Untamed Americas Blu-ray Review
Planet Geographic.
Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, July 30, 2012
Long before there was
Planet Earth or
Blue Planet or
Human Planet or practically any other kind of
"planet", there was National Geographic, which used to crank out highly anticipated specials for broadcast television
before finding their own corner of the cable universe on the National Geographic channel. National Geographic continues
to offer a really stunning array of nature related outings, both one offs and short run series, most if not all of them
featuring absolutely jaw dropping videography and usually featuring star narrators who occasionally wax just a little
poetic as they describe the goings on that the viewer is watching.
Untamed Americas is yet another jewel in
National Geographic's rather impressive crown, featuring gorgeous shots of scenery and wildlife spread over both North
America and South America, split into easily digestible episodes built around various focusing elements like
Mountains,
Deserts, Coasts and
Forests. Josh Brolin contributes some genial narration, but the real star here is the
absolutely awesome photography (and some truly spectacular sound recording as well—more about that later) that will
certainly delight any armchair nature lover.
The four episodes included in
Untamed Americas are:
Mountains
The episode starts off with a long segment dealing with a lone wolf hunting some migrating caribou. The caribou
migration is the largest migration of mammals in North America, and despite the sheer number of the beasts that are on
hand, the wolf still has an incredibly hard time managing to track one down to finally enjoy a meal after having
expended literally thousands of calories chasing after various potential snacks. Aside from the impressive, often
unbelievably candid, footage caught here, this little segment is incredibly artful with its sound design. How the wizards
at National Geographic were able to capture the sound of this wolf actually panting as it chases the caribou is just one
thing astute listeners may be wondering about as they watch.
The episode goes on to show some literal head butting with the unbelievably aggressive behaviors of Rocky Mountain
Bighorn Sheep as they battle to see who will get the spoils, meaning the chance to mate with the herd's females.
There's also some gorgeously scenic footage of Yellowstone in winter where we see elk who are caught in the frosty
climate and must give birth in the lowlands, not their accustomed tactic. Of course there's a predator waiting for these
newborn, and we see the circle of life play out as black bears try to make short work of the little elk babies.
The "backbone" of mountains that runs virtually the entire length of North and South America is followed as we get
some equally nice footage in Nicaragua, where in one the episode's most unusual sequences, we follow bright green
parakeets who actually next inside the dome of a Volcan Nindiri, an active volcano. How the birds survive the sulfuric
atmosphere of the volcano still stumps scientists to this day. A television debut of sorts is claimed for this episode as it
reveals the pollinating efforts of a really weird looking creature called the tube lipped nectar bat.
Deserts
America's deserts are described as being among the hottest and driest places on Earth, which probably shouldn't come
as much of a surprise to most people, but what some
may find surprising is the incredible abundance of life that
manages to survive, and even thrive, in these unbelievably harsh conditions. The first animal profiled is an icon of the
American West, the Mustang. Few people probably know that settlers actually brought horses to the Great Basin
Desert between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevadas over a century ago, and wild descendants of those
horses still forage in the barren environment to this day. The main story unfolding in this sequence deals with an 11
year old male, an "old timer" by horse standards, who is trying to finagle his way into a band of younger horses so that
he might survive.
A number of the major arid regions that dot the Americas are featured in this episode, including the driest desert on
Earth, the Atacama. This desert features probably the most unlikely denizen anyone could ever predict would call a
desert home: penguins! Later the episode journeys to the Sonoran, which has more life than any desert on the
continent despite receiving fewer than three inchdes of rain per year. One of the interesting species profiled here is a
plant: the Saguaro Cactus, which can actually suck up over 200 gallons of water from a single rainfall.
There is some brief information and even footage repeated from the
Mountains episode here, as
Deserts journeys to the Altiplano in the middle of the Andes. With rare snowstorms providing a high altitude
water table, bizarre inland lakes form that eventually settle into caustic pool full of salt. Against considerable odds,
these pools provide a resplendent landing area for flocks of bright pink flamingoes.
Coasts
This waterlogged episode journeys around the globe visiting the planet's major waterways and oceans, starting in
what Brolin calls the "richest water in the world", the Peruvian coast off of South America. This region is a major
breeding ground for sea lions, and the beaches are absolutely teeming with the massive creatures as well as huge
numbers of newborn pups. There's some fairly disturbing imagery here as adolescent males, not yet able to mate, take
their frustration out on the newborn pups, picking the poor little babies up in their mouths and flinging them around on
the rocky shores. Again, as with the wolf sequence in
Mountains, the sound recording here is amazing. The
little yelps the pups make are clearly caught and the frantic screams of terror from the little ones as the "teens" bully
them are frightening and unsettling.
There's some underwater footage that is really pretty amazing in the next sequence, as the Sea of Cortez on the Baja
Peninsula is explored. El Diablo Rojo, also known as The Red Devil and/or Humboldt squid, is profiled. The eyes on
these creatures are just plain weird looking and the cameramen have gotten some unbelievably "up close and
personal" footage here, including shots of the squid "communicating" with each other by flashing their luminescent skin.
We also follow other disparate creatures who migrate from the Baja Peninsula north to Alaska, including whales and
dolphins.
Among the other areas looked at are the Falkland Islands, where we get another look at penguins (in a perhaps more
expected environment than a desert), the Arctic Ocean and polar bears (where climate change isn't explicitly mentioned
but whose effects are shown in some pretty devastating footage), and just for contrast's sake, the tropical waters of
the Atlantic and Caribbean Sea, where shots include some gorgeous coral reef and a really beautiful multi-colored
tortoise.
Forests
This episode is kind of unusually structured, in that the focal element of the forest is not its only organizing element.
Additionally, this episode follows the change of the seasons, as well see various forest environments weather
everything from huge snowstorms to arid summers. The episode starts out in the Amazon, the largest rain forest on
Earth, and follows a hungry jaguar as it tries to evade a scheming crocodile that is actually the big cat's better when
the feline has to tread waterways to get to food.
Though it isn't given an explicit name in this episode, the next area profiled is described as one of the largest temperate
rainforests in the world, one which stretches from British Columbia to Alaska. There's a really interesting look at a
species of bear that few people probably even know exists. While it's technically a black bear, it has a genetic anomaly
which makes its coat white, and it bears (sorry) the moniker "spirit bear". It takes advantage of the salmon returning
home to spawn in the fall for a chance to enjoy a major fish feast.
Each of the seasons offers a chance to profile different species that call forests home, so for instance winter shows
hungry wolves trying to bring down elk in huge snowdrifts. Spring features a busy mother beaver trying to spruce up
her dam after a winter spent beneath an ice floe. Summer brings new challenges as bison and other creatures try to
evade a forest fire caused by several lightning strikes.
