life cycle, with some explaining what we are watching.
The camera works captures the cold -- the shivering penguins, the snow blowing like dust over the long line of marching penguins. It reminded me of movies about Siberia, showing Soviets living in a frozen, cold natural prison.
This isn't a cute animal movie. Tender children might be saddened to see the eggs and chicks freezing, and could be quite frightened when the vicious seals overtake swimming penguins.
Now, with the ever-funny Bugs Bunny in "8 Ball Bunny," the kid-factor increases. Still, even as Bugs graces your home viewing experience, be careful with more impressionable children and the feature documentary.
Another DVD feature: Rodney the Penguin assists in "Crittercam: Emperor Penguins," as we learn how some of the complex videography was really shot.
I fully recommend "March of the Penguins."
Anthony Trendl
editor, HungarianBookstore.com
Click Here to see more reviews about: March of the Penguins (Widescreen Edition) (2005)
In the Antarctic, every March since the beginning of time, the quest begins to find the perfect mate and start a family. This courtship will begin with a long journey - a journey that will take them hundreds of miles across the continent by foot, in freezing cold temperatures, in brittle, icy winds and through deep, treacherous waters. They will risk starvation and attack by dangerous predators, under the harshest conditions on earth, all to find true love. DVD Features:Documentaries:CRITTERCAM : EMPEROR PENGUINS: penguin diving and feedingDocumentary:OF MEN AND PENGUINS: The incredible filmmaking process of the movieOther:8 BALL BUNNY: A classic WB animated short with Bugs Bunny and a penguin
Click here for more information about March of the Penguins (Widescreen Edition) (2005)
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