Life After People (History Channel)
by David de Vries
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DVD details
Actor: Life After People DvDirector: David de Vries
Brand: A&E HOME ENT.
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 94 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-03-18
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: A&E HOME VIDEO
Product features:
- THE HISTORY CHANNEL and Academy Award-winning special effects studio Industrial Light and Magic (Star Wars, Harry Potter) join forces to imagine the state of planet Earth years after humans disappear. Stunning visual effects show how the environment will change as dams overflow, buildings crumble, and fires engulf once-mighty cities. Domestic animal life will die out and new species will claim the
DVD Reviews of Life After People (History Channel)
DVD Review: Interesting, but simplistic.
Summary: 3 Stars
They could have done a far better job with this. The graphics are terrific, and it is thought-provoking, but, really, how many times do you need to see the Seattle Space Needle or the Eiffel Tower fall over in slow motion?
Their timeline seems pretty arbitrary and does not tally with what I've read elsewhere.
SUMMARY: It's fun and interesting, but take it with a grain of salt.
For a much better treatment of the subject, try the excellent (although depressing) book by Allen Weisman, The World Without Us.)
DVD Review: The Sequence Of Nature
Summary: 4 Stars
I liked it because it showed the process by which time, and the sequence of nature on man made structures. How some species left behind after man were able to change and adapt, where others could not. That mother nature, slowly and sometimes rapidly have a paramount affect on the environment; by reclaiming her landscape. The documentary was quite informative.
DVD Review: Mother Nature's power!
Summary: 4 Stars
Although the concept behind History's Life After People - what would/will happen to earth if/when the human race cease's to inhabit it - may not be new, the presentation, production value, special effects, and impact of this brilliantly produced documentary put it in a league of its own. "Greenies," young people, and even those who aren't normally fans of documentaries or "nature shows" will thoroughly enjoy this documentary.
Life After People theorizes about the fate of the earth when humans no longer "control" it; how it would (re)turn to a more natural state "if" we went extinct. Which ecosystems would take over? What animals, plants and insects would survive? What remnants of the industrialized world would remain, and for how long? Based on both evidence of the demise of past civilizations and computer simulated models, this documentary explores the hypothetical (although sadly, all too likely) process our planet may embark on should/when we're no longer here.
Visually stunning and insightful, this special is especially thought provoking for young viewers, who also happen to hold the fate of the world in their hands. Taking on subjects as "small" as household pets, as complex as New York skyscrapers, and as large - philosophically and scientifically speaking - as the possibility of evolution happening all over again, Life After People is an outstanding, informative, and extremely entertaining documentary. Thanks to the engaging subject matter and excellent production, it's sure to live on as one of the History Channel's best presentations.
Special Features
As a television documentary, Bonus Features are not part of the production process. This Blu-ray disc does, however, have a few additional scenes that are as captivating and interesting as the standard content that aired on television.
DVD Review: Not quite the eye-opener you want it to be
Summary: 3 Stars
Everyone dies eventually. No, we don't mean each person as a living organism will inevitably face death, we mean everyone of us lumpy humans will one day be dead. And the world will be left here laughing at us. Not just laughing though, recovering too. You see, it turns out all of our plastics, smelting and constructing of high rises will have lasting effects on this blue and green marble spinning in space. What Life After People explores is just how long those effects will stick around. Right here and now: guess how long you think it will take for humanity's presence to fade entirely from this planet. Chances are your guess was somewhere within the realm of reason...until you ask about Styrofoam, which is incidentally the material of doom.
Yes folks, it turns out it's not our contributions to the skyline that will stand as testaments to humanity's impact on this world, but the stuff you use to pack other things. You know what's irksome about that truth? Life After People willfully misleads you into considering the premise from a solely metro centric point of view and doesn't even mention that fact until you've sat through the first 9/10 of the feature. A bit devious wouldn't you say?
Using CGI renderings of the world's cities and its landmarks, the creators of Life After People gradually scale the planets recovery step by step. Starting with our immediate demise and working all the way past 10,000 years of human absence, the feature charts plant-growth, animal territory expansions and newfound terra-forming as all elements of nature take hold of human progress and tear it asunder. It's as if the most vocal proponents of green-living got together in a room and had a joint wet-dream about what they wish would happen to humanity. That sounds overly pessimistic, but someone involved in this piece took great pleasure in imagining the planet's recovery.
