Rating: 
Summary: JAW-DROPPING, BIRD'S-EYE VIEW!
Review: I've seen many a great nature film, but this one goes straight into the next dimension! Only a few minutes into the film and I knew I was hooked! I was astonished at the way that Mr. Perrin was able to capture these birds, all backdropped by some of the most magnificent vistas seen! The film's realism was such that I was constantly trying to figure-out how Perrin did it! Was a small camera strapped to one bird from each flock, just before their migration? I felt somewhat stupified by the wonder of it, perhaps in the way that a chicken would look at a card trick. Imagine flying alongside these creatures as they go from place to place, getting "A REAL BIRDS-EYE VIEW"! I've never seen anything like it!As great as it was, I didn't care much for the intro speak at the beginning of the film. Why it is that the "Lords of Most Nature Films" seem hell-bent on stating that the beginnings of life started some 400-million years ago is beyond me. At most, it's theoretical conjecture stated as fact.
Rating:
Summary: A Visually Stunning Documentary
Review: Twice a year, birds make long pilgrimages -- migrations -- to find food and to raise their young. Some of these migrations are merely hundreds of miles; others longer than 2500 miles, crossing continents and oceans. Directors Jacques Perrin, Jacques Cluzaud, and Michel Debats and their team spent four years and crossed seven continents to capture these wonderful creatures in their migratory patterns, With stunning cinematography and breathtaking scenery, they put the viewer both above the birds, giving a view of the world as seen from the skies, and at eye level with the birds, flying and gliding alongside them, making the viewer feel as if he/she were part of the flock. Interspersed with some narration and music, they rely much on visuals to show how and why the birds migrate, to show the hardships they must face, such as weather and natural predators, and to display how mankind is making an impact of them through hunting and pollution. Picture and sound quality on the DVD are wonderful, much better than when I saw it in the theater. Also included are director's commentary and featurettes on the making of the film and of the music. (I highly recommend the making of the film just to give an idea of what the film crews went through to create this remarkble film.) A first-rate documentary.
Rating: 
Summary: A remarkable accomplishment
Review: My lovely bride and I were fortunate to see this at the Seattle Film Festival, and were very impressed by the scope and achievement of this work. Seeing it on DVD would be nice, but I can't imagine it would compare at all to the experience of seeing it on the big screen. The filmmakers spent three years collecting their amazing images of all types of birds migrating north to south and back again (the Wall Street Journal had an article about how they did it; I seem to recall it involved a lot of graduate students). What they've put together is a wonderful example of what the cinematographic art can do when not encumbered by special effects, computer animation, or even much of a narrative line. The timeless, God-ordained patterns of migration are enough of a plot to drive 90 minutes of great visuals. There's a surprising mix here of drama, humor, choreography, some danger, some death, and mesmerizing images of huge flocks swooping and diving as one. An hour and a half of bird pictures might sound pretty snooze-inducing to a lot of people, but don't compare this to run-of-the-mill nature documentaries on TV. It's something quite different, and even folks who aren't particularly into birds or nature films should probably give this a chance. You might find it, as I did, surprisingly rewarding.
Rating:
Summary: Let's appreciate birds
Review: Too many people have taken the time to bash this exquisite and wonderful film that celebrates the avian life on earth. I, for one, take offense to their lies and misleading "facts". First of all, there are TWO bird-hunting scenes in the film. One takes place in the Adirondack Mountains of New York and involves snow geese and the other takes place in a marsh somewhere in EUROPE and involves greylag geese. Second, to obtain the spectacular footage for the film, the birds shown in the film HAD to be IMPRINTED. Otherwise, it would have been impossible to film them up-close on their migration routes. Which wild birds do you know of that would let filmmakers fly close to them while they are flying their migration routes? Answer that, critics of the film!!!! Third, the birds were taken to a wildlife sanctuary in Normandy, France, after the filming was over. They are taken care of by seven workers. This film is GORGEOUS and all bird lovers should see it. Ignore the people who feel compelled to bash it. After having read Errol Fuller's book "Extinct Birds", I felt lucky and honored to be able to see up close and personal today's birds in wonderful flight. Fuller's book contains illustrations and descriptions of so many EXTINCT birds that it saddened me. Watching "Winged Migration" has uplifted my spirits. Man has caused the extinction of at least 75 bird species since the year 1600. Be glad that a small percentage, but wide variety, of today's bird species are captured on film for your viewing pleasure and for posterity. If passenger pigeons, which once numbered in the BILLIONS, were still alive today, I have no doubt that footage of their SPECTACULAR mass migration flights would be included in this film. Such footage would make the starling flight footage in the film look puny in comparison.
