Product Description

David Attenborough Directors: Alastair Fothergill

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #27 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-11-27
• Rating: Exempt
• Aspect ratio: 1.77:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Box set, Dolby, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 5
• Dimensions: .79 pounds
• Running time: 660 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
As befits the BBC’s reputation for producing some of the world’s best nature documentaries, the five-disc set Planet Earth is an epic travelogue, focussing on different ecologies and the unique animals that inhabit them. Once again, Sir David Attenborough provides the narration, as the cameras fly across the surface of the earth, zooming in to give us a bug’s eye view one minute, zooming out to give us an eagle’s perspective the next. The BBC’s cameramen filmed more than 200 locations, resulting in some truly spectacular footage, much of which has never before been seen--such as the rare sight of an endangered snow leopard hunting in the Himalayas, or great white sharks leaping from the water as they hunt. The creators of Planet Earth endured some of the world’s most hostile environments, from the deepest ocean depths to an Antarctic blizzard to a fetid, cockroach- and bat-infested cave, just to grab a few moments of film; it’s worth watching the "Making of" shorts that accompany each episode, in order to see just what lengths they had to go to. The three extra episodes here--Planet Earth: The Future--provide a sobering finale, as Sir David practically pleads with viewers to cherish the animals that we share this planet with, before it’s too late. --Ted Kord

DVD Description
AS YOU'VE NEVER SEEN IT BEFORE... The makers of The Blue Planet present the epic story of life on Earth. Five years in production, over 2000 days in the field, using 40 cameramen filming across 200 locations, this is the ultimate portrait of our planet. A stunning television experience that 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 Earth's most extreme habitats. Using a budget of unprecedented proportions, photography and unique, specially developed filming techniques, Planet Earth takes you to places you have never seen before, to experience sights and sounds you may never experience again

Synopsis
From the creators of BLUE PLANET comes this epic depiction of life on Earth. PLANET EARTH was a mammoth undertaking and was the result of more than 2000 days of production, filmed across 200 different locations around the 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!