The Human Body (2001) User Reviews

mildly interesting and informative

[tinkersquirrel71 · 5/10 · 7 January 2007]

Overall, a decent story that helps lead into the discussion of bodily functions. Kind of "dumbed-down," though.

One thing that bothered me; this film continually made mention about how a body knows what to do on its own....then ended with a woman birthing while on oxygen and with an epidural. No offense intended to any woman who has done so. I, myself, had c-sections with both of my kids.

But if I had known then what I know now, I'm pretty sure I could have avoided the surgeries. I (and many others) believe that the "medicalization" of birth creates many of the problems mothers and infants face during the experience.

It would have been nice to see a woman birthing naturally. Maybe in a tub of water, or at home with family.

I also didn't care for the way Heather interacted with her niece and nephew. There was an element of disrespect throughout.

Fascinating (***1/2)

[Ronin47 · 9/10 · 1 February 2004]

I've never been huge on IMAX films. They're cool, but once you get over that initial rush of "Whoa, it feels like flying!" the movies themselves are usually pretty corny and ordinary.

The exceptions have been the powerful "Everest", the exhilarating "Wild California" and now the BBC's "The Human Body", a super-sized look at the insides of our bodies.

Our bodies are machines of a complexity that is simply inconceivable. This 50 minute film could be 10 hours long, and still wouldn't get to all of the systems working in tandem just as I type this review and listen to my radio, and most of us take it all for granted.

Here you can see the inside of a pumping heart (looks like an alien spaceship), the inside of your lungs, the tiny hairs in your eardrum that process sound, the development of a baby inside a mother's womb, and surprisingly, a few of the...um, less attractive functions that I thought it would shy away from (pimples, the churning of acids in the stomach...)

This film also has a rather funky style to it, which sets it apart from other IMAX documentaries. For instance, we've all seen sperm finding its way to the egg, but have you ever seen it set to the tune of Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On"? It's creative moments like that that make "The Human Body" not just a health lesson, but fun as well.

Hello? Script?

[juvenile-2 · 2/10 · 6 January 2003]

I am compelled to write a review of this IMAX feature as a means of warning others to SAVE YOUR MONEY. Almost any episode of Desmond Morris' "The Human Animal" or David Suzuki's "The Nature of Things" could have bested the material presented. Not only does the director fail to make use of IMAX's incredible 65 to 70 mm film stock and gigantic presentation screen, everything on screen is extremely unimpressive given the accessibility of such programming mentioned previously. Viewers are introduced to a pregnant Heather, her husband Buster, and their niece and nephew. We follow them for an interminable forty-odd minutes as they eat, sweat, listen to music, etc. Although we are given access to scenes inside the human digestive track and learn about babies' natural diving reflexes, do we really learn anything more than most grade-school graduates? Are we even remotely entertained by the trans-Atlantic Heather? Do we care? Avoid this film at all cost. If you do wish to see an IMAX feature, I suggest the beautifully photographed "India: Kingdom of the Tiger" or the technically thrilling "Space Station 3D". Trust me.

Must watch IMAX movie by all living humans and those who are yet to arrive....

[rupanisp · 10/10 · 26 January 2003]

Human Body --- WoW.

There are about 27,000 Sunrises in human life....

Hardly one thousand Sunrises will be watched by 90% of Humans on this planet....

Our days are limited...

Excellent movie for all women.... makers of human body...

Thanks and Regards.

Stomach turning, but not in a good way

[tblewis · 2/10 · 31 May 2006]

This film differentiates itself from the run-of-the-mill "wonder of the human body" documentaries by bravely, if bizarrely, opting to elicit disgust in the viewer. In one scene, the camera closes in on a gigantic 50-foot zit as a teenager squeezes pus and fluid out of it. In another, the camera is semisubmerged in a swamp of half digested food and stomach acid as parts of a pasta salad drop in from the esophagus and plop into the goo. In a final tour de force, the camera takes the viewer on a harrowing ride through a forest of...teenage armpit hair. Unfortunately, I'm not making any of this up. See this film if you must, but: bring your vomit bag, and don't have pasta salad beforehand.