Review of Winged Migration (2001) by Senh D — 07 Dec 2003

Wow. The cinematography is stunning. I'm not sure which is a better looking film - this or Hero. I'm leaning towards this mainly because there are so many of them and such a huge variety of them. There are shots all over the world as the birds migrate.

Some of the shots are just unbelievable. The cameramen were able to get so close to these birds as they fly across sea, land, and sky that you almost felt like you could pet them. Some shots, mostly the mass bird sequences, I thought had to be special effects, but they were all real.

This documentary is pretty simple, content wise. There's some narration to inform viewers how many miles are traveled by the migrating birds to their destination. Then it's mainly just shots of different birds migrating across the world. There are also some stupid animal tricks peppered throughout the film. I know, doesn't this get tedious? Nope. I was glued to the TV until it was over, and I was really, really tired. I was glued mainly because of the variety of shots, the stupid animal tricks, and some eye-popping sequences.

I wish that I would have seen this on IMAX. It would have been an incredible experience.

I learned from the featurette on the DVD that they were able to get so close to the birds while they're flying because of a theory called "Imprinting." Certain birds, after hatching, will think the first living thing they see are their parents. So the filmmakers hired a bunch of biology interns to be there when the birds hatch. They also play pre-recorded noise from powered para-gliders, boats, and cars so the birds would get used to being followed by them. The interns would live with and raise the birds as if they're their children. When they're all grown up and are ready to migrate, the filmmakers would follow them with the interns. And yes, these interns do pet the geese as they fly in mid-air.