A Major Disappointment

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

As said many times, David Attenborough is a national treasure. He may apparently dislike the term, but it is hard to not say that about such a great presenter who has contributed significantly to some of the best programmes (of the documentary genre and overall) the BBC has ever aired/produced.It is really hard picking favourites, let alone a definite favourite, among what Attenborough has done because he has done so many gems, it is the equivalent of trying to choose your favourite ice cream flavour or your favourite operatic role (for examples) and finding you can't pick. 'The Private Life of Plants' manages to do the seemingly impossible (to me that is) in making plants interesting and making one not only appreciating them more but caring for them. When it comes to documentaries on plants, 'The Private Life of Plants' is ground-breaking and one of the best, also one of many Attenborough gems. It has everything that makes so much of his work so wonderful, hence some of the reiteration of my recent reviews for some of his work (being on a nature documentary binge in my spare time), and deserves everything great that has been said about it.First and foremost, 'The Private Life of Plants' looks amazing. It is gorgeously filmed, done in a completely fluid and natural, sometimes intimate (a great way of connecting even more with the plants), way and never looking static. In fact much of it is remarkably cinematic with some of the shots being unique for a documentary series, making one forget that it is a series. The editing is always succinct and smooth and the scenery of all the continents is pure magic.The music score fits very well, never overly grandiose while never being inappropriate while also being a beautiful score in its own right.Again, like so many Attenborough nature/wildlife documentaries, 'The Private Life of Plants' fascinates, teaches, moves, entertains and transfixes. In terms of the facts there was a very good mix of the known ones and the unknown. Likewise with the plants themselves.Narration by Attenborough helps significantly. He clearly knows his stuff and knows what to say and how to say it. He delivers it with his usual richness, soft-spoken enthusiasm and sincerity, never talking down to the viewer and keeping them riveted and wanting to know more.Loved the plants as expected, caring for them in the same way that one would a human. There's as always a wide range of emotions from tense conflict, awe and tear-jerking pathos.Each episode doesn't feel like an episodic stringing of scenes, but instead like the best nature documentaries each feels like their own story and journey, with real, complex emotions and conflicts.Altogether, if one wants to learn more about plants and appreciate them much more 'The Private Life of Plants' couldn't be a more perfect choice. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Actually a lot of episodes start in the ordinary setting of any old English woods, but they seem exotic, particularly when you see a fungus in time lapse.I saw a documentary on David Attenborough a few years ago and remember that this documentary brought a lot of apprehension amongst the producers... "But they're plants, they just sit there, and you're going to make a documentary about that?" I don't think I can name a better one. I don't think I could imagine a better one.It's captivating from cover to cover (especially if you have the DVD version)I even loved the theme music.For those who haven't seen it, Attenborough shows plants to be so much more amazing than animals. They *do* move, some faster than others, they hunt, but the fascination comes in the fact that we're used to wildlife action coming on four legs, it is an alien world when shown properly, but we live in it, it isn't a fictional fantasy creation.What a gift he has. Thank goodness for him, and for the ABC (Australian) and BBC.SS

Who could imagine documentaries could be so entertaining? I rented this one from a public library (US) and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was in five parts on VHS. There is not one scene that is not on location in some exotic site. It is a thoroughly fascinating and educational experience.

The Private Life of Plants is a TV series, which is also available as a VHS video set that is commonly played in high school, and college biology classes. (This is where I first saw it) This series is part of a two-series set. The other of which is a similar series called Trials of Live covering animal life.