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(More customer reviews)I was never really interested in 'survival' programmes on the context of the fact I live in a city/town and the only wilderness around here is a small family park with a small duck pond, not exactly the Rockies.
I found survival documentaries slightly dull, not the programmes themselves, but the fact that it was a topic/genre I could not connect with or relate to. Survival experts seemed to belong to another lifestyle incorporating hunters through to paranoid doomsday nuts (I was very naive about the subject). Survival programmes usually had a barrel-chested bearded guy with glazed twitching eyes trying to show us how to make a smoking-jacket out of some poor rabbit and some leaves for a cravat.
However, I really enjoy the Man vs. Wild ones. In fact, nowadays I like survival programmes a lot, and my naivety about them is now only 'slightly pathetic'.
I first watched this on the Discovery channel, though it was re-titled (or may have been originally titled, I am not too sure) Born Survivor. I slowly come to liked it, listening to Bear Gryll's morbid stories of 'travelers' and 'hikers' meeting a doomed fate - he ALWAYS has a story to go with a poisonous plant, or a man-eating frog, etc. It was also funny watching him eat some gigantic insects to 'survive' and whilst he is telling us that these are good for us he squirms and chews with disgust at what the poor creature tastes like. There is also a slight Steve Irwin OTT drama about Bear Grylls also. For example, watching him jump off a helicopter with a slight over dramatic "yee-hah!"
Man vs. Wild is survival in a dramatic, but fun way, glamourising environments that most of us city dwellers will seldom see, besides sitting on our sofas watching TV.
Grylls comes across as a likeable fella, he seems the type to be devoted to what he does, and I guess that's what makes the programme work well. It must be great to have a job one enjoys as a hobby.
A lot has been said recently about 'faking' parts; I do not know why people would believe that these Man vs. Wild docs were 100 percent genuine. I spotted it first time I watched them, for example Grylls climbs a cliff type face yet the cameraman is at the top filming him climbing up, yet they are `all' together.
The fuss over these programmes came about because of an uproar over 'fake' scandals on British TV (fake phone-in scandals, dodgy editing on a Royal family documentary trailer that made the Queen look like she walked out of a photoshoot in a huff when she was exactly walking IN to the photoshoot, and she wasn't in a huff). Grylls came into the firing line, though his seem the most innocent. His programmes are fun and educational, if you really think that he can walk across most of Alaska and suddenly find an abandoned boat to rescue himself are slightly naive.
Another clear indication to viewers that certain parts are dramatized for artistic lisence is that each episode has a 'plot' arc which is as follows: Grylls gets stranded (albeit, purposely), Grylls has to get to a certain position covering many miles or/and obstacles whilst telling us how to accomplish it, and, finally, Grylls gets rescued or he escapes. It's that simple. The fact that certain things were planned was not shocking. He is showing how things should be done in the wild. If it was 100 percent real what are the chances he could find every plant he wanted to show us ("This is poisonous, don't eat it") or get a camera crew up a cliff? I am sure Grylls, being one of the youngest to climb Everest and being an ex-TA SAS Special Forces soldier could do all the stuff he wants to do, but people forget that programmes are made with the restrictions of lawyers, health and safety people and, most importantly, the liability and insurance restrictions. I also read somewhere that during his time with the SAS he broke his back from a parachuting mishap and spent months recovering, so I think he has already taken enough risks in his lifetime without folks calling him a 'fake'.
I am not writing this review to defend the guy, however, as a fan of the series I was worried that they would not make any more, which would be a huge shame in my opinion.
All in all, you have to take these programmes as they are - a dramatic calculated documentary about survival techniques that appeal to an audience that may not necessarily like 'survival' documentaries. It is fun yet informative, and whilst most of us will never experience some of the things Grylls does, I guess there are loads of us who wish we could get off our lazy arrses and experience some of these journeys through the exotic and hostile environments that our diverse world has to offer.
If you like Bear Grylls stuff, you may also like Ray Mears programmes as well.
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