Review of Future Is Wild, The: 200 Million Years In The Future

Introduction

In recent years CGI has unleashed a revolution in natural history programmes, with two series in particular leading the field in innovation, Walking With Dinosaurs and Walking With Mammals. While Steven Spielberg brought dinosaurs back to life for his Jurassic Park movies, the idea to use the same technology for use in a documentary took a few years to implement. But when the programmes came, audiences were hooked as scientific conjecture brought these long extinct animals back to life in our living rooms. The Future is Wild trilogy uses these techniques to look into the future, and hypothesise what strange manner of beasts will inherit the world long after the human race has vanished.

While the first two discs look 5 million and 100 million years hence respectively, the disc I received takes the wildest flight of fancy of all, as it gazes into a crystal ball showing a world 200 million years into the future. Mass extinctions have come and gone and tectonic shifts have once again rendered the face of the Earth unrecognisable. One giant continent remains, surrounded by a massive ocean and strange beasts inhabit the world. The Future is Wild travels from the depths of the oceans to the harshest deserts and reveals the kind of menagerie that could come to pass. Various scientists and professors who work in the field of natural history and evolution guide us through our tour. The animals that we encounter all have a basis in science and could indeed be in our distant future.

Video

The Picture is presented in a 1.78:1 anamorphic format and it is a faithful reproduction of a European television programme. The live segments are clear enough and the copious usage of CGI for the creatures as well as virtual backgrounds for the various professors is always sharp and colourful. Some of the natural history films are naturally subject to the media and conditions is which they were filmed and occasionally the CGI suffers from macro blocking, especially in the ocean scenes. The CGI itself is variable, occasionally it is mediocre but on the whole it is seamlessly blended into the live environments.

Audio

You get a choice of DD 5.1 English or DD 5.1 German. I reviewed the German release of this title so I had a little problem with the menus, but a UK specific release identical in all but language is scheduled. The sound is perfectly adequate, with appropriate natural history type music and occasional effects for the various animals. The most important thing is that the dialogue is clear throughout.

Features

Some nice menus, in keeping with the style of the programme

From the main feature itself you can access a `white rabbit` option, where you will be taken to the 3D animation and information screen whenever a silhouette appears pertaining to a particular animal.

In the extras the bonus section contains two clips. One is one of those humorous montages where the various scientists are made to look like idiots through careful editing and reversal of footage. Laugh? I almost grimaced. Mercifully it only lasts a minute. There is also a 4-minute interview with John Adams and Ruth Omphalius.

There is a picture gallery with some 15 pictures of the various critters

There is a sound gallery with four sounds from said critters.

A 3D animation section showcases the CGI pertaining to 5 animals and also has some notes pertaining to that specific animal. This is the section that is accessed via the white rabbit option.

There are biographies for the scientists who contributed to the series as well as notes about the series.

There are two trailers for the 5 million and 100 million year episodes of this series.

A supplementary 12 page booklet to go with the series.

Finally there are DVD Rom weblinks for your PC.

Conclusion

I really enjoyed the Future is Wild, as it`s the sort of natural history programme that is the perfect blend of entertainment and education. The enthusiastic scientists, reminiscent of the longhaired character from the Fast Show, coupled with the immersive CGI make for a good blend. Ultimately however this disc is a disappointment solely for the abbreviated running time. Just as I was beginning to get into the programme it was all over.

If you are at all familiar with the Walking with Dinosaurs concept then you will know what to expect from this title. Biology like any other science conforms to certain rules. What scientists have learned thus far about the natural world and evolution, through observation is that life, like gas expands to fill its environment. Organisms will form to exploit every aspect of the natural world, from the ocean to the land and the air, from jungles to mountains to deserts. They`ve learnt this from Palaeontology as well as observation of the natural world today, as the dinosaurs evolved to fill their environment, then following a mass extinction mammals did exactly the same. Mammals evolved from as small rodent like creature to the many kinds of animals that exist in the world today. Scientists can extrapolate evolutionary trends and conjecture what will happen many years hence, and with the aid of CGI technology this programme brings their wildest ideas to life. Superimposing their digital creations over live backgrounds, just like Walking with Dinosaurs, we can learn that the squid shall inherit the earth.

The Future is Wild is a great idea, and the mix of expert opinion coupled with brilliantly realised CGI makes for an enthralling title where scientist can play with their wildest ideas. I personally found the farmer termites fascinating. Unfortunately the world of 200 million years from now only gets 42 minutes devoted to it. That`s hardly enough time to scratch the surface of the subject. I felt as if each animal should have got an episode devoted to it alone and was left wanting to know more about the squid with a cloaking device, the sharks that hunted in packs, and the squibbons. As it is, The Future Is Wild is little more than an advert, and I`m left hoping that this is a pilot for a more in depth series.