The Trials of Life

The third of David Attenborough's Life series takes a different approach than his previous two series, with each of the 12 episodes focusing on a different aspect of life, from birth, to living together, communicating with other, and continuing the line.

This is a significantly more educational series than nature documentaries made today. It's apparent that as well as wanting the viewer to marvel at the wonders of the natural world, Attenborough also wanted the viewer to learn. There's a lot crammed into each episode, with countless species covered, some for only a minute or less, while others have a larger spotlight.

The sheer breadth and depth of this series is extraordinary. As with Attenborough's previous series (The Living Planet), the underwater scenes are the only ones that don't really stand up to more modern series. Otherwise, this is a real treasure that will be enjoyed by young and old alike.

Colours look natural and well balanced, never too bright and aggressively vibrant. Contrast is good and the picture is quite sharp while still showing some film grain in darker sequences. The content of the series feels a little more factual and grown up compared to more recent series from the BBC as if it's trying to educate rather than just entertain the viewer. There's a distinct lack of thundering music, cameras flying over exotic locations, short narrative and all the rest. As the series is about the different stages of life we all face it's a little more varied than Life in the Undergrowth or Life of Birds where in the former for instance we might get a whole episode just on spiders. Nor is it location bound as the BBC series Africa and Planet Earth are. The footage of the Killer Whales hunting is especially impressive. Attenborough also makes more of an onscreen presence than he would do in later series as his age advanced and personally I find it a pleasure to see him on camera getting up close to the wildlife. We also get a little behind the scenes look at things too.

I ordered this on VHS back in the early 1990s and I consider this series to be flawless and beyond expectation. Gorgeous videography and Sir David Attenborough's sublime narration makes for a perfect educational experience. Breathtaking shots, sometimes brutal and raw. It is the Trials of Life, and there are trials to behold! If you are a nature buff, THIS is the series for you! I was raised on this stuff and I consider it to be one of the best nature series out there. Now it needs to be released on disc or download so I can get it again as I haven't had a VHS player in 10+ years. I would love to see this show in a HD format, so bring on the Apple TV or bluray format!

David Attenborough's first truly brilliant wild life mini-series, focusing on animal behaviour, is filled with spectacular photography... from the tiniest of insects to the biggest of mammals.

Attenborough's laid-back didactic approach would become slightly more effective in later shows which concentrated on individual species, but the wealth of images and the well presented information alone is worth every single second of this first-class twelve-part documentary, which baffles and astonishes its viewers time and time again. Nature's diversity is simply overwhelming!

9 out of 10 genitally interlocked wolf mates

The Trials of Life is an amazing show. Highlighting the trials for animals, showing great film such as the iconic orca hunting scene, but it also can be seen as a form of social commentary for the humans. About how animals and humans are quite alike. The beginning, Arrival is a show of how birth can be a hardship, and I'm never gonna know how hard it is, being a man, but my mum doesn't treat it like a painless thing, and I'm sure the stars of that episode don't either. Growing Up is something everything has to do, and it is just as hard for animals as humans. Finding Food shows how hard finding food can be for animals, and indeed for humans as well. By that I mean, not everyone has food at their doorstep and can easily be brought to their mouth. Hunting and Escaping is the thrilling story of staying' alive, whether you're a seal escaping a killer whale, or maybe a human giving up on drugs to escape the hunter. Finding the Way is the tale of finding a way out of things. Finding the Way to the top, or to another place, and Finding the Way is low rating, but it rings truest in the mind frame of sometimes you need to do it yourself, because we may sometimes need a little help, but you can't reply on a natural power, you need to be making it on your own. Homemaking-animals and humans all need a place to go. Living Together-animal species learn to live together, and so can humans. Fighting doesn't have moral relatable meaning, but is probably the best episode, because it's just such a very thrilling adventure. Friends and Rivals-we all need somebody to lean on, as Bill Withers wisely wrote, but not everyone can be our friend, and we need to have rivals because it is normal. Talking to Strangers can be useful as shown by the episode. Courting and Continuing the Line means getting somebody, and sex, which is what you get when you accomplish all of the above. So by David Attenborough making animals relatable, doesn't this make him a genius, doesn't he make you wonder like no other. That is why this, (one of my top 3 Attenboroughs) is great. It makes you see what you really are, the true genius of this program which I highly recommend.