Planet Earth - Complete Series [2006] [DVD]

Before buying it I have red both positive and negative reviews. Most of the negative ones were about the poor quality of video in some parts of the documentary. Yes, there are some parts with noisy image or not so crystal clear. However, in most of the video the image is so sharp that sometimes you may have the feeling of not watching a TV but rather looking out of a window to the surrounding landscape. There is great depth of image and detail. Overall video quality is very high and yes, this is a must for any plasma owner and yes, it can be considered as a standard for video image quality. But there is so much more than image quality here. You will see things you have never seen or imagined before. The strong point is of course the Cineflex consisting of an HD camera mounted on a 5 axes gyrostabilizing system attached to a helicopter which keeps it perfectly steady. You will see a wild beast in close view and then the camera zooms out until you realize you are kilometers away from it and finally you can see a whole mountain. The aerial filming is worth all the money. But there is more: you can see in slow motion a shark in the air, out of the water while catching a seal or you can see on fast forward a flower opening or a mushroom grow or how the colour of the trees changes with the passing of the seasons. And there are many, many more outstanding things to watch and learn. After viewing this extensive documentary you may get an ideea of how big and complex this world is and how small and overated our civilisation is. You may realize that we, humans, the only species capable of altering the enviroment are however just a particle of dust on the evolution scale. The final conclusion: this is a must have, you won't regret buying it, not for one second.

These days, excellent TV channels like Discovery and National Geographic, coupled with advances in camera technology and our appetite for documentaries, mean that nature docs are getting a little tedious perhaps. Watching yet another lion soap opera, complete with Disney-style names for each animal character, we could be forgiven for losing interest. Thank goodness then for the BBC's commitment to pushing the envelope and bringing us something truly breathtaking and worthy of our time. The format of this series is well-documented here. But no piece of prose can hope to really convey what's on display in this wonderful piece of natural history. Get this in your "cart" and see for yourself. Apart from the actual footage, which stands on its own in its brilliance, there are two other key aspects which make this a real joy and take it to another level: The first is David Attenborough. His voice is peerless in tone, his comments informative and eloquent in this era of "dumbing-down", and noticeably restrained - he knows that he doesn't have to explain everything when you can see things unfolding in front of your eyes. The second is the "diaries" feature, which gives a "behind-the-scenes" look at some aspect of the filming of each episode. It highlights the difficulties involved and the dedication required (many, many months of patience in most cases) to get that one breathtaking shot, and really adds to the experience. With a wide-ranging selection of flora and fauna in each episode, there is a huge variety of creatures and features to keep you glued to the screen. Everyone will have their favourite habitat - for me "Caves" was the most mysterious, and therefore the most amazing. But all contain revelations. At this price versus running time, the Box Set is tremendous value for money. You can't lose.

Probably the best documentary ever made. During the first episode, I was doubtful about the content. The topic shifted every few seconds, never focusing on one animal long enough to say anything of any educational value. However, after a few episodes, it all became clear. This series has a massive scope. As the name suggests, its a documentary about the entire planet. As the series goes on, it returns to topics briefly introduced in previous episodes. Its nice to revisit what we only got to glimpse previously. The series ends with two full length documentaries on only one animal each - specifically desert lions, and specifically snow leopards. Well chosen, as those were the animals that intrigued us most on their five minute slots in previous episodes. All the information from the series becomes relevant and involving. This series is a structural and educational marvel. The photography is the other aspect of this that makes it the best ever made. Its so well done you could cry. I'm glad I bought the HD-DVD version, as it just leaves your jaw hanging in disbelief. This series was made for HD-DVD, (although its out on Blu-Ray too nowadays.) The image is the clearest and most detailed I've ever seen, and what better way to showcase its HD credentials than with massive panoramas of the planet, flocks of birds a billion strong, closeups of birds of paradise revealing every feather, mountain ranges where you can actually sense the enormity scale, etc. Its like being there. If you ever get the chance to see it on HD-DVD, ho wow, you just have to do it. Yes. Probably the only nature documentary which would've pulled crowds in at cinemas just like Hollywood blockbusters. It was so highly rated for a reason.

