Madagascar [DVD]

A few BBC wildlife programmes are average but the majority are good, very good or exceptionally good. In my opinion "Madagascar" is in the highest category. The diaries at the end of each programme show the effort put into making them over an 18 month period - the canoes and the unstable platform to film the reed lemurs in the first, the platform high in the trees and the long wait for the rain to stop to film the red ruffed lemurs in the second, and the hair-raising nocturnal filming of fossas in the third.

The programmes cover both the beautiful and the bizarre, including shell squatting spiders, pygmy chameleons little bigger than ants, Labord's chameleon that lives for only 12 weeks, giraffe-necked weevils, and lemurs that eat bamboo containing levels of cyanide that would be lethal for other animals. A big plus is that in addition to the fauna and flora we have stunning aerial photography of the varied and spectacular landscapes of the island - mountains, rainforests, rivers, coasts and arid areas.

David Attenborough (as good as ever) provides the narrative, explaining how plants and animals adapted to the environment during the 60 million years when the island was cut off from the rest of the world. As for the music, all too often BBC programmes are spoiled for me by excessively loud and inappropriate music. In this case the music, much of it composed specially for the series, actually adds value to it. If I was allowed to keep only one wildlife series I think "Madagascar" might be it even though it does not feature my favourite animals - the big cats.

However, along with the beauty there is a sombre tone. We see the scattered remains of the elephant bird that began to disappear, along with other species, when man arrived. David Attenborough tells us that the unique radiated tortoises are likely to be extinct within twenty years, that only ten female fossas survive in the forest, and only 200 ghost-like silky safakas remain. He finishes all three programmes with a warning about impending extinctions. How sad it would be if our great-grandchildren were one day to watch this wonderful series to see not living animals but a record of those that have vanished from the earth.

Edit: as an extra "Attenborough and the Giant Egg" is included as part of the two disc set, with video dating from 1960 (when Attenborough acquired the egg of an elephant bird) to the present day.

I've watched hundreds of nature shows, including Sir David Attenborough's complete works. I think Madagascar is the absolute best. I had to make an effort to stop at 2am so I could still go to work in the morning. It's as fascinating as Dexter.

I've already watched it twice and I've only had it for a week. Incredible landscapes, animals I've never seen in other shows. You constantly find yourself wondering how the heck they managed to film some things. The "Diaries" section at the end of the episodes answers that question. I normally don't bother watching DVD extras, but here they're totally worth it.

The show has English subtitles.

Thanks for the review by Mark Twain and the comment by Sanjay, I now know why Madagascar will not work on my 2 Sony BR players. I also took my copy of Madagascar to Best Buy and it did played on 2 other brands of BR players.

I emailed Sony and then called their customer service and after some research; this is what Sony told me: Region FREE is for the European and Region Zero and 1 are for North America, and Sony is not prepared to do anything about it because it is a Region Code thing. There is no software upgrade available. I guess that Sony just did not included Region FREE into their software initially.

I gave Madagascar a 5 star rating because I know it is a wonderful product. Not being able to play is just unfortunate that I (we) have Sony players. I do not want to down grade the product.

I will advise Amazon UK about the situation and hope they will post a warning to US customers who owns Sony BR players. I have other UK BRs, and Madagascar happened to be the first one not playable.

UPDATE: Sept 25, 2012

I had just upgraded to 3D TV. I purchased the LG 55LM7600 with the LG BD620 3D player. I watched Madagascar on simulated 3D and it was a pleasant experience. The five star rating for Madagascar now stands solid.

The note Amazon UK placed just under the Madagascar title explains clearly why the Sony players will not play Madagascar. What Sony told me is just a brush off.