Disneynature Wings of Life [DVD/Blu-Ray]

Disneynature Wings of Life DVD / Blu-ray Review, Product Provided for Review…

Today marks the much-anticipated release of Disneynature Wings of Life on Blu-ray and DVD. While previous Disneynature films focused on the grand majesty and overwhelming awesomeness of gorgeous wild beasts, Wings of Life brings attention to a world we can easily dismiss as ordinary and take for granted. Described as an ultimate love story, we get an up-close and amazingly detailed look at the symbiotic relationship of flowers and their many pollinators.

My family and I were floored at the visual footage shown throughout. It was so impressive to actually see a heated hummingbird battle, female bats licking their chops after slurping up nectar from desert cacti with newborns attached, and an orchid slyly planting pollen sacs on an unwitting orchid bee roped into its scheme of survival. It’s one thing to predict the movement of a hefty, larger than life mammal but to get the very moment a Monarch caterpillar sheds its old skin and legs and seamlessly grasps a silk lifeline is nothing short of beguiling. The film seemed a little slow and over-the-top poetic the first 5-10 minutes but captivated our attention from then on.

One thing we kept going back to was how in the world the filmmakers could capture these miniature and fast-moving creatures with such mind-boggling clarity. This bit from the press release helped shed a little light on that:

Wings of Life features extraordinary imagery shot with digital cameras—one capable of frame rates of up to 1500 frames per second, and the use of a pinhole lens, which allowed the cameraman to get within millimeters of an insect subject while retaining a clear view of the background.

Meryl Streep gives life to the featured flowers in a way we never saw in Alice in Wonderland. Her vocal talent draws you into a place where flowers take on a cunning role of manipulating bees, bats, hummingbirds, and butterflies to do their bidding in completing the reproduction cycle they cannot complete on their own. When Meryl says, “I am a flower” and “I am here too”, you can’t help but imagine that she truly represents what the flowers would say if they could. Like a retelling of one’s own story, the angle really engaged my daughter. She is already a lover nature and facts but Wings of Life had her glued to the screen with bright eyes of curiosity.

Building appreciation for these wonders of nature leads to a powerful message – be proactive in helping pollinators and the plants they support thrive. After all, flowers “embody the ultimate love story, a love story that feeds the earth”. This message was drawn out and kind of over-kill. Sometimes less is more.

We watched the DVD version and kept saying, “Wow!” I can’t imagine what this would look like on a big screen 1020p HDTV with Blu-ray! Visually, this had to be my favorite Disneynature film yet. The Blu-ray/DVD also includes a sneak peak of Bears, the 2014 Disneynature adventure set in the great outdoors of Alaska.

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I was provided with the above product for review purposes. No other compensation was received.