‘Planet Earth’ is a ‘wonderful’ series in the true sense of that word, and yet a series that is equally deeply depressing as man’s impact threatens the world’s ecosystems. At the heart of the problem, ‘of course’, lies the explosion of human population that has increased from 1.5 billion a century ago, to six billion today (or at least in 2006). Broadcast in 2006, ‘Planet Earth’ mostly comprises (see the end of this review for the extras) eleven hour-long episodes that showcases wildlife in its landscape context. But only the world’s remaining wildernesses are thus addressed: there is little or no attention given to urban or agrarian wildlife. After the first episode, which takes us on a journey through the world’s different climes from one pole to the other, each is devoted to a particular form of habitat. Thus we have a programme on deserts, on forests, on seas, etc. The most unexpected for most will probably be the one devoted to caves. Each episode has at least one ‘wow’ moment; and each episode is full of stupendous photography (although the extent of ‘fakery’ is not known). The last ten minutes of each show is devoted to how one element of that episode was shot. It is clear that those on the ground needed to have immense patience to get their prize on camera. I also noticed a geographical bias in the coverage. I did a rough continental count of where the examples were shot: Asia had twenty-one, North America had eighteen, Africa fifteen, South America ten, Oceania six, and the Poles only four (but they do also have a whole episode to themselves). The odd one out is Europe with only four, three of which occur in the seasonal forest episode and one in that of mountains. But Europe is curiously absent in any of the shows on caves, and both of the episodes on water (fresh and salt). One Asian country – Japan – comparable in size to Britain receives more coverage than Europe. Another bugbear is the use of imperial measurements one minute, followed by metric the next. I love the soundtrack (by George Fenton) as music qua music, but it cloys when shown with the visuals, as if it is telling us how we should feel, such as painting African dogs in a bad light as they try to bring down an antelope: don’t they also have offspring that need to be fed? My set also came with the three hour-long ‘Planet earth: The Future’ episodes. Here the issues about saving species, the threats of population growth and global warming, and sustainable development are discussed by the likes of Rowan Williams, James Lovelock, Jonathan Porritt, Edward Wilson, Richard Mabey, and Tony Juniper – and these are only the names I know. These are all complex issues with few (if any) simple solutions. Jonathan Porritt makes the valid point that viewers watching ‘Planet Earth’ and similar programmes may remain passive about the threats because they assume that everything out there is OK. Don’t! This may well be your last chance to see these wonderful wildernesses.

This review is for the Blu-Ray Special Edition version. Amazon have a habit of putting reviews of one format/version in with others. I don't comment on audio quality as I only have standard TV speakers (although I am happy with the sound). I bought this after I watched the Life series and that blew my socks off, not just in terms of the outstanding HD quality, but also in the quality and interest in the show itself. I expected the same form Planet Earth and I was not disappointed. It is a huge box set containing: 11 episodes and their associated diaries (SD) 3 HD episodes from the Natural World Secrets of the Maya Underworld (SD) Great Planet Earth moments (SD) Additional audio options The show isn't just about the animal and plant life, but also the make up of the earth too. A real all-round package to educate and entertain. There were a few parts where my attention wandered a little, but this is a box set that covers a lot of natural world and so it stands to reason that not every aspect will be to everyone's taste. That being said, I can't find a reason to mark it down for that. When I have moments where I want to berate the BBC and their squandered licence fees, I pick up a BBC Earth documentary and find a little bit of forgiveness. At the current price of 15GBP, this is a Blu-Ray bargain. Also recommended is the accompanying book ( Planet Earth: As You've Never Seen It Before and Planet Earth: The Photographs ).

The BBC has always produced some of the best nature programmes in the world. Here they have teamed up with the discovery channel to produce what may be their best yet. This HDDVD transfer is beutifuly produced, and compliments the already excelent content. First of all the technicals. Like Transformers or Shrek the Third this is an excelent showpiece. The colours are excelent, the resolution perfect and the sound is as lovingly complimented by the formatt as the picture. Whilst I wouldn't like to try and list all the best looking HDDVD's, Planet Earth would sit comfortably in the top 5. The opening titles, and wide landscape shots are excelent examples of the superiority of HD picture. The programme itself is no let down. The HDDVD formatt hosts some so so disks, but when you find a gem it really shines. The documentry is fascinating, emotional and raw. This is nature at its darkest, its most unusual and even its most breathtaking. David Attenboroughs narration is amongst the latest in a long and experienced work list, but this may be his best yet. His descriptions are inspiring and informative, and compliment rather than detract from the stunning visiuals. This is one HDDVD I have no trouble recomending. The contents as well as its format are both excelent, and I would advise anyone still picking these up to add this to their collection immediatly.

