Each of the twelve 50-minute episodes features a different aspect of the journey through life, from birth to adulthood and continuation of the species through reproduction.
Each of the twelve 50-minute episodes features a different aspect of the journey through life, from birth to adulthood and continuation of the species through reproduction.
1990-10-03
9
A natural history of animal behavior
At the end of September 1941, Soviet artillery troops in besieged Leningrad realize that pretty soon they will fire their last shot, and after that the defense of the city will be doomed. The film is based on a true event: a small group of fearless soldiers transported a large supply of gunpowder through enemy lines to Leningrad.
The execution was scheduled and the last meal consumed. The coolness of the poisons entering the blood system slowed the heart rate and sent him on the way to Judgement. He had paid for his crime with years on Death Row waiting for this moment and now he would pay for them again as the judgment continued..
Joanna Mills has a successful career but feels her personal life is spinning out of control. She has few friends, an estranged father, and a crazy ex-boyfriend who is stalking her. Joanna begins having terrifying visions of a woman's murder, and it seems that she is the killer's next target. Determined to solve the mystery and escape her apparent fate, Joanna follows her visions to the victim's hometown and finds that some secrets just do not stay buried.
A multi-part documentary about the making of the Jurassic Park trilogy. Each part walks through the making of part of one of the films, including the hurricane during the shooting of the first film, and how advances in CGI for Jurassic Park helped change the world of special effects forever. All interviews for these retrospective documentaries come with comments from Spielberg, Johnston, Neill, Dern, Goldblum, the effects crews, the child actors, and Peter Stormare. This documentary is broken into six parts: Dawn of a New Era (25 min), Making Prehistory (20 min), The Next Step in Evolution (15 min), Finding the Lost World (28 min), Something Survived (16 min), and The Third Adventure (25 min).
When disaster hits the Titanic, the Doctor uncovers a threat to the whole human race. Battling alongside aliens, saboteurs, robot Angels and a new friend called Astrid, can he stop the Christmas inferno?
Set in the African savannah, the film follows Kion as he assembles the members of the 'Lion Guard'. Throughout the film, the diverse team of young animals will learn how to utilize each of their unique abilities to solve problems and accomplish tasks to maintain balance within the Circle of Life, while also introducing viewers to the vast array of animals that populate the prodigious African landscape.
Beatrice Prior and Tobias Eaton venture into the world outside of the fence and are taken into protective custody by a mysterious agency known as the Bureau of Genetic Welfare.
Still reeling from his breakup with college sweetheart Allison, Adam's world is thrown into further chaos when he’s surprisingly invited to attend her upcoming wedding. Returning home for the festivities, Adam must confront unresolved feelings while trying to convince himself and everyone else that he is truly happy for her.
After the Combiner Wars ended, Cybertron started to be rebuilt. However, an undead Starscream has been reincarnated as Trypticon, wreaking havoc around him. To combat this menace, Windblade gathers up a ragtag team of Transformers, including Optimus Prime and Megatron, to resurrect an ancient ally. And while some may be forever changed by the events, others may not emerge with their sparks intact.
When a devastating attack shatters Mark Hogancamp and wipes away all memories, no one expected recovery. Putting together pieces from his old and new life, Mark meticulously creates a wondrous town named Marwen where he can heal and be heroic. As he builds an astonishing art installation — a testament to the most powerful women he knows — through his fantasy world, he draws strength to triumph in the real one.
For many years, four teenage orphans at an Australian outback convent have watched their younger comrades find new parents, and realize that they may never be adopted. The Reverend Mother sends the four boys away on a seaside vacation, where they meet Teresa and Fearless, a couple who would make perfect parents. The youths compete with one another to be the one Teresa and Fearless decide to adopt.
No beau? No problem! To earn money for college, a high schooler creates a dating app that lets him act as a stand-in boyfriend.
