Wildes Russland

The much anticipated Wild Russia series was dazzling in its scope and photography. But high expectations can be deadly, as is certainly the case here.

The careful and studied narration of Jason Hildebrandt utterly killed Wild Russia for me. I actually had to stop watching the series half-way through, even though I positively love wildlife documentaries. How such a jaded-sounding and boring voice could EVER be chosen to narrate this important investment is beyond me. His repetitive and utterly predicable cadence, as I said, finally overwhelmed me, and I had to stop watching.

With so many engaging and wonderful narrative voices for this genre out there, it's truly tragic that a project this important and time-consuming could actually be all but destroyed by the voice of a narrator. (I note with horror that Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom just aired a piece using Hildebrandt. What the heck is going on? Am I the only one who thinks this guy's voice is just horrible for this genre?)

This is a great series, almost identical to the famous BBC "Planet Earth" series of the past few years. I mean "identical" in its greatness: the fabulous photography and the interesting way the animals, earth, sea creatures, birds, etc., are shown. To see this in high definition, too, as with Planet Earth series, is a marvel. I can't recall how many times my jaw dropped at something being shown on the screen here.

"Wild Russia" took three years to make and involves six episodes. It's magnificent to view and is actually less "stressful," if you will, than Planet Earth in that you don't see all the bloody killing. As you know, that's the way it is in wildlife, a lot of kill-or-be killed. I realize that, but I'm never comfortable viewing it and in "Wild Russia" you don't see it.

As is shown in the short preview every episode, Russia a vast country with 11 time zones. It has incredible scenery and some unique wildlife, animals or birds or fish you don't see anywhere else in the world. However, the patient photographers here have pictures of them, such as Amur Leopard, a rare sight even in the only place they exist in Far East Russia.

Suffice to say, if you loved the 11-part "Planet Earth" series, checking out these episodes is a must, is something you owe yourself. Don't miss them. I only hope these are put out on Blu-Ray because they are worth seeing multiple times.

The scenery and animals are amazing. My only issue is the narrator. He constantly mispronounces even basic words. Even something as simple as the title Russia is mispronounced by the narrator.

Had to stop watching after the first episode. Slow motion was abused to no end. The music made it seem like the animals were about to defend Sparta as the last 300. Everything was overly dramatic and the narrator's pronunciation of things was very questionable. Really wanted to watch this series, but overall unwatchable.

The photographers must have spent two of the three years hiding or camouflaging cameras in the six regions filmed because they got shots that are almost unbelievable -- one such instance is viewing the inside of a European mink den during the birth of 5 babies! It is hard to fathom the hours that must have been spent getting usable wildlife shots. Being able to watch the episodes in high definition certainly added to the beauty of the scenery and wildlife. This is definitely the best documentary I have ever seen.

I know that nature is cruel with the survival of the fittest, and I don't like to see blood and guts, even in living color. The narrator does not shrink from saying that many of the species are endangered and nearly all the populations of wildlife are declining. However, I was relieved that no killing was shown.

There were many species of animals shown of which I had no prior knowledge -- some of them are unique to Russia and some species are making their last stand against encroaching civilization. This series is both educational and entertaining. I am only sorry that there are no more episodes that I can look forward to enjoying.