Nova - The Miracle of Life

Starring:David Ogden Stiers, Bo Moller, Hans Wigzell, Klaus Renner, Hans-Jochen Lunemann, Terakazu Eto, Carl Mydans, Lennart Nilsson, Birgit Nilsson (II)
Director: Mikael Agaton
Studio: Wgbh Boston
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Still startlingly beautiful after several years, Nova's The Miracle of Life records human conception for the first time on film, and much more. Living, functioning reproductive systems are laid bare to the camera, and there is so much to explore and absorb that Nova's expert guidance is much needed and appreciated. The viewer follows an egg from its follicular development in an ovary, through the delicate, flowery fallopian tube for fertilization, and on to the uterus for development and eventual birth. Likewise, we follow the shorter journey of millions of sperm as they develop and strive mightily to reach the egg. (There isn't a man alive who can watch intraurethral footage without squirming--see for yourself!) Photographer Lennart Nilsson has shown us something profoundly beautiful and yet has left its fundamental mystery intact. The Miracle of Life is a rarity: a documentary that is also art. --Rob Lightner

Description

Each minute, all over the world, a baby is born. An everyday occurrence, yet each birth is the culmination of one of nature's most complex, mysterious, and seemingly miraculous processes. A dramatic breakthrough in science and cinematography, the Peabody® award-winning The Miracle of Life takes you on an incredible voyage through the human body as a new life begins. World-renowned Swedish photographer Lennart Nilsson presents a spectacular look at a microscopic world

Customer Reviews:

A Must have for all Pregnant Couples.......2007-07-03

This is a must have for all pregnant couples its not the most detailed DVD ever made but it gives you a fantastic overview of the full pregnancy process, from conception to delievery. Its a great way to bond with you spouse and baby to be.
thanks
Joe

Simply Amazing.......2007-05-31

This is a very informative, interesting look at what a miracle conception and birth really are. This video explains every aspect in scientific terms that you can understand, along with brilliant technological capturing of conception and the growing fetus in the womb. At the end is a short but tasteful live birth. Since I am expecting it has greatly increased my knowledge of what is happening to my baby. This is a wonderful DVD to watch with your family when expecting a child.

Wonderful & informative, but too "scientific".......2007-03-08

I've watched this DVD when I was younger and I bought it for my son who is at the age where he needs to learn what actually happens instead of what he hears at school and on the bus from the older kids. It is a wonderful and informative DVD, however, I do think that it is a little over his head with all of the medical terminology. We still had to stop at several spots and explain it to where he could understand what exactly they meant. Other than that, it is definately a great buy.

Make sure this is the info you're looking for!.......2006-09-11

Video was very well done, however much of the focus was on the act of conception. I was expecting more on the development of the fetus, which felt crammed into the last portion of the video. However, it was a good way to get my non-reading husband a little more interested in the entire process (aside from making the baby, that is).

Still an awesome educational journey.......2006-01-16

I saw this 15 years ago in my biology class and now that I'm 6 months pregnant, I was curious to see it again. Absolutely fascinating and rich in detail. I do wish they'd spent more time showing the fetus at the various ages--it stops at 18 weeks--but overall a highly educational and captivating journey.

Average customer rating:

An incredible journey on video
Stunning visuals and extremely informative.
Breathtaking!
good side bad side
Nice DVD

NOVA - Life's Greatest Miracle
Starring: Stacy Keach , Peter Thomas (VI) , and Don Wescott
Manufacturer: PBS Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

National Geographic - In the Womb
NOVA - The Miracle of Life
National Geographic - The Incredible Human Body
National Geographic: In the Womb - Multiples
NOVA: The Miracle of Life/Life's First Feelings

