Rating: 
Summary: I am a dumbass who can't spell
Review: I purchased the Living Seas collection which was very nice. so I thought this series would be equally well done. what an unpleasant surprise!!! I am appalled at the blatant evolutionism that is being crammed down your throat during the entire program. I don't share the evolution view and don't appreciate Mr Attenborough, or anyone for that matter, trying to indoctrinate my children with this view which is expressed during the entire program (all 4 CD's) I expected a well narrated and documented account of the animal world. Instead I got what seemed like a hastily put together series -which I gues was built upon the success of the previous series- wherein Mr. Attenborough hopps to differrent parts of the world trying to explain how natural evolution really is despite the fact that quite the contrary is true; The big bang theory isn't true, we did not happen by accident, we didn't evolve from monkeys over millions of years, etc. I am sorely dissapointed by the NARRATOR now taking the center of the stage and appearing on screen in the middle of each section, he is no longer the NARRATOR, he is now the "star". Had I wanted that I would have looked for the movie: "David Attenborough, a lesson in indoctrination".I would NOT recommend this series, If you watch the animal channel you've probably already see all what this series has to offer, except if you're looking for a lesson (read lie) in evolution.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful for the family!
Review: I purchased this DVD set for my 3 1/2 year old son. We have a DVD player in the car and I wanted something educational for him to watch. Well, did I get what I asked for! He prefers to watch his "animal movie" over ALL other options and he is more knowledgeable about mammals than I am. He often provides us with interesting animal facts and pretends to be many of the animals he learns about in the DVD. The DVD is also very interesting for us, his parents, as well. The things captured on film combined with the soundtrack and commentary are amazing! As a parent, you do need to be comfortable that your child will be seeing graphic occurances in nature: birth, death, aggression, etc. My child has not been the least bit frightened or bothered by anything in the DVD series.
Rating: 
Summary: Both fantastic and a little dissapointing...
Review: I will not shirk Attenborough's knighthood. He certainly deserves the title, probably far more than a plenty of others. I can't pick a series of his that I haven't enjoyed, but having now watched this series through a couple times, I'm struck with a sense that I've seen all this before. And, well, maybe I have. Back in seventies, Attenborough and his team were given apparently limitless funds and some seven years or so to make the most amazing nature documentary possible--and they did. Life on Earth redefined the scope of what you could do with with a science program. It was something like the Citizen Kane of nature shows, covering the evolution of life on earth (all 3.5 billion years!) The only problem is what do you do for an encore...well, you do The Living Planet, Trials of Live, The Life of Birds, Life in the Freezer, Secret Life of Plants, etc. etc. And of course, The Life of Mammals. And not a one was I dissapointed with (though there are two I haven't seen yet), yet everyone felt a little lesser than the original 'Life on Earth'. At least with 'Life of Plants' he's mostly covering new material (and hence this is one of his stronger outings, but with Mammals, we have what is more or less a rehash of material already covered extensively in Life On Earth and Trials of Life (and probably Living Planet, but I haven't seen this one yet.) That isn't necessarily a bad thing since Sir Attenborough has all new equipment this time round, a gorgeous soundtrack and as always a top notch crew that is both talented and dedicated in their filming of animals from all over the world. The question however is if the new footage justifies a new series. And...well...I'm not really sure. I love owning these DVDs and I really enjoy watching them. They are extensively entertaining while in truth not really breaking any ground that David Attenborough didn't first break himself back in 1979. My final take is that if you haven't seen the older series, this is DEFINITELY worth it. It's absolutely a work of quality and we're lucky to get DVDs of these BBC releases. For fans of Attenborough's work however, this becomes a different matter. Side by side with 'life on earth', 'Mammals' feels rather vacant but still enjoyable.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent BBC nature documentary series...
