Reptiles and Amphibians (Rupert Barrington, 2009): UK

Reviewed by Gillian Weiner. Viewed at the Santa Barbara Film Festival

I may have spoken too soon, but I don’t care; if you see any nature documentary in this film festival let it be Reptiles and Amphibians. Narrated by David Attenborough, he takes you through a journey from Canada to the Komodo Island in Indonesia where Komodo Dragons rule over all. We get introduced to the Komodo dragon who is a magnificent creature and the cinematography depicts nothing less.

What makes this documentary so astounding are the shots the cameraman was able to get. We see a one-inch frog hop from oversized leaf to oversized leaf. As a snake approaches it we see the frog decide to hop off the oversized leaf and into thin air ready to go plummeting to it’s death…until its little (sticky) hand captures a twig and grabs it to save its life. This is the moment where I shook my head in disbelief as to how anyone could get coverage like that. It was to say the least, remarkable.

The narration timed with the movements of the reptiles and amphibians perfectly. So perfect that there were multiple comedic moments where it almost felt like the two (narration and the creatures) were a comedy act. The beauty about this specific documentary was that the viewer was learning a lot without even knowing it. The amazing footage paired with the soothing voice of the narrator made the whole 50-minute documentary fly by.

The most interesting part was the focus on the Komodo Dragons towards the end. They portrayed the intensity and the power the Komodo dragon has over any reptile, amphibian, and animal so well that no one in the theater wanted to confront one. The last segment of the film showed how a dragon takes down big game like a water buffalo. I won’t say too much because it’s better to watch how then to read how but it was truly stunning. The camera crew waited in the hot sun for three weeks stalking the dragons stalking the buffalos for their perfect story and boy did they get it.

Even if you hate reptiles or anything that slithers I still recommend you see it. If not for the content then for the impossible and beautiful shots Barrington and his crew got.