ASIN: B000067J11
Release Date: 2002-07-16

Amazon.com

Nova delivers a bundle of gestational joy with "Life's Greatest Miracle," a magical, humbling look at the complex mechanics of baby making. Similar in content to the 1983 Nova classic "The Miracle of Life," this artfully designed show features the skilled microphotography of Lennart Nilsson and the jocular voice of narrator John Lithgow. But this time the emphasis is on how an egg, a sperm, and their talented supporting cast (hormones, enzymes, and so on) build a human body, complete with 100 trillion cells. The one-hour show follows an expectant couple whose musings about their unborn child nicely punctuate the stunning inner uterine and embryo film work. Exquisite computer animation illustrates hard-to-show processes, including meiosis (where genes are shuffled and chosen for sex cells). Best of all, Julia Cort's engaging script offers just the right blend of fact, humor, suspense, and tact to please viewers from high school age on up. --Liane Thomas

Description

NOVA collaborates with Swedish scientific photographer Lennart Nilsson to use breathtaking new footage and state-of-the-art computer animation to show - in more complete detail than ever before - the making of a human life. Among the stunning sequences shot by Nilsson is the incredible voyage of the sperm toward the egg. Other events captured in Life?s Greatest Miracle include the journey of the fertilized ovum down the fallopian tube, the hatching of the embryo from its confining shell on day six, and the miraculous transformation of an embryo from a ball of cells into three layers from which all the body?s organs will emerge.

Customer Reviews:

An incredible journey on video.......2005-10-20

"Life's Greatest Miracle" is a one-hour PBS program on how the human life starts in the womb. Produced circa 2001, it was an updated edition of the ~1983 ground-breaking "The Miracle of Life," also aired in the U.S. under the auspice of the Nova series.

I've watched both DVDs and I'll compare the two. If you are debating which version to watch, I say it depends on your interest: if you want to see more microscopy photography, get the original "The Miracle of Life." If you want a better viewing experience, get this one, "Life's Greatest Miracle." I give both DVDs 3 stars.

While not as ground-breaking as the original, "Life's Greatest Miracle" sports higher-definition, more colorful microscopic video images, which are simply amazing. Of course, everyone who's never seen a large number of sperm swimming around will simply be mesmerized. I couldn't tell whether the all the video footage of the wiggling sperm was the same as in the original edition, but it seemed to me that here either the sperm were stained more (with chemicals so they stand out against the background, as is done all the time in biology), or the producers somehow increased the contrast. To the viewer, the action (no pun intended!) is more captivating. (In the old edition, images are coarser and less colorful.)

The biggest difference between this edition and the original program is the emphasis of the content. The original edition emphasizes the science part, and there are long sequences of cells dividing and inside looks of the vagina and uterus. This edition focuses on the entire process more, and speeds up and cuts out some of the long microscopic video scenes from the original edition. The story in this edition is weaved better and seems less like a science class as "The Miracle of Life."

Also, the present edition features updated information as well as some additional video (but not much). Also, there's more animation to help the viewer understand. The original program tends to get boring and confusing, but things are much more easily understood in this updated volume.

But I only give "Life's Greatest Miracle" 3 stars because, like the first one, it just doesn't have enough interesting stuff. Actual microscopic footage occupies perhaps just 1/3 of the total running time, and there's this unnecessary story of a pregnant couple. What's more, I couldn't tell whether some of the "inside the womb" scenes were microscopic photography or computer-rendered graphics, and this troubles me. I prefer "real" images, even if it means staining cells in order to make them look more vivid. Computer-generated stuff is fake, and it's worst when someone tries to pass it off as real.

In short, "Life's Greatest Miracle" is an informative and enjoyable program to watch -- and you are treated to the commercials that precede PBS's Nova airing! (Luckily you can forward-skip them.) Whether you are expecting or not, I recommend this, so everyone can appreciate human life more.

If you want a more science-oriented view with more microscopic footage, get the original "The Miracle of Life." The presentation is drier but you get to see more images that demonstrate how miraculous life is.

Stunning visuals and extremely informative........2004-06-02

Saw this on PBS and had to get it to show my wife. John Lithgow's narration is great and the visuals are stunning - very very educational. The only thing we disliked was the couple featured, it was allright for a bit but then we were rolling our eyes at them. Who cares about the husband's sympathetic morning sickness? I would prefer an hour-long with more in depth explanations and visuals.

