Wildes Russland (TV Mini Series) Der Kaukasus (2009) User Reviews

Incredible Mountains & Unique Wildlife

[ccthemovieman-1 · 10/10 · 31 January 2010]

This amazing regions offers everything from the 15th lowest spot on the planet to majestic mountains that rival the Rockies. In fact, the latter - the Caucasus Mountains - have to be seen to be believed: an awesome sight considered to be the dividing line between Europe and Asia. Except for some unique Ibex, nothing else resides on these mountains.

In this large region, which is abundant with wildlife, there are some animals which can only been seen in this area, nowhere else in the world. The area resides in the southern part of Russia, near the Caspian Sea.

The photography in this episode of "Wild Russia" - the scenery and the closeups of some incredible animals and birds - is even better than shots I've seen in the great BBC series, "Planet Earth." I lost count how many times my jaw dropped admiring what they were showing.

Don't miss this one. I'm waiting for this series to come out on Blu-Ray, and hope that it does someday. If you like the above-mention "Planet Earth" series, you'll love this.

The Great Divide in the Caucasus

[TheLittleSongbird · 10/10 · 8 June 2018]

Am a big fan of nature documentaries, especially the work of David Attenborough. Having been recommended 'Wild Russia' and loving Russian scenery and music, but with not much knowledge of the wildlife, it was instantly put down on my list as a must see. Also heard nothing but praise for it, so that further sparked interest.

'Wild Russia' is as good as others have said and there is not much to add, it is really one of the best documentaries personally seen and most of the time it actually feels much more than that. Throughout it's an awe-inspiring, utterly transfixing experience where one forgets they're watching a documentary and instead feeling like they're watching art. This may sound like extreme hyperbole, but to me 'Wild Russia' is completely deserving of its praise and even deserving of more.

It starts amazingly with this first episode "Caucasus", which establishes the tone and what to expect from 'Wild Russia' superbly.

It is hard knowing when to start with the praise. "Caucasus" for starters looks amazing, reasons enough to make book a trip to Russia. It is gorgeously filmed, done in a completely fluid and natural, sometimes intimate (a great way of connecting even more with the animals), way and never looking static. In fact much of it is remarkably cinematic. The scenery and habitats are some of the most breath-taking personally seen anywhere, whether in visual media and real life. The rich colours just leap out and mountain scenery has rarely been more spectacular. The music here is a remarkably good fit, throughout it not only complements the visuals but enhances them and there is an authentic flavour to it.

What of the narrative and information aspects? Can't fault "Caucasus" in this aspect either. The narration has a great well-balanced mix of facts that will be familiar to the viewer and others that will induce the right amount of surprise. In short, it's just fascinating, informative and thoughtful.

From start to finish, "Caucasus" managed to intrigue and illuminate, and there is a freshness to the material, not feeling derivative of anything. The narration, both in the English and German versions (the former being a little more expressive to me), is delivered beautifully, there's an enthusiasm and precision about the delivery and it never feels preachy.

The wildlife themselves are quite unique (especially the lynx) and a wonderful mix of the adorable and the dangerous, and one actually finds they're rooting for them in exactly the same way they would a human character. "Caucasus" contains a good deal of suspense and emotional impact. There are some scenes where one is amazed that they managed to be filmed in the first place.

"Caucasus" doesn't feel like an episode of a series and it doesn't feel episodic or repetitive. "Caucasus" instead feels like its own story, without being too reliant on that approach, with real, complex emotions and animal characters developed in a way a human character would in a film but does it better than several.

Overall, utterly mesmerising. 10/10 Bethany Cox