Planet Earth - The Complete BBC Series

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• Planet Toys Planet Earth Digital Microscope Kit

DVD Reviews of Planet Earth - The Complete BBC Series

DVD Review: Planet Earth - Blu-Ray - Stunning Picture Quality
Summary: 4 Stars

DVD Review: Great
Summary: 5 Stars

DVD Review: Good but not Great
Summary: 3 Stars

DVD Review: Perfect gift
Summary: 5 Stars

DVD Review: Planet Earth is Amazing
Summary: 5 Stars

Description of Planet Earth - The Complete BBC Series

DVD Features:
Other:110 minutes of behind the scenes footage - one 10-minute behind the scenes program for each episode (SD release only)
Documentary:Planet Earth - The Future: This 3-part, 2 1/2 hour series looks at what the future may hold for endangered animals, habitats and -- ultimately -- ourselves. Following the environmental issues raised by Planet Earth, it asks why so many species are threatened and how they can be protected in future. (SD release only)

That's just a hint of the marvels on display. Accompanied by majestic orchestral scores by George Fenton, every episode is packed with images so beautiful or so forcefully impressive (and so perfectly photographed by the BBC's tenacious high-definition camera crews) that you'll be rendered speechless by the splendor of it all. You'll see a seal struggling to out-maneuver a Great White Shark; swimming macaques in the Ganges delta; massive flocks of snow geese numbering in the hundreds of thousands; an awesome night-vision sequence of lions attacking an elephant; the Colugo (or "flying lemur"--not really a lemur!) of the Philippines; a hunting alliance of fish and snakes on Indonesia's magnificent coral reef; the bioluminescent "vampire squid" of the deep oceans... these are just a few of countless highlights, masterfully filmed from every conceivable angle, with frequent use of super-slow-motion and amazing motion-controlled time-lapse cinematography, and narrated by Attenborough with his trademark combination of observational wit and informative authority. The result is a hugely entertaining series that doesn't flinch from the predatory realities of nature (death is a constant presence, without being off-putting), and each episode ends with 10-minute "Planet Earth Diaries" (exclusive to this DVD set) that cover a specific aspect of production, like "Diving with Pirahnas" or "Into the Abyss" (the latter showing the rigors of filming the planet's most spectacular caves, including the last filming ever officially permitted in the "Chandelier Ballroom," a crystal-encrusted cavern found over a mile deep in New Mexico's treacherous Lechuguilla, the deepest cave in the continental United States.)

With so many of Earth's natural wonders on display, it's only fitting that the final DVD in this five-disc set is devoted to Planet Earth: The Future, a separate three-part series in which a global array of experts is assembled to discuss issues of conservation, protection of delicate ecosystems, and the socio-economic benefits of understanding nature as a commodity that returns trillions of dollars in value at no cost to Earth's human population. At a time when the multiple threats of global warming should be obvious to all, let's give Sir David the last word, from the closing of Planet Earth's final episode: "We can now destroy or we can cherish--the choice is ours." --Jeff Shannon

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General DVDs

• Genres > Documentary
• Educational > Science & Technology
• Special Interests > Nature & Wildlife
• Documentary