Rating:
Summary: Those Wonderful Travelling Birds.
Review: 'Winged Migration', also released under the title, 'Travelling Birds', is like watching a beautiful ballet as we marvel at nature in all its splendour, movement and colour. Following the annual pilgrimage of birds across the globe, this French made film resonates with a cyclical rhythm beginning and ending near a stream somewhere in the countryside: Various scenes also show birds on their forward journey passing familiar landmarks or landing to greet a friendly farmer, then months later returning to these same points of contact with the Earth below. The behaviour of our feathered friends is explained by following their flight through many different climatic and geographic conditions, with only minimal voice over narration. We see a bird entrapped by enormous crabs on a beach in Africa, a flock escaping an avalanche in the North Pole and being shot at by hunters in Europe. But mostly we are lifted up by the sight of birds soaring through the sky in such impressive and eye-popping close-up photography, that you often feel very much at one with them by seeing the world through their eyes. Whether it's traversing the spectacular peaks of Monument Valley, New York's Statue of Liberty or the River Seine in Paris, these 'starring' birds are a joy to watch. The sight of penguins standing on a beach looking out across the ocean is also a delight: One could swear they look like little people surveying the awesome scale of the surrounding elements. But again there is that wonderful dance, as flocks form giant spirally patterns on the edge of space. It is not surprising then that this film has enjoyed such great success here, playing to full houses at many cinemas for months.
Rating:
Summary: Visually stunning, conceptually problematic
Review: I originally reviewed this when it came out in the theaters, and now that I've experienced the DVD, I'm even more concerned. As many reviewers here have noted (to their peril!), this is not a National Geographic documentary. It is not agenda free. This vehicle is freighted with all kinds of "messages," so much so that the beauty of the birds gets caught in the net of earnestness. No one can deny that the visual images presented to us in "Winged Migration" are breathtaking and unforgettable. What is forgettable is the narration that Perrin forces upon the images. In an apparent attempt to give the film some kind of symmetry or narrative arc, Perrin tries to tie it all together with insightful commentary. There is literally nothing interesting in the narration nor is there any information offered that any high school science student couldn't offer as well. What's worse, there seems to be a "birds good, people bad" message underlying all of this. Another annoyance is the effort to unite all these species of birds in the concept of migration. Honestly, can you honestly compare penguins and parrots with geese and finches? They may all be birds, but their stories and journeys are remarkably different. The computer animation seems out of place as well, feeling like another attempt by the filmmakers to make the footage fit together. So much of it seems like an after-thought. The selection of which birds to include seems haphazard. Sure, they all look good on film, but is there truly anything unifying beyond, "They're all birds and they move from place to place." The images don't need much commentary at all. The graphics tell us what bird is being featured and how far it travels. The commentary misses the most interesting aspects of the footage, namely the community of birds that we witness on the screen. Why try to extract a unifying theme at all. Lose the narrator and the "story" and just let the birds fly (or swim). See this film for the beautiful images of birds in flight, but you'll have to forgive the awkward and contrived human element.
Rating:
Summary: Spectacular
Review: For anyone who loves nature, wildlife and birds in particular, this film is a must-see. It was one of the most beautiful documentaries I've ever seen and own. It was clearly a real labor of love to make and one that I'm very thankful to have seen. Thumbs up to the French.
Rating:
Summary: A SIGHT FOR 'SOAR' EYES
Review: All these gloating reviews are right on the nose, what an intimate tribute to our fine-feathered friends!
And it's not merely your generic National Geographic visual of glorious flora and fauna from round the globe. If you savour a well-made film, or if you are an aspiring documentary producer, this one's a must-watch. I hesitate to call it a documentary, it's so riveting it's nearly a silent film with a cast of thousands.
