Last Chance to See Blu-ray delivers great video and decent audio in this overall recommended Blu-ray release
Stephen Fry teams up with zoologist Mark Carwardine to recreate the journey Cawardine made 20 years ago, with the late author Douglas Adams, in search of some of the rarest animals on the planet. The show takes the pair on six unique journeys, ranging from a war-torn landscape in Central Africa, to the tropical climes of the Amazonian rainforests, where they investigate how, and more importantly, if, the animals have managed to survive. Among the species featured are the Northern White Rhino, the Komodo Dragon, and the Pygmy Chimpanzee.
Remember when the words "endangered species" meant something? When they really meant something? Displaced by more dire terminology like global warming, climate change, underwater oil plumes, rising sea levels, global drought, melting polar ice caps and other more apocalyptic buzzwords, the world at large is only concerned with one endangered species: man. (Even then, many are all too comfortable shrugging their shoulders, shaking their heads and declaring the obvious signs before them an utter mystery.) It's a shame too. While Earth-altering catastrophes should always be the major focus of policy makers and leaders the world over, smaller crises should never be allowed to fall by the global wayside. Generals who ignore battlefield skirmishes are fools if they think they can ever win a war. CEOs who neglect minor problems are unwittingly dismantling their entire corporations. Enter men like British comedian, television personality and jack-of-all-media Stephen Fry and zoologist Mark Carwardine. In 1989, Carwardine and Fry's good friend, the late Douglas Adams (he of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" fame), traveled the globe to study some of the rarest animals on the planet. In Last Chance to See, Carwardine and Fry set out to learn how these same species are faring in the 21st Century.
Don't try this at home, kids...
Fry and Carwardine begin their expedition at the end of Carwardine and Adams' original journey: near the Brazilian city of Manaus in search of the Amazonian manatee. Sadly, finding a manatee in the wild proves to be a most daunting challenge. Poaching has pushed the species to the brink of extinction, and the only readily accessible survivors are housed at a local National Institute of Amazonian Research facility. However, such scarcity doesn't stop the pair from toiling through the jungles of Brazil. Braving the waters of the Rio Negro, tremendous downpours, a broken arm and overwhelming frustration, Fry and Carwardine encounter another endangered species (the pink river dolphin), meet devoted scientists working to release animals back into the wild, and wonder what the future holds for the manatee. Leaving the Amazon, they head to Kenya to check in on a rare northern subspecies of white rhino. But civil war and underfunded preservation projects are the only things they seem to be able to find. Undeterred, Fry and Carwardine spend time with a southern white rhino, track mountain gorillas, visit a chimpanzee rehabilitation center, and help the Kenya Wildlife Service transport and relocate dangerous black rhinos. From there, it's off to a small island off the coast of Madagascar. The goal? To reconnect with a species of nocturnal lemur referred to as the aye-aye. Once again though, a rude awakening awaits. Devastated rainforests, gutted ecosystems, weary conservationalists and struggling wildlife are among the many sights the men would rather not see.
Flying to a cluster of islands situated between Southeast Asia and Australia, Fry and Carwardine turn their attention to Rinca, home of the komodo dragon. Along the way, they study seahorses and sea turtles, investigate the local industries responsible for slowly destroying indigenous wildlife, and observe long-nosed monkeys at a mangrove sanctuary. The komodo dragon proves to be easier to find than the manatee or white rhino -- but remains a vulnerable species. Assisting a local research group, Fry and Carwardine place a radio collar on a dragon, and celebrate a welcome ray of hope. Next stop, New Zealand: home to everyone's favorite Kiwi filmmaker, Peter Jackson (who pops up to pay his respects), the Southern Alps and a critically endangered species of nocturnal flightless parrot called the kakapo. Again, they meet men and women working around the clock to help a single creature thrive, and again, they find something worth getting excited about. Finally, Fry and Carwardine travel to the Sea of Cortez in search of blue whales, which prove difficult to track. Not that the duo sit around twiddling their thumbs. Visiting a nearby sea lion colony, sailing alongside a grey whale, and photographing a whale shark, Fry and Carwardine conclude their journey in the deep, tying the series together with a sharp overview of man's interference, responsibility and ongoing duty to species like the blue whale.
