| | | Blu-Ray Disc, Beyond High Definition.|Academy Award Nominee - Best Documentary Feature 2002.
Features: Widescreen, Aspect Ratio 1.85:1, Dolby Digital (5.1), French, Dubbed & Subtitled, English, Spanish
Rolling Stone raved that Winged Migration, the critically acclaimed, awe-inspiring documentary, is "A movie miracle! It soars! You feel privileged!"Witness as five film crews follow a rich variety of bird migrations through 40 countries and each of the seven continents. With teams totaling more than 450 people, 17 pilots, and 14 cinematographers, they used planes, gliders, helicopters and balloons to fly alongside, above, below, and in front of their subjects. The result is a film of staggering beauty that Entertainment Weekly hailed as "Mesmerizing!" and the Los Angeles Times applauded as "Breathtaking! As lofty as it is exhilarating!" Open your eyes to the wonders of the natural world as you fly along with the world's most gorgeous birds through areas as remote as the Arctic and the Amazon and as populated as Paris and New York City. See why USA Today found it to be "one of the most beautiful films to come out this year!"
"As humbling as it is remarkable." Joe Baltake, Sacramento Bee
"Showcases the beauty and natural talents of a cast of thousands..." John Beifuss, Commercial Appeal
"...a film of staggering beauty that will open your eyes to one of the wonders of the natural world...a must see." Jules Brenner, FilmCritic.com
"A work of visual poetry." Kirk Honeycutt, The Hollywood Reporter
"As magnificent as it is perplexing." Marjorie Baumgarten, Austin Chronicle
Editor's Note
Jacques Perrin (MICROCOSMOS) presents this dramatically beautiful documentary about bird migratory patterns, featuring breathtaking photography and hypnotic music. The film covers seven continents during four seasons, highlighting species both unique and common. From puffins in Iceland, whooper swans in Japan, bald eagles in Arizona, flamingos in Kenya, albatross in New Zealand, macaw in Peru, geese in Nepal, and plenty of cranes and storks in the director's native France, WINGED MIGRATION is literally a tour of the world from a bird's eye view. Filmed over the course of three year's time, the production for the movie was extensive to say the least. Using a crew of over 450 people broken up into five teams, new photographic techniques were invented specifically for the purpose of filming flocks of birds in flight. Balloon, helicopter, helicopter model, remote controlled glider, traditional glider, delta plane, and ultra-light motorized aircraft are the flying devices used to achieve the film's incredible camera angles. In fact, because birds were trained to be unafraid of the delta plane, photographers were able to fly alongside flocks, sometimes filming birds as they gazed into the camera's lens while also keeping in focus the dramatic landscape unfolding below. WINGED MIGRATION takes viewers on a unique journey soaring over the Earth as few films have ever done before.
| Features | A "Making-Of" Featurette | | Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, PCM 5.1 Stereo | | Audio: French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound | | Director's Audio Commentary | | Dubbed: French | | Interactive Menus | | Scene Selection | | Subtitles: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, Thai | | This Is A Blu-Ray DVD Made For Blue-Laser Format Players Which Produce Higher Quality Picture And Sound |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Sony Pictures |
| Release Date: 4/7/2009 |
| Running Time: 89 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2003 | | Catalog ID: 17968 | | UPC: 00043396179684 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: French | | Available Audio Tracks: English Dubbed, French | | Available Subtitles: English, French, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai, Chinese | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Widescreen 1.85:1 |
| Cast & Crew | Bruno Coulais - Original Music By | | Christophe Barratier - Producer | | Jacques Perrin, et. al. - Director | | Jean de Tregomain - Executive Producer | | Jean Dorst, et. al. - Writer | | Marie-Josephe Yoyotte - Editor | | Olli Barbe, et. al. - Cinematographer | | Philippe Labro - Narrated By | | Regis Nicolino - Production Designer |
| Awards |
Nominee (2003) | | | Oscar, Jacques Perrin, Best Documentary, Features | |
Oscar (2003) | | | Jacques Perrin, Nominee, Best Documentary, Features |
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| | Professional Reviews | New York Times
"The breathtaking cinematography of migrating birds in Jacques Perrin's mystical documentary WINGED MIGRATION transports you to an exalted realm where nature operates under its own inviolable laws..." 04/18/2003 p.E14USA Today
"...One of the most beautiful films to come out this year or any other....It is an exquisite plea for ecological rationality. Audiences are left with awe for the filmmaking crew and for the wonders of nature..." 04/18/2003 p.13D Rolling Stone
"...Perrin gets so close to the intimate beauty of flight, you feel privileged....A movie miracle; it soars..." 05/01/2003 p.64 Chicago Sun-Times
"...Awesome to regard....It wants us to look, simply look, at birds -- and that goal it achieves magnificently..." 05/02/2003 p.31 Los Angeles Times
"...MIGRATION is best understood as a kind of travelogue, taking us into worlds we have not seen and places we can't get to on our own..." 05/02/2003 p.C10 Sight and Sound
"...Remarkable....WINGED MIGRATION's strengths come from its acute and unsentimental observation of these most symbolic of creatures..." 07/01/2003 p.60 Entertainment Weekly
"...Perrin creates images so crisp they seem almost too perfect to be real..." 11/21/2003 p.69 Total Film
"It's a trip full of adventure and breathtaking beauty..." 04/01/2004 p.122 A.V. Club
"[A] beautifully photographed film about the astonishing journey birds make each year from one habitat to another." -- Grade: B 04/08/2009 ReelViews 8 of 10
Generally speaking, documentary viewers are divided into two categories: those who can't stand "nature" programs and those who love them. Considering the popularity of the Discovery Channel on television, the latter group is well populated. And, while Winged Migration is a significant cut above the average National Geographic Special (in terms of scope and cinematography), its appeal lies with the same core viewing audience. If you're fascinated (or just mildly curious) about birds and their habits, this is a must-see. If you don't care or bored by the subject matter, even the majesty of a film like Winged Migration may be unable to pique your interest...Winged Migration is a fascinating motion picture. It certainly isn't the ultimate documentary about birds and their migratory habits (any more than Microcosmos was the ultimate documentary about insects), but it's an excellent surface-level introduction that delivers some of the most amazing images of any movie in recent history. At its opening, Winged Migration informs us that no special effects were used in composing the film. It's good to know that, because some of the visuals offered by Winged Migration are more impressive than the most complex digital shot in The Matrix Reloaded. - James Berardinelli
Chicago Sun-Times 8 of 10
Jacques Perrin's Oscar-nominated "Winged Migration" does for birds what the 1996 documentary "Microcosmos" did for insects: It looks at them intimately, very close up, in shots that seem impossible to explain. That the two plots intersect (birds eat insects) is just one of those things...The movie, which is awesome to regard, is not particularly informative; it tells us that birds fly south in the winter (unless they live in the Southern Hemisphere, in which case they fly north)...But facts are not the purpose of "Winged Migration." It wants to allow us to look, simply look, at birds--and that goal it achieves magnificently. There are sights here I will not easily forget...I am pleased, actually, that the film has such a tilt toward the visual and away from information. I wouldn't have wanted the narrator to drone away in my ear, reading me encyclopedia articles and making sentimental comments about the beauty of it all. Life is a hard business, and birds work full time at it. I was shocked by a sequence showing ducks in magnificent flight against the sky, and then dropping one by one as hunters kill them. The birds have flown exhaustingly for days to arrive at this end. It's not so much that I blame the hunters as that I wish the ducks could shoot back. - Roger Ebert
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