This time of year, we see butterflies everywhere. And when your daughter is enamored with butterflies, you notice them all the more. We have talked often about the changes that butterflies, and much of our world, go through. Change is everywhere. But if we don't open our eyes to it, we miss it.

Metamorphosis: the beauty & design of butterflies from Illustra Media brings us directly into the world of the butterfly and how a butterfly changes. The change a butterfly experiences, the metamorphosis, shows us the creator, the maker of all things. Filmed in a number of locations in North America, this is a video that is amazing to watch and learn from. At just over an hour, it is packed with stunning images and information.

The butterfly's life is examined from beginning to end. From a tiny egg through to death, the life cycle of a butterfly is fascinating. Even more fascinating is the part each individual plays in the survival of the species as a whole. That is one of the many facts documented in the video. Seeing the tiny egg become a flying insect, so spectacularly different from itself just shortly before, is something that cannot just happen. Intelligent design is at play and visible throughout the species life cycle, so brilliantly described and shown in this beautiful video.

The anatomy of the butterfly is thoroughly examined. Even as the butterfly undergoes metamorphosis in the cocoon. MRI imagery is used to examine those hidden changes and it is amazing to see. The MRI literally takes you right inside the changes that are happening inside a cocoon.

Metamorphosis uses a variety of image types to immerse the viewer into the world of the butterfly. The first thing we noticed is the spectacular videography and photography utilized in the video. From stunning colors to amazing close-ups, these draw us right in. Computer animation and MRI images are also used to help the viewer see and understand all that is happening but not visible to the naked eye.

From the northern part of a continent to the southern end, the migration of the Monarch butterfly is another example of intelligent design that is examined in Metamorphosis. Illustra Media shows us these amazing insects that are so full of beauty and wonder.  

—Product review by Lori Hooten, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, November, 2016

Another Review:

If you love nature and discovering secrets to God's amazing wonders, this is a documentary you won't want to miss! In Metamorphosis: The Beauty and Design of Butterflies, viewers will have a front-row seat to the unveiling of a butterfly's incredible transformation from a plant-eating arthropod to a beautiful flying insect.

In this 64-minute documentary, you will be astounded by the up-close and personal look into the life cycle of a butterfly--from egg to insect. Magnetic resonance imaging, computer animation, and remarkable photography make this incredible journey into its world possible. I was simply amazed at being able to see what goes on behind the closed doors of the chrysalis. The beginning of a butterfly is actually the partial destruction of a caterpillar. Most of what made up the body of a caterpillar will not be present in the butterfly, and it was quite a thrill being able to watch the complicated process of caterpillar tissue being dissolved and digested in order to build an entirely novel structure--the butterfly!

This DVD makes a very compelling case for intelligent design. Scientific knowledge and advancements in technology presented in Metamorphosis reveal the fallacy of evolution. Scientists share just how impossible it is for such a complicated process to happen randomly. For the last half of the DVD, viewers will learn about the migration of the monarch butterflies to Mexico and why it's imperative to their survival. This phenomenon, again, points to the theory of intelligent design.

Several bonus features--more than an hour's worth--are included on the DVD. You can listen to Dr. Emmel answer 17 questions about the monarch butterfly's migration to Mexico, play music from the DVD, view lists of butterfly exhibits and books about butterflies, and watch trailers to several other Illustra Media DVDs.

Whether you are learning about butterflies in science or not, this is a fabulous DVD to share with the whole family. You will be amazed by spectacular photography and awed by creation and the intelligent Designer behind it! Add Metamorphosis: The Beauty and Design of Butterflies to your DVD collection for $17.95. It's totally worth it!

Product review by Brandi Tesreau, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, September 2011