Amazon.co.uk Review
Although this tape is part of the
David Attenborough's World of Wildlife series, it is actually a 1996 film,
Incredible Suckers, photographed and produced by Mike deGruy for BBC2's
The Natural World. David Attenborough does narrate in part, but the human star is DeGruy, who unusually for a wildlife documentary presents much of the film on camera with colleague Dr Bruce Carleson. The programme moves through the cephalopods, from the Chambered Nautilus, to Cuttlefish and on to squid and octopus of ever increasing size and intelligence. We see the extraordinary Australian red octopus that crosses the beach to hunt in tide pools, then venture deep into the abyss to meet the smaller relation of the giant Architeuthis, before witnessing breathtaking scenes of DeGruy swimming with the gentle giant Devilfish. Attenborough describes the
World of Wildlife series as "some of the finest natural history films ever made". This is no hyperbole, for while squid may not be particularly appealing to the uninitiated, the film-maker's enthusiasm and the sheer beauty and fascinating behaviour of a wide variety of cephalopods make this a stunning production. The photography is superb, and the video transfer better than many THX cassettes. A companion title of related interest is
Underwater Wonderlands.
--Gary S Dalkin
Synopsis
The seventh in a series of wildlife programmes made up from the best of the BBC's Natural History output.