The production values are stunning and make you frequently wonder How They Did That. The answer to which is a combination of gliders, balloons, helicopters and a special type of aircraft known as the Ultra Light Motorized craft that had a camera tied to it. It took 2 years to film this hour and a half. If I may, the 'screenplay' is fantastic.
Then there's the creative employment of sound. Often the only background score is the fluttering of wings; the cameras get so close we can see the birds' muscles straining as they thump the air.
Nature's rhythm is so balanced one cannot help but wonder how magnificent its choreographer must be. One species of cranes does a sort of dance, almost ballet-like. At least until one of them tumbles over. There's something strangely elegant in the way a flock of predator birds swipe at other birds in the air, or do synchronized swimming on the surface of a lake. Even a relatively grotesque scene with crabs chasing down an injured bird carries along with it a struggle to survive on both ends.
It isn't all pretty pictures though, the film has a subtle undercurrent against man's tinkering with nature. The freedom of flight is suddenly interrupted by hunting, and the score abruptly ends as a gun is fired and a goose falls struggling from the sky. One shot somehow makes a duck decoy in the water scary. Agricultural machinery invades the nest of a hatchling. In another scene, a company rests in an industrial plant, avoiding many obstacles but finding danger in an oily mess.
The beauty of the film lies in how it achieves a sense of natural endurance. Birds have been doing this for as long as they have existed, but a juxtaposed shot of the World Trade Center reminds us how all of our technological and architectural wonders are, in the wider scheme of things, trivial and fleeting.
I do have a minor gripe. The seasonal migration of birds is still quite a mystery (birds fly the same exact route, often thousands of miles, year after year) but the narrative provides little insight into its secrets, content instead in naming the different species and the distances they fly. This was perhaps a directorial decision, there's a lot in the film that needs no language, but still one that I shall deduct a star for.
Treat yourself to it at least once, you'll be struck with awe and envy for those wings in the sky. And what an impeccable gift this DVD should make for your discerning friends.
Rating:
Summary: Bedazzled By All The Pretty Birdies.
Review: Winged Migration is by far the most visually stunning documentary I have ever seen, and it stars some of the most beautiful birds of this continent. I actually saw it twice in the theatre, and I was so mesmerized to see what an amazing journey the birds endured during migration season.
Aside from the impeccable cinematography when capturing the birds on film, it was also quite educational to learn how the birds survive the weather, finding food, and guiding the younger generation. The birds migrate in a group, and sometimes they may not make it to the final destination, because they get shot by the hunters in the wild. I was very disturbed to see that scene. There are some comical moments when the some of the birds have a peculiar behaviours, such as the way they dance or swim or sing. It really showed the characteristics of individual kind of birds.
The soundtrack is very enjoyable, because it is well coordinated with the birds movements. The "making of" in the dvd's special feature is worth watching, because they show you all the behind the scenes and the complicated preparation and training of some the birds including the Canada Geese. It was kind of like Anna Paquin's Fly Away Home.
Rating:
Summary: Winged Migration
Review: Winged Migration is a totally gorgeous film. The first time I saw it, it was actually breath-taking enough to make me remember some lines from Sarah McLachlan's Angel that I love: "In the arms of the angel, fly away from here..." Watching this documentary, you really do feel like you can fly.
The music accompanying it is so dreamy that it really adds to the whole illusion of growing wings and flying with all the birds filmed here. Witness as swans, geese, grouse, terns, pelicans, and many other birds make their way from country to country and back again. A beautiful story told in a few words (text and vocal narration), Winged Migration is my favorite film of all time. There are many times when you find yourself wondering how in the world they did it. The scenes range from touching to breath-taking, from soaring to brutal.
Many people complain that some of the scenes in the movie were not `real;' that some of the birds were imported and others were tame, and that many were saved from life-threatening situations. Perhaps the scenes were not real in the documentary, but the point is that they could still happen. Maybe they weren't able to get it on camera, but they do happen.
This documentary is wonderful. Unlike many I have seen, this one kept my attention the whole time--I was on the edge of my seat the whole time, not wanting it to end. It's so beautiful, it will just take your breath away...
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