• Color
• Closed-captioned
• NTSC

The filmmakers spent three years collecting their amazing images of all types of birds migrating north to south and back again (the Wall Street Journal had an article about how they did it; I seem to recall it involved a lot of graduate students). What they've put together is a wonderful example of what the cinematographic art can do when not encumbered by special effects, computer animation, or even much of a narrative line. The timeless, God-ordained patterns of migration are enough of a plot to drive 90 minutes of great visuals. There's a surprising mix here of drama, humor, choreography, some danger, some death, and mesmerizing images of huge flocks swooping and diving as one.

An hour and a half of bird pictures might sound pretty snooze-inducing to a lot of people, but don't compare this to run-of-the-mill nature documentaries on TV. It's something quite different, and even folks who aren't particularly into birds or nature films should probably give this a chance. You might find it, as I did, surprisingly rewarding.

No one can deny that the visual images presented to us in "Winged Migration" are breathtaking and unforgettable. What is forgettable is the narration that Perrin forces upon the images. In an apparent attempt to give the film some kind of symmetry or narrative arc, Perrin tries to tie it all together with insightful commentary.

There is literally nothing interesting in the narration nor is there any information offered that any high school science student couldn't offer as well. What's worse, there seems to be a "birds good, people bad" message underlying all of this.

Another annoyance is the effort to unite all these species of birds in the concept of migration. Honestly, can you honestly compare penguins and parrots with geese and finches? They may all be birds, but their stories and journeys are remarkably different.

The computer animation seems out of place as well, feeling like another attempt by the filmmakers to make the footage fit together. So much of it seems like an after-thought. The selection of which birds to include seems haphazard. Sure, they all look good on film, but is there truly anything unifying beyond, "They're all birds and they move from place to place."

The images don't need much commentary at all. The graphics tell us what bird is being featured and how far it travels. The commentary misses the most interesting aspects of the footage, namely the community of birds that we witness on the screen. Why try to extract a unifying theme at all. Lose the narrator and the "story" and just let the birds fly (or swim).

See this film for the beautiful images of birds in flight, but you'll have to forgive the awkward and contrived human element.