In 1971, four college students got together to form a rock band. Since then, that certain band called Queen have released 26 albums and sold over 300 million records worldwide. The popularity of Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon is stronger than ever 40 years on. But it was no bed of roses. No pleasure cruise. Queen had their share of kicks in the face, but they came through and this is how they did it, set against the backdrop of brilliant music and stunning live performances from every corner of the globe. In this film, for the first time, it is the band that tells their story. Featuring brand new interviews with the band and unseen archive footage (including their recently unearthed, first ever TV performance), it is a compelling story told with intelligence, wit, plenty of humor and painful honesty.
Hitman Returns was filmed before a sold out crowd last year at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. The lineup of talent, lead by Foster as maestro of ceremonies, includes performances by Seal, Donna Summer, Martina McBride, Earth, Wind & Fire, Natalie Cole, Ruben Studdard, All-4-One,'Glee' star Charice, Chaka Khan, Jackie Evancho, Lara Fabian and other artists whose careers have been touched by Foster, a 15-time Grammy winning producer and songwriter.
Kaitou Kid dares to challenge the police once more, setting his sights on the Russian Imperial Easter Egg. With the date, time, and place, the Osaka police force scrambles to stop him. But this time, Kid may have bitten off more than he can chew—Conan Edogawa, Heiji Hattori, and numerous others are also trying to get their hands on the jeweled egg.
A seemingly unremarkable man spends a day taking a bizarre test at a mysterious facility. Through his day he interacts with the odd, detached employees of the facility, guiding him from section to section, obscuring the intentions or duration of the test.
During a séance with some friends, divorced carny Gualtiero successfully conjures the spirit of Marilyn Monroe — although he's the only one who can see her. With Marilyn's help, he'll win back his wife, who left him for a lion tamer, and his teen daughter.
A documentary on Al Gore's campaign to make the issue of global warming a recognized problem worldwide.
The passenger pigeon, the most abundant bird species in North America for thousands of years, became extinct by human hands in a geologic heartbeat. Its story remains relevant to conservation challenges today, and there are even plans for its possible revival. Rare archival material, CGI animation, and aerial cinematography combine to recreate the awe-inspiring nature of these birds.
One of the most mysterious animals to inhabit the jungle is the pygmy hippopotamus - up to 300 kg in weight, just 2 meters long, and 80 cm tall, and a true loner. Since its discovery in 1844, generations of researchers have attempted to study it in the wild - but in vain. Although it proved possible to catch a few specimens for zoos, no one ever got to see them before they were already inside the trap. They eluded the gaze of the researchers like phantoms under the protection of the enchanted forest. These are the first ever pictures of pygmy hippopotami in their natural surroundings - the rain forest of West Africa. Set amid stories about their habitat, the film allows a first impression of this timid creature's life. While their ten-times heavier relatives are loud and gregarious and live in open stretches of water, the pygmy hippopotamus moves furtively through the thick undergrowth.
Documentary on the village of Viganella, in the Piedmont Alps, and on its mirror that reflects the sunlight on the hamlet, which otherwise would not reach the valley.
In the animal world, as in our own, looks aren’t everything. In fact, some of the most aesthetically challenged creatures — from warthogs and proboscis monkeys to bull elephant seals — are also the most fascinating. A stunning variety of these ghastly yet glorious forms are explored in NATURE’s The Beauty of Ugly.
Jimmy is a burglar and a loner, Long-Fingered Fred excels in breaking into cars, while Merlin prefers to target restaurants. Meet the alpha males of the infamous Smits Baboon Gang.
Cat experts explain the behaviors of domestic cats and how their sometimes undesirable actions are really innate instincts, revealing how closely they are still connected to their wild ancestors.
German nature film from 2011. Mention the "Elm Fight" in Sweden and most people there think of when protesters and police fought in Kungsträdgården in 1972. But only for a few years previously, a stealthy enemy had reached Sweden, which today threatens the elms far more than any city planner.