Review: In my home, we're all big fans of nature documentaries, Discovery Channel, National Geographic, etc. We bought The Life of Mammals sight unseen after having enjoyed the entire Blue Planet series. My two year old loved Blue Planet so much that, while I hate to admit it, my wife and I were looking for something else for him to watch. By looking at Amazon's "customers who bought this also bought" area on Blue Planet, we've since acquired other BBC documentaries for the kids to watch - The Life of Birds and Walking with Dinosaurs. The Life of Mammals is a series of episodes, similar to Blue Planet. However, I will say that the footage, while excellent, is not nearly as spectacular as I found Blue Planet to be. I think that's the only reason The Life of Mammals gets 4 stars from me and not 5. Our son loves it just as much, so who am I to complain? The episodes in this series are as follows: A WINNING DESIGN - sort of an overview on mammals, their variety and why they thrive; features echidna, platypus (a favorite of our little boy), possum, kangaroos, and yapoks. INSECT HUNTERS - features some unbelievable aerial footage of bats catching bugs; the anteater and pangolin are also excellent. PLANT PREDATORS - our son's favorite episode largely due to giraffes and elephants; the picas and bison are also favorites, as well as a sequence about how African plant eaters deal with predators that consists mostly of running CHISELLERS - mostly deals with rodents and other...well...vermin, including beavers, prairie dogs, ground squirrels, marmots, etc. MEAT EATERS - another favorite of my sons, mostly because of the lions and other cats - we were concerned that some of the predation scenes might be a little bloody for him, but that wasn't the case at all; the tiger footage is spectacular OPPORTUNISTS - can't say I enjoyed this one that much, as it features a lot of animals I consider to be pests; I will say that it gave me new insights into racoons and the rat scenes were incredible (although disgusting) RETURN TO THE WATER - featuring sea otters, seals, dolphins and whales, this episode is most similar in footage to Blue Planet LIFE IN THE TREES - deals with the tree canopy as a distinct ecosystem, requiring specific skills to survive; features meercats, sun bears (the best climbing bear), fruit bats, loris, lemurs and gibbons SOCIAL CLIMBERS - largely about primates, and how monkeys and apes have complex social structures; features uakaris, tamarin, guenons, macaques, and geladas. FOOD FOR THOUGHT - I hate to say it, but I think this is my least favorite episode because it seems to deal as much with people as it does with mammals. It is interesting, but I can't say that it has the same replay value as the rest of the series, particularly for our son. Throughout the series, David Attenborough is his stately, understated self. Unlike in Blue Planet, where he simply narrates, Attenborough makes appearances in this series. He's so scientific that sometimes, it's kind of funny - like when he narrates hedgehogs trying to mate in his back yard. Anyway, we found this entire series to be thoroughly enjoyable, educational and a treat for our son as well.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent BBC nature documentary series...
Review: In my home, we're all big fans of nature documentaries, Discovery Channel, National Geographic, etc. We bought The Life of Mammals sight unseen after having enjoyed the entire Blue Planet series. My two year old loved Blue Planet so much that, while I hate to admit it, my wife and I were looking for something else for him to watch. By looking at Amazon's "customers who bought this also bought" area on Blue Planet, we've since acquired other BBC documentaries for the kids to watch - The Life of Birds and Walking with Dinosaurs. The Life of Mammals is a series of episodes, similar to Blue Planet. However, I will say that the footage, while excellent, is not nearly as spectacular as I found Blue Planet to be. I think that's the only reason The Life of Mammals gets 4 stars from me and not 5. Our son loves it just as much, so who am I to complain? The episodes in this series are as follows: A WINNING DESIGN - sort of an overview on mammals, their variety and why they thrive; features echidna, platypus (a favorite of our little boy), possum, kangaroos, and yapoks. INSECT HUNTERS - features some unbelievable aerial footage of bats catching bugs; the anteater and pangolin are also excellent. PLANT PREDATORS - our son's favorite episode largely due to giraffes and elephants; the picas and bison are also favorites, as well as a sequence about how African plant eaters deal with predators that consists mostly of running CHISELLERS - mostly deals with rodents and other...well...vermin, including beavers, prairie dogs, ground squirrels, marmots, etc. MEAT EATERS - another favorite of my sons, mostly because of the lions and other cats - we were concerned that some of the predation scenes might be a little bloody for him, but that