Product Description

With an unprecedented production budget of $25 million and from the makers of Blue Planet: Seas of Life comes the epic story of life on Earth. Five years in production over 2000 days in the field using 40 cameramen filming across 200 locations shot entirely in high definition this is the ultimate portrait of our planet. A stunning television experience that captures rare action 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 daily struggle for survival in Earth's most extreme habitats. Planet Earth takes you to places you have never seen before to experience sights and sounds you may never experience anywhere else.Running Time: 550 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: MISCELLANEOUS/SPECIAL INTEREST UPC: 794051293824 Manufacturer No: E2938

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2007-04-24
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Box set, Closed-captioned, Subtitled
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 5
• Dimensions: .85 pounds
• Running time: 550 minutes

Amazon.com
As of its release in early 2007, Planet Earth is quite simply the greatest nature/wildlife series ever produced. Following the similarly monumental achievement of The Blue Planet: Seas of Life, this astonishing 11-part BBC series is brilliantly narrated by Sir David Attenborough and sensibly organized so that each 50-minute episode covers a specific geographical region and/or wildlife habitat (mountains, caves, deserts, shallow seas, seasonal forests, etc.) until the entire planet has been magnificently represented by the most astonishing sights and sounds you'll ever experience from the comforts of home. The premiere episode, "From Pole to Pole," serves as a primer for things to come, placing the entire series in proper context and giving a general overview of what to expect from each individual episode. Without being overtly political, the series maintains a consistent and subtle emphasis on the urgent need for ongoing conservation, best illustrated by the plight of polar bears whose very behavior is changing (to accommodate life-threatening changes in their fast-melting habitat) in the wake of global warming--a phenomenon that this series appropriately presents as scientific fact. With this harsh reality as subtext, the series proceeds to accentuate the positive, delivering a seemingly endless variety of natural wonders, from the spectacular mating displays of New Guinea's various birds of paradise to a rare encounter with Siberia's nearly-extinct Amur Leopards, of which only 30 remain in the wild.

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

More Planet Earth

Planet Earth on Blu-ray

Planet Earth on HD DVD

More BBC DVDs

Stills from Planet Earth (click for larger image)

Customer Reviews

A Blu Ray necessity
Simply put, if there is any single Blu Ray series you should own after purchasing your first Blu Ray DVD player, this is the series. Incredible quality, incredible footage.

The only minor gripe, is the Blu Ray DVD version of the series differs from the standard and HD DVD versions of the series as it does not come with the behind-the-scenes footage of how the series was shot. Having said this, I would not let this small issue prevent you from buying this outstanding series.

Way too Violent
Specatacular views, but way too much footage of animals eating animals. Every segment in the 5 disc collection keys into the fight for survival with preditors capturing and devouring their victims.

Whether slowly or quickly, this is bothersome. I can not deny the reality and rules by which nature works, however, I was unprepared for the way BBC went there and stayed there time and time again. Perhaps a better title for this series would be "Planet Preditor." I bought this in hopes of sharing with my children. Now, I wish I hadn't purchased it.

Just what's advertised
I bought the blu-ray version, I'm running it on a Sharp blu-ray DVD player, and it's gorgeous. Exactly what I was expected. The narration is very well suited, the script is on, and the visuals are really compelling.


What you get is a beautiful documentary, scenes, landscapes, a lot of animals, great to look at, very easy to watch. There's no plot. It doesn't grab you. It's not a suspense thriller. Just a tour of natural beauty on earth.

That's what I wanted, that's what I got.