What makes the show remotely educational are the parallels drawn to current events and existing evidence backing up how each fingerprint of humankind will be wiped away. First to go? Our well-paved streets and sidewalks. Within months or even weeks plants will creep up between the cracks and begin laying waste to highways and walkways. As that happens domestic animals will either adapt to the new conditions or die starving and alone in the locked palaces of their homo sapiens. Months after that wilderness begins creeping back into the concrete jungles and plants take further strides in redominating the planet we stole away. To analyze what happens 10 or 20 years down the road, the program takes a look at a city abandoned after the events of Chernobyl and makes compelling arguments for the realism of the whole situation. Yes, humanity has abandoned its cities before and nature's relapse is often quite immediate and forceful.
The CGI makes for interesting high definition viewing but it's nothing so stunning that you'll be lifting your jaw from the floor. What will ensnare you is the look at the substances we've created that have a lifetime far exceeding our own. The audio, comprised mainly of a straight-laced narrator, doesn't take advantage of the format's crisp sound but chances are you weren't expecting it to. It's an interesting piece, but its presence on a high-def disc begs questioning when it comes time for that purchase.
Blu-ray Extra Features:
Additional scenes supplement the tidings of doom and extinction that this special touts with great pride. Yes, we're all going to die. When that happens mother earth seems all too willing to wipe the slate clean and start over. The additional scenes only go on to show the viewer the futility of man's quest for eternal remembrance. Heck, as the special says itself, this review's chances of being found by a future civilization has less of a chance than that copy of Dan Brown's book you purchased (everyone did, don't be embarrassed). If there was ever a valid argument against going completely digital versus printed media, you'll find it in Life After People.
DVD Review: An Excellent Presentation of Entropy in Action
Summary: 5 Stars
The basic premise of Life After People is that humans are suddenly gone and it doesn't matter how such a disappearance happens. The movie explores the question of how long would it take the physical remains of human presence to completely disappear and/or be transformed.
The movie particularly resonated with me because I have often wondered the same thing. I have even done sketches of, say, the Statue of Liberty toppled over and half-covered with sand, or Big Ben in London halfway submerged, or the Golden Gate Bridge collapsed. I supposed that this line of thought was inspired by my observations, over the years, of the ruins of ancient civilizations, coupled with the realization that nothing lasts forever, leading to speculation as to what might the ruins of our current civilization look like.
By the way, the series is even better because it has the time to go into more detail. Life After People is, above all, an excellent presentation of entropy in action.
Description of Life After People (History Channel)
If humans were suddenly to disappear, what would happen to our planet - the structures we've built, the everyday items we take for granted, domesticated and wild animals, plants, trees? What would become of the things that define our species and leave our mark on this Earth?Visit the ghostly villages surrounding Chernobyl (abandoned by humans after the 1986 nuclear disaster), travel to remote islands off the coast of Maine to search for abandoned towns that have vanished from view in only a few decades, then head beneath the streets of New York to see how subway tunnels may become watery canals.
HISTORY? takes you on an amazing visual journey in Life After People, a though-provoking adventure that combines movie-quality visual effects with insights with insights from experts in the fields of engineering, botany, ecology, biology, geology, climatology, and archeology to demonstrate how the very landscape of our planet will change in our absence.
The very notion is deliciously ghoulish: What happens to earth if--or when--people suddenly vanished? The History Channel presents a dramatic, fascinating what-if scenario, part science fiction and part true natural science. "Welcome to Earth, Population: 0" is the catchy tagline, Life After People's 94 minutes are so gripping you nearly forget while you watch that you, yourself, will be gone too. It turns out that earth can go along very nicely without us. The hardest part of the special is probably in the first 15 minutes, when pet owners confront what likely will happen to their dogs (thankfully, the show follows those dogs who break out of their houses, and the prognosis for them to survive as scavengers is good). As the fictional days and weeks tick by, the process of nature's reclaiming the planet becomes less grim and more fascinating. The impact of the lack of people will be noticed right away, as most power grids shut down around the planet. The one holdout: Hoover Dam, whose hydro power lights up the American Southwest. Scientists say the dam can continue to operate on its own for months, maybe years, keeping the Vegas Strip alight. Only the eventual accumulation of quagga mussels, an invasive species, in the cooling pipes of the power plant--currently being cleaned by humans--will shut down the dam. Elsewhere, critters and plants will have their run of Manhattan and every other previously "civilized" spot. Inventive photography shows bears clambering out of subway stations, and vines pulling down brownstones, then skyscrapers. It may not be a surprise when the Eiffel Tower and Space Needle meet their eventual fates, but the scenes nonetheless provide a pleasant sting of shock. Life After People is humbling, yet exhilarating. -- A.T. Hurley
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