The Blue Planet: Seas of Life, Vols. 3 & 4

"Tidal Seas" explores the myriad life forms that thrive when lunar gravity pulls the oceans offshore. These include surfing snails, diving osprey, breeding stingray, and bottlenose dolphin digging for razorfish in the shallow tidal flats. In a delightful time-lapse sequence, sand bubbler crabs clean an entire beach for food, leaving millions of filtered sand balls in their paths. "Coasts" is easily the most brutal episode, but no less mesmerizing. Here we witness the battles of elephant seals, the tenacity of Galapagos iguanas, and the mating rituals of the walrus. Surely the most unexpected, and horrifying, sequence is that of the orca, earning its "killer whale" nickname by capturing, killing, and tail-tossing a seal pup--a performance so mysteriously primal that even the most seasoned marine biologist will be utterly amazed. Stunningly photographed, The Blue Planet: Seas of Life represents a filmmaking legacy that will reward viewers for many years to come. --Jeff Shannon

With that out of the way... I liked these, but the "wow" factor of the imagery is nowhere near as high on these discs as on the first two discs. Parts of these episodes feel like re-cycles from prior discs (how many different scenes of whales and birds eating up shoals of fish packed into balls do we need?), and the long segments on seafarig birds felt out of place. Also, some really suspect computer graphics work rears its head in these two specials a bit too often, which really pulls the viewer out of the experience.

Still, that being said, these are darn good documentaries for eye-candy, and leagues ahead of the competition. It's just that compared to some of the jaw-dropping material on discs 1 and 2, these two come up somewhat lacking. I don't regret purchasing them, I just know that in the future I won't be re-watching them anywhere near as often as discs 1 and 2.