The Island with Bear Grylls product reviews

I have always enjoyed watching Bear Grylls' documentaries. I suppose I am secretly waiting for him to drink his own urine or eat something revolting. I had heard him promoting The Island of a talk show last year and thought it sounded interesting. I also caught parts of some episodes when they aired on TV and really enjoyed them.

This is very different from the usual Bear Grylls left in the wilderness to survive programmes. In this Bear is the narrator. There are thirteen average men that are taken to a deserted Pasific island and left to survive for a month. Unlike the usual island programmes like Survivor there are no competitions, rewards or eliminations. It is purely about working together to survive. The film crew are part of the group of thirteen and are living under the same conditions. Looking at the insect bites all over them and their weight loss it was obvious this was a real experience there was no hotel for them to go to at the end of the night.

I am so pleased I got this series on DVD as once an episode had finished I couldn't wait to watch the next one. I had a few extra late nights because of this. I thought the first episode would be introducing the men and their survival training. It wasn't. It all started with them arriving on the island. They were introducing themselves to each other as they scouted around for water.

This series really made me think of the necessities of life as the men struggled to find water, make a fire, feed themselves and get along in the stressful situation. When they returned to civilisation it was the simple things they had been missing most: family, clean water, flushing toilets and comfy beds. All the mod-cons are not necessary for our survival yet we fill our lives with them.

One thing I didn't expect was the amount of rubbish that had washed up on the island. There was so much especially for a place that was so far from anywhere else. The men were able to use this rubbish to their advantage with everything from drink bottles to fishing nets and even shoes. It really made you think about what we are doing to our once beautiful planet.

It is well worth a watch not only from a survival perspective but also for the ways humans relate. Due to the language it isn't suitable for children and has been given an M rating by the censors.