Werner Herzog: Encounters in the Natural World [Blu-ray]

• 4-Disc Box Set
• UK Import
• Blu-ray
• Region-Free

Werner Herzog directed this fascinating documentary that takes you on a thrilling trip to the South Pole. Focusing on the eclectic and quirky staff of Antarctica's McMurdo research station--including a banker-turned-bus driver, an amateur contortionist, and a plumber who purports to have royal Aztec ancestral roots--Herzog paints a compelling portrait of a group of people living in one of nature's harshest and most unforgiving landscapes. 101 min. Widescreen (Enhanced); Soundtracks: English Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital stereo; Subtitles: English (SDH); audio commentary by Herzog, others; featurettes; interview; theatrical trailer. Two-disc set.Just about anywhere Werner Herzog goes becomes an interesting place, in part because the director shapes it with his distinctively sardonic eye. In Encounters at the End of the ! World, the 'Zog heads off to Antarctica, finding there a population of unusual people, hallucinatory underwater life, and penguins. He doesn't appear on camera, but the unmistakably Teutonic Herzog voice is very much with us all the time, a baleful tour guide for this blank destination. In the human outposts of Antarctica, Herzog finds the kind of people you might expect would gravitate to the edge of existence--the curious, the oddball, the wanderers who've run out of other places to explore. He finds some deadpan hilarity, especially in filming a communication drill involving people practicing blizzard conditions (they wear buckets over their heads while roped together). The underwater photography (a realm previously explored in Herzog's The Wild Blue Yonder) is by Henry Kaiser, and it meshes perfectly with the director's interest in alien eye-scapes. And when Herzog finally does find penguins, his imagination goes to the idea that some penguins go insane, scur! rying off into their own suicidal directions. This isn't as ar! resting a film as Grizzly Man, but it is an entertaining travelogue spiked with quirky observations. --Robert HortonIn the most hostile, barren, alien environment on the planet...you meet the most interesting people. Welcome to Antarctica - like you've never experienced it. You've seen the extraordinary marine life, the retreating glaciers and, of course, the penguins, but leave it to award-winning, iconoclastic filmmaker Werner Herzog (Grizzly Man, Rescue Dawn) to be the first to explore the South Pole's most fascinating inhabitants...humans. In this one-of-kind documentary, Herzog turns his camera on a group of remarkable individuals, "professional dreamers" who work, play and struggle to survive in a harsh landscape of mesmerizing, otherworldly beauty - perhaps the last frontier on earth.Just about anywhere Werner Herzog goes becomes an interesting place, in part because the director shapes it with his distinctively sardonic eye. In Encounters at the End of the W! orld, the 'Zog heads off to Antarctica, finding there a population of unusual people, hallucinatory underwater life, and penguins. He doesn't appear on camera, but the unmistakably Teutonic Herzog voice is very much with us all the time, a baleful tour guide for this blank destination. In the human outposts of Antarctica, Herzog finds the kind of people you might expect would gravitate to the edge of existence--the curious, the oddball, the wanderers who've run out of other places to explore. He finds some deadpan hilarity, especially in filming a communication drill involving people practicing blizzard conditions (they wear buckets over their heads while roped together). The underwater photography (a realm previously explored in Herzog's The Wild Blue Yonder) is by Henry Kaiser, and it meshes perfectly with the director's interest in alien eye-scapes. And when Herzog finally does find penguins, his imagination goes to the idea that some penguins go insane, scurr! ying off into their own suicidal directions. This isn't as arr! esting a film as Grizzly Man, but it is an entertaining travelogue spiked with quirky observations. --Robert HortonThis collection highlights the eclectic career of German Filmmaker Werner Herzog. Includes "The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser," Even Dwarfs Started Small," "Fata Morgana & Lessons of Darkness," "Heart of Glass," "Strozsek" and "Little Dieter Needs to Fly."CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS, a breathtaking new documentary from the incomparable Werner Herzog (Encounters at the End of the World, Grizzly Man), follows an exclusive expedition into the nearly inaccessible Chauvet Cave in France, home to the most ancient visual art known to have been created by man. One of the most successful documentaries of all time, CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS is an unforgettable cinematic experience that provides a unique glimpse of pristine artwork dating back to human hands over 30,000 years ago -- almost twice as old as any previous discovery.Contemplative and reflective, Cave of Forgotte! n Dreams confirms Werner Herzog as one of the finest and most original chroniclers of the natural world. His abiding fascination with flight, which fueled films like Little Dieter Needs to Fly and White Diamond, finds counterpoint here as he goes below ground to document the oldest paintings known to man. Discovered in 1994, France's Chauvet Cave offers a privileged insight into another time and place. While the walls feature artwork from over 30,000 years ago, ancient animal bones cover the ground, and layers of sparkly calcite coat every surface (paleontologists believe humans never actually lived there). In his narration, Herzog explains that he and his crew had to obtain special permission, could only shoot for a few hours during specific seasons, and couldn't leave the designated walkways, so cinematographer Peter Zeitlinger (Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans) attached a camera to a stick to capture the painting of a minotaur and a woman! that adorns a prominent outcropping. Unlike some 3-D features! , Cav e of Forgotten Dreams benefits from the added dimension, providing a breathtaking you-are-there effect. Of course, it wouldn't be a Herzog picture without a mesmerizing score, a few eccentric characters, and some bizarre bits of business. In this case, he includes a master perfumer who sniffs out hidden caves and a philosophical archaeologist who used to work as a circus performer. The documentary concludes with a quintessentially Herzogian postscript featuring the eerie radioactive albino crocodiles who live downwind from the cave. --Kathleen C. FennessyEncounters in the Natural World brings together five stunning films from legendary filmmaker Werner Herzog. Featuring breathtaking scenery and wildlife from around the world - from the sun-kissed frozen expanses of Antarctica, to pristine South American rain forest, and grizzly bears is Alaska - these films explore the planet s alluring beauty and man s relationship with it. Encounters at the End of the World: Her! zog ventures into the beautiful polar landscape of Antarctica, discovering the astonishing wildlife living there and gaining rare access to the unique hidden society of scientists who call this place home. Grizzly Man: The acclaimed portrait of Timothy Treadwell, a charismatic bear enthusiast who lived amongst these great creatures in remote parts of Alaska for thirteen summers, before succumbing to their ferocious nature. The White Diamond: The visually stunning story of Graham Dorrington s quest to fly a custom-built airship over the rain forest canopies of Guyana. La Soufrière: As a volcano is about to erupt on the island of Guadaloupe, all inhabitants flee for their lives, apart from one man who refuses to leave and accepts his fate at the hands of nature. The Flying Doctors of East Africa: Herzog s examination of the flying doctors service of the African Medicinal Research Foundation, and the people who devote their lives to it.

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