Product Description

David Attenborough

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #75 in DVD
• Brand: Blu-ray Documentary
• Released on: 2007-11-12
• Rating: Exempt
• Aspect ratio: 16:9 - 1.78:1
• Format: Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 5
• Dimensions: .55 pounds
• Running time: 550 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Not only is Planet Earth one of the most jaw-dropping, ambitious, nature documentaries the BBC has ever produced, it’s now taken on another role: as a superb demonstration disc for the strength of and Blu-ray.

Spread over a good ten hours, the series charts life and nature in dozens upon dozens of differing locations around the earth. Diligently and warmly narrated by Sir David Attenborough, Planet Earth calmly goes close in on its subject matter when required, and then pulls out some stunning perspective shots that are simply breathtaking. It’s hard to come up with the right superlatives to do the photography on the programme any kind of justice, and that it’s married to such fascinating subject matter is all the better.

And if you think the original broadcast of Planet Earth was something special, or you were gobsmacked by the picture quality on DVD, just wait until you see it in 1080i HD glory. Particularly some of the broader shots here are all but without parallel, and it’s a real reward for those who have invested ahead of the crowd in high definition technology.

Presented over five discs, and matching wonderful content to spot-on visual presentation, Planet Earth is now not just a landmark in nature documentary film making. It’s also a chartermark of quality for just what HD DVD and Blu-ray can offer. A stunning release, in more than one sense. --Jon Foster

DVD Description
From the team behind the multi-winning Blue Planet comes this epic series celebrating the Earth as never before. Embracing the world’s incredible landscapes and fascinating wildlife, Planet Earth takes the definitive look at the diversity of our planet.

Four years in the making, with a budget of unprecedented proportions, Planet Earth has stretched the boundaries of natural history television. High definition photography, revolutionary ultra-high speed cameras and detailed images from the air enabled the series to capture the most amazing footage ever seen.

This stunning television experience combines rare action, unimaginable scale, impossible locations and intimate moments with our planet’s best-loved, wildest and most elusive creatures. From the highest mountains to the deepest rivers, this blockbuster series takes you on an unforgettable journey through the challenging seasons and the daily struggle for survival in Earths most extreme habitats. Prepare to be overwhelmed by the beauty of Planet Earth.

Including: Natural World: Desert Lions & Snow Leopards
The BBC’s flagship natural history series Natural World has consistently produced amazing wildlife stories with breathtaking imagery. These two gems from the series feature incredible footage of these rare, beautiful and magnificent big cats.

"Expect everything from underwater elephants to mountains of guano and a snow leopard in attack mode… Pure Class"-- The Guardian

Synopsis
The creators of BLUE PLANET reunite to celebrate our remarkable planet as never before thought possible with a stunning trip into the wilderness shot on revolutionary high-definition cameras over the course of five years, and utilizing 40 cameramen in 200 locations. These are the scenes that simply were not possible with older filmmaking technology, and from the highest mountain peaks to the deepest river floors, PLANET EARTH sets out to capture on camera the most elusive creatures every known to humankind. Acclaimed actor David Attenborough narrates as the filmmakers of PLANET EARTH take viewers on a journey that is truly out of this world.

Customer Reviews

Unquestionable brilliance
I have never in my life seen anything like this series. I had thought that the Blue Planet, also by the BBC, was the pinnacle of achievement of wildlife television. The deep sea episode had left me breathless, but that proved nothing compared to Planet Earth. The effort that went into this series is obvious. Only at the end of each show when we spend time with each of the crews do we really get a sense of what they had to do to bring such beauty before us. This is not self-serving "let's pat ourselves on the back" television. It only adds to the sense of wonder, and to the sense of how privileged we have been to see some of the rarest sights in nature. The camerawork is sensational. The killer whale rising out of the sea with the seal in its mouth, the diving hawks making their mid-air kill, the snow leopard bounding down sheer cliffs, the chandelier cave. All incredible. This is unlike most other "animal" tv shows, where the audience is patronised into listening to an ill-thought out anthropomorphic commentary which is little more than "ooohhh...isn't that cute" or "whoooah...isn't that dangerous". Attenborough is wonderful. He has the humility to understand that the show is not about him, and he is prepared to say nothing whilst our senses drink in "that shot" of Angel Falls or the intense colours of the Okavanga Delta. The behaviour of the Gobi desert camels left me speechless; you don't need some idiot telling you how amazing it is. I can recommend this serious without hesitation. This is public television at its best. It cannot be financially prudent to spend 40 days in the Gobi desert chasing Bactrian camels, but it takes real corporate bravery to say that natural beauty cannot be captured on the cheap. The camera techniques (remember the African dogs chase?) are priceless. You must watch this series. People at my office were discussing each episode for days afterward. Friends' children were having the same discussions - "oh my god - did you see that?" If 8 year old children and 60 year old lawyers have the same base sense of wonder, nobody will watch this and think, "it's just another documentary". This is nothing like you will have seen before. I thought I was a cynic, but this really has re-opened my eyes to the raw power of nature.

Best of the lot
Of all the natural world style documentaries that have been done this is surely the best. Needless to say David Attenborough gives an excellent commentary, but it's the production values here that take the breath away. From the huge array of overhead views of all sorts of vista's from deserts to jungle to the minute and painstaking close up shots that pass in seconds but took months to shoot this simply oozes quality.
With so many other similar documentaries already done this needed something different and arresting to pull in the audiences and so we are presented with hour after hour of all manner of things most of us never even knew existed let alone have seen from creatures that can only be found in 2 of the worlds waterfalls to sandstorms hundreds of metres high charging across a desert . The programme is also unusual in that it rarely pauses for too long on any one subject, you are really getting as much as possible packed into every episode.
The whole planet gets a look in and by the end you want to go back and see it all again.
Well done to the BBC for such high production values in the DVD too. The picture is superb, no graininess, dark and light scenes are handled equally well and colour is vivid and yet still lifelike. Hi-def was made for this type of release.
Sound is also well mixed in subtle 5.1.
The extra look at how each episode was made is a nice bonus too.
If you feel you've probably seen it all before then think again as this really is a breath of fresh air. This is a great programme and is well worth owning.

Jaw-droppingly beautiful
I have not much to add to all the reviews below but just want to add my 5-star rating as a token of my appreciation for this amazing production.
We own Life in the Freezer, Life of Birds, Life of Mammals and Blue Planet series on DVD but this really is better than anything that came before it, partially thanks to the eye-in-the-sky camera. But it's not just pretty pictures. This is educational without being condescending. Sir David Attenborough's commentary is peerless and the subjects are fascinating.
We've only watched the first two episodes but highlights so far are plenty: a great white in slow motion (high-speed camera) suspended several feet above the water during an attack on a seal, underwater close-ups of swimming elephant, a snow leopard barrelling down a mountainside in full hunting mode, the most bizarre birds of paradise I've ever seen. ..
What a beautiful planet it is!