Planet Earth: The Complete BBC Series

If anyone in your house loves nature, wildlife or the outdoors you simply MUST get this series. It is beyond astonishing. I grew up watching Disney documentaries like "The Vanishing Prairie" which included amazing footage of prairie dogs and buffaloes and sidewinders. A few years ago my attention was captured by "March of the Penguins". I was amazed not only by the year-long story of the Emperor Penguins living their life-cycle in the most harsh climate on earth, but also by the film crews who braved the same climate to shoot the footage. Now we have this series and it is huge. "Planet Earth" is to "March of the Penguins" what the Space Shuttle is to a paper airplane. Okay - I'm exaggerating... but only a little. A host of intrepid, experienced and well-financed film crews were dispatched over a five year period to collect this footage. We see Emperor Penguins huddling over their eggs in Antarctica, Cranes in their life or death struggling migratory flight over Mount Everest, huge herds of migrating caribou and elephants, mating dances of exotic birds, and endless varieties of predator and prey. Speaking of - thought should be given to the context of viewing for the young and tender-hearted. For those who might cry when Bambi's mother is shot - off-screen - it may be quite traumatic to see wolves and cheetah and hyena successfully corralling deer, or little seal fins protruding from the gaping maws of breeching great white sharks. It may be the perfect introduction of the budding naturalist to the "circle of life" or food chain or however you wish to introduce these scenes. But the footage - oh my - absolutely takes your BREATH away. The flora and fauna of the earth are filmed in breathtaking natural surroundings. Helicopter borne cameras zoom across waterfalls and savannahs. Intimate moments with some of the rarest creatures on earth are mesmerizing: birds of paradise perform their cirque du soleil mating dances and the nearly extinct snow leopard is caught high above the tree line in titanic Asian mountain ranges. Disney edited this series into their recent "Earth", but the truth is that all 11 episodes are astonishing, and for less than twice the cost, you get more than 5 times more of this amazing series. The scope of the project is titanic: I don't expect another nature documentary this expansive and well-produced for decades. Come one - come all. You will see things that you never thought you'd see, may never see again, and will never forget.

We saw one episode of this BBC produced series on the Discovery channel several months ago and we were sold. This series is a beautifully depicted narration on the wonderful planet we call home. The documentary is filmed almost exclusively in High Definition and the cinematography is simply stunning in Blu-ray. We are using a 1080p 120Hz Toshiba Regza as our reference and the picture quality is at times breathtaking. The producers went to great lengths to capture amazing images of the entire planet and just watching the scenery alone is worth the price of this set. There is one shot taken as they flew over Victoria falls that almost makes you feel like you are soaring over the falls on your own personal set of wings. While the Discovery Channel series is narrated by Sigourney Weaver and the Disney edited version is done by James Earl Jones; this original series is narrated by David Attenborough with the BBC and he is by far the best of the three. The only issues I had with the physical Blu-ray discs is that Mr. Attenborough's voice is slightly hard to hear over the higher volume musical scores and scenery sounds. This set comes in a nice box for display and has 4 discs inside. The length is approximately 550 minutes and is divided into 50 minute themed segments. I should also note that there are a few references (maybe 4 or 5) to evolution and global warming for those of you who may have issues with these types of views. However, the focus is not on politics or religion, rather the main focus is on our amazing planet and I do not believe the commentaries would be offensive to anyone who is solid in their own beliefs. In my opinion the stunning imagery reinforces the ideas of creation by design and the entire series would be an excellent educational resource for any type of school or home. The wonder and awesomeness of this planet really shines in this series and I highly recommend it.

I do not intend on promoting capitalism when suggesting people should purchase this blu-ray but they should. BBC have created a marvellous 11 50 minute episodes of sheer splendour and entetainment. Each episode is constanlty fascinating and intensely interesting to watch and learn about this real world we live in but most of us do not see. In some cases in caves stretching miles beneath the earth and cavities stretched within the deepest most uninhibitable places on earth not many people in the hstory of the world have seen until the BBC got there. My favourite episodes would have to be the first episode, the one about underwater caves, ice worlds and shallow seas but really they all deserve about 4-5 stars each. I believe this would be an excellent documentary to show to all children as it is very educational. In pristine, breathtaking 1080i Full High Defintion this is a great show case which could easily spark children's interest in science and geography. I hope no one is fooled because this is a documentary, because I have seen many documentaries like this and March of the Penguins which are as entertaining as 5 star movies like North by Northwest. I definetly recommend this blu-ray wholeheartedly. Thank you BBC, Thank you David Attenborough Thank you amazon.com for the exceptionally fast shipping and bargain prices note: Also I heard there was a new blu-ray vesion of Planet Earth available that has a special features, so you might want to consider that. Although I think there may be other narrators for other versions of this series but I personally like David Attenborough's narration which is awe-inspiring. I doubt other narrators could have done a better job but I haven't listened to them so I am not in a postion to compare. This was my first global network online review, I am just a begginer reviewer and I hope you liked it.