Documentary: 5/5, Picture: 3-5/5, Extras: 4/5 THE DOCUMENTARY Planet Earth takes a rather different approach to Sir David Attenborough's previous Life series: instead of taking a species or phylum, it explores a particular habitat. This is not so much a geological study of the Earth but rather a broad survey of the rarely seen or visited habitats and their inhabitants, with an emphasis on how they adapt to the forces of nature. At times it looks more like showing off spectacular scenery than a systematic study. Coverage is by no means exhaustive but what is presented is truly remarkable. Episode one takes you from the South to the North Pole, passing the various forest ecosystems and desserts in between and is a preview of later episodes. If you have watched the Life series and the BBC's Blue Planet you will notice some familiarity in Planet Earth. There are recurrent themes on survival and adaptive behaviour. I am constantly reminded of and impressed by the resilience of life. Memorable shots are too many to mention but polar bear cubs exploring the snowy slopes, the great white shark leaping out of water (with footage slowed down 40 times) and snow covered mountains come to mind. I particularly like the aerial views. PICTURE: VC-1 1080p 16:9 The main feature IS "1080/24p", as indicated by my Pioneer BD player. The production for broadcast is mastered in 25p from various framerates (details on bbcresources.com); the PAL DVD is in 50i (equivalent to 25p) and each episode runs for 48 minutes (excluding the extras) compared to 50 minutes on Blu-ray. So the Blu-ray runtime is in keeping with a 25p to 24p slowdown. The 1080i v. 1080p feud has been blown out of all proportions. For the material shot on video the HD cameras used in the early 2000s were mostly 720p; note it says on the back "some footage was not captured in full HD". While a lot of scenes are spectacular there are occasional artefacts. People who find Blu-ray to be softer than HD broadcast have incorrect set-up somewhere in the video signal chain: it is not the fault of the Blu-ray. THE NARRATION AND SOUND TRACK (Dolby Digital 5.1) The background narration is occasionally too soft. The script is very well written, full of interesting statistics and entirely appropriate without being verbose. The music when present adds to the serenity of the magnificent scenery or the drama of hunting scenes. Subtitles are in English only. THE SUBSTITUTED EXTRAS (1080/60i) Regrettably this release does not have the original DVD extras: the 10 minute "Diaries" at the end of each episode and the 'Planet Earth - The Future' feature (2h56') and people felt let down. The "Dairies" are interesting and the message on the state of the planet is of course important and the BBC underestimated the viewer's sentiment. But the extras included here, Dessert Lions and Snow Leopards (the subject of DVD episode 2 "Diaries") from the BBC's Natural World in HD are interesting programmes in their own right and more amenable to repeated viewing. The biologist who tagged collars on the snow leopards died recently so that makes it even more valuable to watch. But it would be better to give us the original extras and have Natural World on a separate release. WHICH VERSION TO GET? The US Discovery Channel version is truncated and has an American non-naturalist narrator so that is a non-starter. This UK version has the same encoding as the US BBC/Warner four-disc version (both region free) but has the extras on a fifth disc and hence the best value. If you cannot live without the original extras then borrow the DVD. UPDATE I would now recommend the Special Edition instead as it has the Diaries and more extra features at similar price, but note the main episodes are 1080i50 (the original broadcast frame-rate) and the Diaries are 576i50. There is an American SE version in 1080i60 over there. A MUST-HAVE FOR EVERY BLU-RAY LIBRARY Just marvel at the contents: once you understand the technical issues you will realise that whatever technical limitations there are they are really of no great significance here.

I originally bought this set as dvd's from BBC in England.About a week or so passed before I finally got around to seeing it.When I tried to play the third disc, it would not play (or else it simply was unrecorded). After viewing disc four, I put them on the shelf and forgot about the problem.Then when I saw your blu-ray version advertised, I dug out the set and tried to play disc three again.I have fifteen (15) disc players and it won't play on ANY of them.So, I contacted the BBC who told me to send them back to them. This I did. Later, the BBC sent me an e-mail claiming that I didn't buy it from them and they were refusing to supply me with a new set.I received them back this week, but I am still waiting for their re-imbursement of my $20.50 postage.....which they promised to send. As for your blu-ray set, all of the discs play perfectly.Understandably, I am not at all happy with the BBC.First, demanding that I send the set back to them, at my expense (at a cost greater than the actual original cost of the set). Then, of course, their accusation claiming that I didn't buy it from them. I don't know if Amazon NEVER asks for a faulty disc/s to be returned,but, I have never been asked to do so. The Lonely Planet book of the same name and which provide great details of the series, is a well complemented addition (for travellers who would like to visit any of the places shown in the series. It is money well spent.....buy it.....but not from the BBC!!