wasn't the case at all; the tiger footage is spectacular OPPORTUNISTS - can't say I enjoyed this one that much, as it features a lot of animals I consider to be pests; I will say that it gave me new insights into racoons and the rat scenes were incredible (although disgusting) RETURN TO THE WATER - featuring sea otters, seals, dolphins and whales, this episode is most similar in footage to Blue Planet LIFE IN THE TREES - deals with the tree canopy as a distinct ecosystem, requiring specific skills to survive; features meercats, sun bears (the best climbing bear), fruit bats, loris, lemurs and gibbons SOCIAL CLIMBERS - largely about primates, and how monkeys and apes have complex social structures; features uakaris, tamarin, guenons, macaques, and geladas. FOOD FOR THOUGHT - I hate to say it, but I think this is my least favorite episode because it seems to deal as much with people as it does with mammals. It is interesting, but I can't say that it has the same replay value as the rest of the series, particularly for our son. Throughout the series, David Attenborough is his stately, understated self. Unlike in Blue Planet, where he simply narrates, Attenborough makes appearances in this series. He's so scientific that sometimes, it's kind of funny - like when he narrates hedgehogs trying to mate in his back yard. Anyway, we found this entire series to be thoroughly enjoyable, educational and a treat for our son as well.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: It's too bad that many people are too closed minded to realize that evolution is not something you can believe in, but something that happened/happens. Saying you don't "believe" in the color yellow doesn't mean it doesn't exist. This documentary helps show the microcosm of evolution...the amazing way many animals developed to live in their environments. It is excellent.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Attenborough
Review: Lets get three things straight:
It's Sir David, not Sir Attenborough;
the BBC does not receive a government subsidy, it is funded by the viewers, the Post Office merely collects the money for it;
in Britain, Creationists are regarded as the lunatic fringe.
If you bear this in mind, Attenborough's achievement can be better understood. Most of the filming is done by a team from the BBC's Natural History Unit.
Rating:
Summary: Simply beautiful
Review: Mammals is another must see from David Attenborough. These DVD's are simply amazing. The photography they shoot in these is just incredible. David Attenborough has the perfect voice to commentate. I love every aspect of these and I watch them over and over again.
If these were just music and the films they shot it would still be amazing without all the fun, exciting, and interesting things you learn. It is that beautiful. There is something about these DVD's that is so relaxing, I just love to turn them on and lay down and nap to the relaxing background music and David talking me to sleep.
This is a DVD set that will rarely leave your player, it is the fruits of a lot of hard work by the crew. Buy it and enjoy it to the fullest.
I also strongly recommend Blue Planet in addition to the Mammals DVD's, buy them both, sit back, relax, learn, and enjoy. David Attenborough does very good work and I highly recommend all of his documentary work.
Good stuff.
Rating:
Summary: Get a life, Creation theorists!!!!
Review: patrickpk3 has some nerve posting his ridiculous review here. The Creation theorists are the ones trying to indoctrinate America's kids, Christian and non-Christian. Why can't these Christians leave non-Christians alone? You don't see members of other religions going door to door in poor neighborhoods trying to convert people to Christianity. This series tells it like it is. Evolution is TRUE. All the fundamental Christian wackos say it is false. They are so deluded by their religious fanaticism that it is scary. This film will leave you in awe of mammals. The hunting scenes are spectacular and the photo of the running Siberian tiger on the front cover shows the true power and majesty of this amazing mammal.
Rating:
Summary: PERFECTION ACHIEVED
Review: the commentary at the top of this list is so mind poisoning, i am now a dumber person for reading it. i think perhaps ma and pa kettle put that one together. keep on truckin, moron.
David Attenborough is welcome on my screen anytime, especially when he is accompanied by the brilliance demonstrated here in the "life of mammals". crystal clear filmography, and scenes only the most experienced crews in the world can provide. I continually tip my hat to the BBC, who never cease to amaze me. I for one, will never question one of thier products again. as long as the BBC is on the label, I will be confident enough to buy it with out review.
I literally come out of my chair, when i review some of the scenes here. I am still in awe. Buy this and share its brilliance with everyone you know. even morons...
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