Nature: Radioactive Wolves Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Nature: Radioactive Wolves Blu-ray Movie Review

Nature will find a way.

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf December 18, 2011

The PBS program “Nature” has an interesting way of remaining positive while investigating unimaginable environmental horror. It’s not a chipper attitude, whistling along as it analyzes the end of the world, but there’s a warm yellow beam of positivity and surprise that helps to choke down the razor blades of reality. “Radioactive Wolves” is a prime example of their unique tonality, exploring the vast wilderness left behind in the wake of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident, which successfully wiped out a chunk of Russia, leaving the land unlivable. Humans cleared out in a hurry, but wildlife wasn’t afforded the same evacuation effort. In the decades following the disaster, animals have returned to Chernobyl, unaware of the poisoned soil and water, reclaiming their homeland away from human intrusion. For the grey wolf, the new predator-free zone brings a rare opportunity to expand its numbers, restoring what was lost long ago to merciless Soviet expansion.

Narrated by Harry Smith, “Radioactive Wolves” carefully examines the impact of the Chernobyl disaster, which left a 1,100 square mile exclusion zone around the reactor. The area is now shared by Belarus and the Ukraine but devoid of human life, with survivors cleared out in full, leaving behind a haunted land of daily life frozen in time, with dilapidated houses and rusty buildings scattered around the landscape. Once tightly ordered farmlands have also lost their shape, overgrown with grass and trees, providing something of a welcome mat for the area’s wildlife, encouraged to return to a territory abandoned by citizens who made a considerable effort to hunt them down as the Soviet Union grew in power.

The resurrection of the land is the focal point of “Radioactive Wolves,” surveying the return of bison, beavers, and eagles to the city of Prypiat, reclaiming their habitats and reviving ecosystems lost to human control. While the ground remains tainted with radioactivity, the animals carry on as usual, only now they enjoy full command of the terrain, with endless miles to explore and repopulate, returning to a daily routine of hunting and foraging, bringing life back to a dead land. The rebirth is both achingly natural and depressingly sad, observing beautiful creatures carry on without a clue, unknowingly working and building with elements saturated with radioactivity, leaving the average creature exposed to a merciless, invisible predator. The poison seeps into their system, leaving even something innocuous as fur a lethal weapon to humans. Yet, the community carries on, restoring instinct back into the wild.

“Radioactive Wolves” is a bit distracted at times, attempting to recount the Chernobyl disaster while following a few scientific types into the land -- brave men and women carefully stepping on deadly ground to investigate the reach of radioactivity and how it’s disturbing the animals. We watch as they suit up in gloves and masks, trapping and tagging adult wolves and examining their adorable cubs for future study. There are also a few stops to scan the radioactive content of animal bones, revealing how potent the disaster remains. The documentary keeps a cool attitude, displaying a dire reality without overemphasizing the ecological nightmare, doing a tremendous job shaping a story over constructing a condemnation. “Radioactive Wolves” is a heartbreaker, but one that cleanly communicates the troubles facing the land, while celebrating its askew regeneration.

Technically, the wolves are the star of the show, as the scientists make a concentrated effort to understand why the creature has returned to a land where they were once hunted relentlessly. The production builds an arc of suspense with Boi and Lara, two tagged wolves who’ve gone missing, out exploring far beyond their home, concerning scientists who fear they’ve lost their most prized discoveries. The melodrama is cheap, but oddly necessary to help bind the various stories in play, creating suspense in a documentary that’s often more interested in simply counting down facts. It’s actually quite interesting to witness how the wolf population has radically exploded over the years, finding the animals taking over abandoned buildings to help shelter their numbers, feasting on the frozen carcasses of the dead when the region’s brutal winter hits. Considering how the ingestion of a single hair could be considered radiation poisoning for humans, the footage gathered is remarkable in its intimacy, viewing the hunters up close and personal.

Nature: Radioactive Wolves Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.78:1 aspect ratio) presentation on "Radioactive Wolves" carries a distinct HD video look befitting a television documentary. The image is quite clean, exploring the forests and wildlife with a crispness that delivers satisfactorily on details, from fur density to flora and fauna. Fine hairs are easily viewed, along with the textures of the safety equipment visitors choose to wear. Colors are sturdy and well defined, with brown and green hues making a special impression as the program works into the midst of the exclusion zone, along with emergency yellows, which pop acceptably. The production juggles a modern HD look with news footage, blending views without disruption. Shadow detail is generally expressive, only solidifying to a certain extent in low-light situations. Environmental changes are cleanly communicated, working from the thick of forests to the squishy wetlands.

Nature: Radioactive Wolves Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 5.1 Dolby Digital sound mix is very basic in design and execution, carrying a primarily frontal position that emphasizes Smith's narration, which is always easily understood, deep and perceptively emotive. Scoring cues feed out into the surrounds, but only faintly, working to underscore the footage instead of smothering it. Atmospherics are soft but mildly evocative, with a satisfactory forest crunch and feel for distances, hearing the wolves communicate. Low-end is nonexistent. The aural experience of "Radioactive Wolves" isn't something that's meant to grab the listener by the lapels, retreating to a more modest level of articulation, leading with its informative tone over something boldly circular.

Nature: Radioactive Wolves Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

There is no supplementary material included.

Nature: Radioactive Wolves Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Like most "Nature" productions, "Radioactive Wolves" finds a way to explore a forbidden kingdom, conveying such an amazing story of survival that has gone largely unnoticed by the outside world. Growing out of such tragedy and cataclysmic environmental damage is a new empire ruled by wildlife, working against all odds to further nature's plan. At the core of this situation is a toxic reality that will never be conquered, yet the delicate balance of life has found a way, building on a land humans will likely never occupy again.