Kingdom Of The Seahorse (Nova)
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: D Episode: B
The Seahorse is one of the most beautiful, fascinating and
celebrated sea creatures around, but the history of their admiration has raised
them to such mythical status that some believe they are just myth. The terrific 1995 Nova/WGBH/BBC
co-production Kingdom Of The Seahorse talks about how the very small
creatures are possibly in danger of extinction because of the way they or like
creatures (shrimp in particular) are harvested from the sea.
After explaining the history and myth surrounding the
creatures, we find out how popular they are in Asian countries for medicine and
as possessions. Enter biologist Amanda
Vincent, who goes from observer to participant in finding out how to stop a
potential crisis from occurring over this amazing creature. We learn that they are so small, that it is
eventually the male that has to be the strong creature that gets pregnant after
capturing egg/sperm combinations that hybrid themselves in the open water. It is yet another strong installment and is
highly recommended.
The letterboxed 1.33 X 1 image is not bad for its age,
with the color cutting through enough to offset some of the detail limits. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo has Pro Logic
surround capacity, though nothing spectacular and I thought the
two-speaker-only playback worked better.
The only extra is a weblink, if you can count that.
- Nicholas Sheffo