Mi sono imbattuto in quetso prodotto quasi per caso mentre ero alla ricerca di qualcosa che potesse farmi brillare gli occhi e gustarmi appieno la qualità del bluray. Ho trovato il cofanetto giusto! Questa è la versione inglese con 6 dischi contente 11 documentari, ognugo della lunghezza di una 50ina di min., audio e sottotitoli esclusivamente in inglese ma per chi mastica un po di questa lingua, non troverà nessuna difficoltà nel comprendere la voce narrante del famoso David Attenborough, grande narratore e divulgatore scientifico. Per quanto riguarda la qualità sono rimasto molto soddisfatto: il 90% delle immagini presenti, sono veramente pultie e nitide e tifanno venire voglia di partire all'istante per osservare ad occhio nudo le meraviglie della natura. Perchè oltre ad essere spettacolari questi documentari sono il frutto di un grande ed oneroso lavoro che ci permette di assistere a riprese inedite riduardo alla natura selvaggia. Per chi cerca qualità ed è amante dei documentari, a questo prezzo( l'ho pagato 27 euro, 10 in meno rispetto alla versione italiana con 4 dischi) è un acquisto obbligato!

First of all 5/5 for Amazon service. Ordered for 1 day delivery & got it as promised, on time. The good part of this are : * Great narration by Alastair, * Fantastic photography & filming. Attention to details is evident, * Exposes us to lot more things on this planet which many are totally unaware of, * Snow, mountains, caves, desert..... you name it & you have it in here. Really fantastic. And there are lot more but it needs to be experienced as this one is hell lot of piece of great work. Kudos to BBC. Some get confused between Planet Earth & Life. I would say opt for planet earth if interested in knowing the earth better, opt for life (some part is picked up from planet earth) if you are interested in animals, fish etc. but yeah, in 'Life' there are mating scenes too, so decide with whom you would like to watch. :P If you are not buying planet earth, then you are missing something really beautiful in life. Its a great collection. Keep exploring. Cheers.

It is hard to find a starting point in reviewing a film series that has set such a high standard of achievement. I frequently found myself pausing, rewinding and replaying multiple segments of each eposide, fascinated with the extent to which these expert filmmakers went to capture such amazing footage. What sets this "nature documentary" apart from all that have come before it is the expert utilization of a multitude of filmmaking tools reserved for big budget TV commercials, music videos and feature films. Examples can be seen right from the first episode, where the use of a motion control rig and time lapse photography shows the full, month long transition between seasons on the arctic tundra, and long distance, high speed lenses capture the frolicking of a polar bear and her cubs. The African wild dog hunt segment made use of a high-tech helicopter HD camera mount, formerly used exclusively by the military. Even small clips that take you into the next act are amazing, unparalleled photographic achievements. Photographic and technical wizardry aside, the mandate of this series was to show the planet and it's non-human inhabitants as they've never been seen before. In this respect, the producer, Alistair Fothergill, and his team of hundreds have far exceeded their goal. This did not come about without putting in a mammoth amount of sweat equity. In watching the 10 minute diary segements after each episode, one sees the drive and determination of the crew, sometimes up to three years of hiking and filming, to capture a few minutes of rare footage. A previous reviewer has referenced the snow leopard and shark footage, I would like to add the pirhana feeding frenzy and stork migration over Mount Everest as truly awestriking segments as well. The narration by David Attenbourough adds a gentle backstory and a few exclamation points to footage that could stand alone without it. A 5.1 soundtrack, and BBC Orchestra score give a compelling reason to turn up the volume, sit back and enjoy the HD glory of this absolutely flawless presentation. This is a must see series for children and adults alike... awesome... awesome... awesome!

他のレビュアーが大絶賛しているように、「映像」に関しては付け足す言葉はもうありません。 さらに次世代DVDplayerとあわせてHD／BD版の購入を検討しなくてはならなくなるほどの素晴らしさです。 値段に関しては、確かにco.ukや.comのほうが数千円安いです。 しかし、今ここで注文して、明日DVDplayerを買いに行けば、 明後日には大自然の素晴らしさを堪能できます。 日本語版のあまりの高さに躊躇したかた、ここで買いです。 躊躇している時間を映像を楽しむために使いましょう。

Worst DVD ever. Doesn't play on any device - with any DVD player. Glitchy and makes for one horrible viewing experience when it does play.