In 1907 Herman Hesse spent a few days mediating and fasting in a cave near Monte Verità. During these days he collected the visions and insights that went on to be very influential in his thinking and shaped some of the most important works of his literary career. The images and sounds of this film were shot there and are a homage to this cave and its possible invocations. Grotta is part of Fieldworks, an ongoing experiment with ambient video and radio frequencies.
In DIARY OF A BEE we follow the adventurous journey of a single bee from its birth (or hatching) to the founding of a new colony. Three years of shooting with the latest macro camera technology and special post-processing enable a unique visual language that allows completely new insights into the world of bees - without becoming unscientific. This story is told by Anna Thalbach as the "winter bee" and her daughter Nellie Thalbach, who takes on the role of the "summer bee". Welcome to the big drama of the little pollen collectors!
In the heart of France from ground level to the top of the trees, scientists reveal the incredibly rich flora and fauna hidden in our everyday landscape.
On January 8, 2005, the storm Gudrun pulled over southern Sweden and large parts of the Småland forest blew down. How do you cope when your food disappears overnight? Anders and Lisbeth Ericsson, who run a smaller farm, were hit hard by the storm. 70% of their 250 ha were blown down. This put them in a difficult economic and emotional crisis. They realize that it is important to find new solutions in order to live on now that the conditions have changed so completely. Johan Forsman and his father Jan have a large farm with 1500 ha of forest. For them, it is not just a financial loss, the extensive work to take care of the broken forest feels endless. It is difficult to get enough people to work. Some of the assistance is taken from other parts of the world, including Finnish forest workers. The problem is that the Finns only speak Finnish, and a little Russian…
In the Philippines, the reefs, coasts and islets of the island of Palawan, the Straits of Balabak and the Sula Sea are amongst the richest in biodiversity on Earth. Some scientists claim that the entire submarine wildlife of the Pacific originated from this area. The coral is magnificent and the protected sites offer an incomparable vision of marine life to scuba divers from all over the world. However, since the end of the Second World War, Philippine fishermen have been fishing with dynamite all over the coral reefs of this marine Wild West. Today, far from diminishing, this form of fishing has taken on industrial dimensions and 50% of the coral has been destroyed, turning this underwater Eden into arid desert…
Only twenty-five years ago, the first evidence of self-medicating behaviour among animals was reported among chimpanzees. On the basis of this pioneering research, led by the American Michael Huffman, a new science was founded: "zoopharmacognosy", or the study of animal pharmacopeia. Animals are apparently able to treat themselves actively, to detect natural substances that can provide a remedy for health problems, or to prevent them. The primatologist Michael Huffman explains how he discovered that chimpanzees can heal their diseases with medicinal plants from their environment. The scientist then comments on other very surprising examples: Birds that disinfect their nests by filling them with aromatic plants with repellent properties, a rodent that covers its coat with toxic sap as a poisonous defence against predators and elephants that place mud plasters on their injuries. Some therapeutic behaviours may even be transmitted socially among certain species.
News from the troubled Korean peninsula comes frequently and often deals with the risks of new fighting between North and South Korea. But between the two there is a zone where the wild got a chance and where rare animals can live on in the shadow of all weapons.
A black-and-white visual meditation of wilderness and the elements. Wildlife filmmaker Richard Sidey returns to the triptych format for a cinematic experience like no other.
The BBC looks at our current weather and climate compared to the climate of our past to see if it really is changing...which it is and they explain science behind it
Something is rotten in England. A plague of North American grey squirrels threatens the beloved native red squirrel. The English are up in arms, and a band of patriots - including lords, priests, artists and farmers - has come together to fight back against the grey menace.
Luminous beings, creatures with their own internal light, enchant and astonish us. Anyone who has seen a firefly or a glow-worm cannot help but fall under their spell. The sea at night sparkles as millions of luminous plankton reveal the shapes of dolphins in a truly magical light show. Join Sir David Attenborough and a team of the world's leading scientists and deep sea explorers on a quest to reveal the secrets of living lights.