Survival Island (1996) User Reviews

Isle of survival

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 21 March 2022]

1996's 'Survival Island' is one of several documentary short films presented in IMAX 3D. These short films are mostly quite interesting, but their overall quality is most worthwhile if flawed. The effects have also varied. The subject matter for 'Survival Island' immediately fascinated, as did the catchy and not corny title. It also has the plus of having a location not often seen in nature documentaries and from being narrated and presented by documentary king David Attenborough.

'Survival Island' is absolutely wonderful and lived up to high expectations. Of the IMAX 3D documentaries, it is to me definitely one of the best and one of the few that was nearly perfect. It is not one of Attenborough's finest or most ground-breaking either, but his filmography is so consistently good to amazing that that doesn't matter. It clearly knows what its target audience is and does its utmost best at and succeeds in meeting what is needed to keep them interested.

My only issue really with 'Survival Island', and this is actually common with the IMAX 3D documentaries, is the length as it does feel too short. With a lot of content, this could very comfortably have been 20 minutes longer perhaps which would have given the viewer more time to take in the information and also learn more.

However, everything else works brilliantly. It looks fabulous, with beautiful yet unforgiving scenery and especially the photography that leaves one in awe at its best. There is though more to 'Survival Island' than cute animals in beautiful environments, one is reminded without being preached at that there are daily challenges.

The music, with an accessible style, is relaxing in some parts while having some edge in other parts. The animals are a great mix of adorable, formidable and exotic and their behaviours and ways to survive are relatable, surprising and inspiring.

When it comes to the information, it is very educational and the narration entertains and informs without preachiness or being gimmicky. Any familiar content is approached freshly, and in a way that will captivate and never disturb kids while not being cookie cutter. While not at his absolute best, Attenborough is an incredibly engaging presenter/narrator and his voice is one that one can listen to for hours on end without getting bored.

Concluding, wonderful. 9/10.

It is a delight to survive this film as a viewer

[Horst_In_Translation · 8/10 · 13 July 2019]

"Survival Island" is an American/Japanese documentary short film from 1996, so this IMAX production will soon have its 25th anniversary. The director is David Douglas who was already very prolific back then, but the defining name here is of course David Attenborough and he almost always stands for quality obviously, even now that he is into his 90s. He is a bit of an idol when it comes to nature documentary filmmaking, especially in the UK, so no surprise that this one here turned out pretty nicely. You can see the animals in the focus on the poster already, even if probably by that you would not have guessed that this does not take place in the eternal ice, but instead along the shores of South America, South Georgia to be more precise. And that is neither the Eastern European Georgia nor the one in the United States obviously. So yeah you get pretty much what you can expect here: lots of penguins (still among the most amazing creatures), seals and walruses from beginning to end of these approximately 42 minutes (including credits). I thought there was some really good photography in here and Attenborough also delivers as narrator, even if this is probably the one area where he is only good and not outstanding. But his writing here is really convincing too. I think i watched this short film many years ago for the first time and I thought it was sligthly more impressive back then than now on rewatch, but we have to keep in mind this is from the mid-90s and for that it is fairly spectacular no denying. I am not always very big on IMAX, especially if the specific subject feels a bit uninspired or generic and there have been many films on it already, but this one here I definitely enjoyed. It is a journey into the wilderness where survival is luckily still mostly linked to surviving in the nature in the face of dangers from other animals and not so much humans. Just like it should be, although I am not sure what things look like there now. Overall, one of the best documentaries and short movies from the year 1996 and unless you really dislike nature-related stuff (come on why would you?), then this is one you should checkm out as soon as possible. It is not always too easy to find though especially compared to later IMAX releases, so if you are lucky enough, go take your chance.