Breathtaking!.......2003-04-02

I am an expecting father, and as such, in the company of my wife we've been reading and learning about babies and pregnancy. I confess I was in awe with the images from this PBS video. There is not another word to describe the whole process from conception to birth but a miracle! The video in a very easy-to-follow way describes in considerable detail all the stages with the support of extraordinary footage and computer animation. Not just meant for parents-to-be but for everyone at large. Don't miss it.

good side bad side.......2002-11-11

.. There is some very cool photography here, especially of implantation and the early weeks of fetal development. There's also a lot of boring non-expert talking head stuff (this expectant couple loves to tango!!), and disappointingly little science. The cursory handling of meiosis is as complex as it gets. Regarding the advertised new take on the gender politics in the fertilization story: yes, they have eliminated the whole 'mighty sperm penetrates the egg' narrative, but the alternative introduces its own new gender based anthropomorphism of these single cells ('the egg is guarded by watchful chaperones...')It also features a strangely abrupt ending - it says something about the last 2/3rds of pregnancy being uneventful ..) and then pretty much cuts to the end. So, buy it if you want to glean the 6-7 minutes of cool photography, but don't expect much more.

Nice DVD.......2002-10-10

I think this video has the main four important features in a documentary very well balanced: scienfic informations, images, 3-D computer generated drawings and real human story. It deserves to be watched once at least.

NOVA Digital Field Trip: Inside the Human Body (The Miracle of Life / The Universe Within / Cracking the Code of Life)

Average customer rating:

NOVA Digital Field Trip: Inside the Human Body (The Miracle of Life / The Universe Within / Cracking the Code of Life)

Manufacturer: WGBH Boston
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

National Geographic - The Incredible Human Body
NOVA - Origins
NOVA - The Unknown World
Body Atlas DVD 5-Pack
NOVA - World in the Balance: The Population Paradox

ASIN: B0002BO0CQ
Release Date: 2004-06-29

Description

NOVA DIGITAL FIELD TRIPS Let NOVA take you on an adventure that reveals the mysteries of the world around us, through science. Each NOVA Digital Field Trip includes three programs accompanied by downloadable educational materials. These award-winning teacher guide materials include program descriptions, viewing suggestions, discussion questions, activities, and more. The Human Body Digital Field Trip includes:

Cracking the Code of Life Does it amaze you that you are 99.9% genetically identical to every other human? ABC Nightline correspondent Robert Krulwich lends a lighthearted touch to genetic science in this provocative two-hour NOVA special that takes you inside the amazing, complex, and contentious race to decode the human genome. Now armed with the genetic code, medical pioneers are in the midst of astonishing breakthroughs that will change medicine as we know it. Will you get cancer, arthritis, or Alzheimer's? The answer lies in your genetic code—but the question is: Do you want to know? And will these new discoveries eventually lead to cures?

The Universe Within NOVA takes viewers on an incredible voyage into the microworld of the human body through breathtaking sports photography that captures amazing athletes in action—but the real action happens inside the human body. The Universe Within covers three incredible team efforts: the coordination of muscles, bones, heart and circulatory system that makes Mike Powell the world's greatest long jumper; the digestive dynamo that turns a simple sandwich eaten by five-time Olympic gold medalist Bonnie Blair into raw energy for a blistering sprint down the ice; and the ultimate event—the development of a new human life inside track star Karen Hatchett.

The Miracle of Life Each minute, all over the world, a baby is born. An everyday occurrence, yet each birth is the culmination of one of nature's most complex, mysterious, and seemingly miraculous processes. A dramatic breakthrough in science and cinematography, The Miracle of Life takes you on an incredible voyage through the human body as a new life begins. World-renowned Swedish photographer Lennart Nilsson presents a spectacular look at a microscopic world of beautiful colors and forms deep inside ourselves.

Customer Reviews:

Miracle of life.......2007-05-18

WONDERFULL, IMPRESIVE AS THE FILM WAS TAKEN ALIVE ON THE 60`S, ON LIVE WOMEN.

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