I generally don't enjoy documentary series saddled with chummy hosts and personality-driven expeditions. Give me gorgeous photography and a disembodied narrator, and I'm a happy man. But Last Chance to See is that rare exception. Fry and Carwardine never try to steal the show from their endangered subjects -- something any nature enthusiast worth their salt should appreciate accordingly -- nor do they waste much time. Their passion is evident, their disappointments palpable, and their enthusiasm genuine. Fry doesn't mug for the camera or tell incessant jokes (as one might expect from a quote-unquote comedian), and Carwardine doesn't burden the proceedings with rote trivia or endless lectures. Instead, the two function as a perfectly paired team; a lovable everyman and a down-to-Earth academic in search of the planet's hidden treasures. Moreover, Last Chance to See doesn't shy away from the cold, hard truth or dole out hyperbolic environmental rhetoric. It strikes a fine balance between the reality of the situation and the implications of everything Carwardine encounters on his second visit to the endangered edge. Satisfying answers aren't always provided and happy endings aren't lurking around every tension-slathered corner; feel-good semantics are put on hold while the science, as well as the emotion driving it, take priority. Last Chance to See is an unpredictable, sobering and ultimately rewarding trek into the unknown. I just wish there was more to be had.
I honestly didn't expect much from Last Chance to See's video presentation, but I have to say, BFS Entertainment has delivered an able-bodied 1080i/AVC-encoded transfer worthy of a solid recommendation. No, it isn't in the same league as BBC's top tier NHU productions -- the series itself is more rough-n-tumble, with on-the-fly photography captured under extreme conditions in harsh environments -- but most of the issues I encountered trace back to the BBC production, not BFS's efforts. Colors are warm and savory, bold blue oceans and lush green canopies look great, black levels are quite deep, and contrast is consistently strong. Detail is impressive as well, revealing the tiniest feather on a kakapo, individual scales of a komodo dragon, the grooves of a black rhino's leathery skin, and every pore on Fry's face. Some shots are soft, but again, any dip in clarity should be attributed to the original production. That being said, oversaturated skintones are a tad annoying (even if they're understandable given the sweltering heat and untempered sun that assault Fry and Carwardine's faces), and noise crops up anytime a low-light situation presents itself (the worst of which occurs in "Aye Aye" and "Kakapo" due to the nocturnal nature of the episodes' subjects). Brief, nearly negligible artifacting and banding also make appearances throughout the series, but hardly detract from the overall quality of the presentation.
The only relative disappointment awaiting those who purchase Last Chance to See is its standard DTS 2.0 audio track. Frankly though, I doubt many would be able to tell the difference between BFS's 960kbps outing and a lossless stereo mix. Narration and on-site voices are clean and clear, and are only mired by the occasional gust of wind, howling storm and jungle-canopy chorus. Even without the assistance of the LFE channel, lower end tones sound fairly hearty, and the whole of the mix rarely seems pinched or overcrowded. Would a lossless surround track have been better? Of course. I would have loved to lose myself in Brazil or be overtaken by the waves of the Cortez Sea. But seeing as Last Chance to See was originally broadcast with stereo sound, the lack of soundfield immersion and low-end oomph shouldn't deter anyone from picking up this Blu-ray release. As far as I'm concerned, the mix is both competent and capable.
It may not offer a lossless audio track or a single special feature, but the real value of Last Chance to See lies in the series itself. (An excellent 1080i video transfer doesn't hurt either.) Stephen Fry and Mark Carwardine lead a most fascinating journey across the world in search of several endangered species, and the mesmerizing results -- humble, grounded and passionate as each man is -- speak for themselves. I usually don't enjoy a documentary that features on-location hosts, but Last Chance to See rarely focuses on the personalities, keeping its sights set squarely on the wildlife Fry and Carwardine encounter. Underrated as this small-studio release may be, don't let it pass you by.
BFS Entertainment has announced Last Chance to See for release on Blu-ray on July 6. In this documentary series, aired on the BBC, British comedy legend Stephen Fry, follows in the footsteps of his good friend, the late writer Douglas Adams (The Hitchhiker's Guide ...
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