PLANET EARTH: What a wonderful world.

Nature is both the most precious resource we have and the least respected when it comes to preserving it versus personal gain. Alright, with that out of the way, the BBC series Planet Earth does a marvelous job in reminding us of the beauty and fragility of our environment. Equipped with my PS3, the BluRay release was on my wish list and Santa certainly "obeyed". Anyway, having seen only a few parts on Discovery Channel, I was delighted to have easy access to this broadcast in HD, and while a bit pricey at $66 it's still a great deal considering the 8 hours of extremely well done nature videos.


IN A NUTSHELL

Planet Earth picks a theme in any episode and that can involve several continents or be limited to one geographical area, depending on the topic. Overall it's a great compilation of the world less traveled with some formations and creatures that are typically not to be found in the high-gloss picture books.

Narration and "story" are both entertaining and educational. This isn't a given for most documentaries, and the entertainment is mostly based on exotic (unusual) creatures and scenarios told via a "story" which makes it easier to watch than a collection of facts (especially for the younger audience). That doesn't mean you have to watch talking animals a la Disney and it's never "over the top" either.


CONTENT

Pole to Pole - Promotes the understanding of how the world is interconnected and the influence of seasons some landmarks on Earth.

Mountains - Against initial expectations this episode is mostly geared towards the animals and their adaptation to a rough climate in both the Himalayas and the Andes. It's not about the formation of those mountains(, which I was hoping for).

Deep Ocean - The most unexplored region of the Earth is giving up a few more secrets in this episode and as you would expect it's both strange and spectacular. Of course the blue whale isn't missing either, (the largest animal).

Deserts - Against common belief, deserts apparently are "full of life" and just like the Mountians episode, this chapter focuses on survival in the harshest environments (Chile & Namibia).

Ice Worlds - Another extreme, the poles offer the harsh wild lands with extreme seasonal change. The always favorite emperor penguins and the increasingly endangered polar bear are portrayed in their respective ecosystem. (Still wonder why polar bears don't eat penguins?)

Shallow Sea - Shallow waters allow for abundant sunlight to the seabed and results in an explosion of life. This episode focuses on rarely seen sights of the world's oceans. Once more it's about survival and in this case one of the most surprising detail was the coverage of water snakes cooperating to hunt for food. Of course "shallow" is relative and the inclusion of the journey of a humpback whale and her newborn calf might give that away.

Great Plains - Vast open spaces hosting the biggest groups of animals. While not one of our favorite episodes, the 2,000 mile migration of millions of caribou as well as starving lions hunting elephants sum up the most impressive migrations and boldest hunts. Note: Life and death are both explored in detail which may lead to some graphic scenes which may cause some confusion with your young ones (The Lion King did what to Dumbo???).

Jungles - As one of the most lush ecosystems, it's also full of life and such density requires special survival skills from elaborate mating rituals (birds of paradise) to territorial battles (chimpanzees). This episode is especially interesting as the jingle occupies only 3% of the planet's territory and still inhabits over 50% of the world's species (most are still unexplored).

Fresh Water - The oceans get all the hype for wildlife, but rivers are the veins that nourish the land and its inhabitants. Not forgetting about that, this episode pretty much follow the flow of rivers from beginning to end (mountain to sea) and highlights the wildlife along the way, not forgetting about lakes either. While Nessy is missing, the world's highest waterfall is not and the camera crew managed to put everything in a unique perspective.

Seasonal Forests - This episode manages to explore the unusual in an otherwise fairly familiar surrounding (provided you live somewhere near a the typical forest in North America or Europe and the likes). Yet giant trees and rare animals are not that common and this is pretty much the focus of this chapter. It's a nice reminder that despite the familiarity portions remain largely unexplored.

Caves - This was one of the episodes we watched with great anticipation. Not only is Borneo's Deer Cave with five million bats an amazing factoid, but we also enjoyed seeing the glow worm caves in NZ covered. This was one of our favorite sights on our trip to New Zealand in 2007 and most of the coverage looked very familiar (taken from the videos shown on site while waiting for the tour).


TECHNICALITIES

Picture Quality: [****-] Using the Blu-Ray format as a reference, the overall picture quality is very good. However, you may be surprised that it's not as crisp as say the last football game you saw in HD. This can be explained by the nature of some low light photography and due to the fact that Nature doesn't typically have crisp lines, but it's still a bit below expectations (especially on a 1080p setup). Nevertheless, there is a good amount of videos that are nicely supplemented by high definition and worth seeing.

Photography: [*****] Regardless of the HD impression, the actual photography is simply amazing and very well done. These are some of the most enjoyable recordings I've ever seen. Colors and perspective are perfect. Even the most boring subject in nicely put into picture and perfectly executed. The producers make use of breath taking perspectives and don't shy away from unusual and hostile locations too (i.e. the interior of the world's biggest bat cave).

Narration: [****-] There isn't much dramatization in the voice recording as it's pretty much the bare minimum to not distract from the picture too much. At the same time, the writer(s) apparently had the urge to include the dramatic side of Nature buy alluding to some animal's deadly fate. Of course that's part of life and especially consequences of man-made disasters (i.e. melting of the arctic ice) need to be highlighted, but it may not be as undisturbed family fun as some may like. In the end it's well done, but a bit boring even considering the nature of the movies.

Family: [n/a] With the depiction of real nature comes the confrontation with life and death. There are several situations in many episodes that follow an animal that dies either on camera or the implication is fairly obvious. This might concern some parents that it harms baby's favorite Disney characters. In essence, it's best for adults and teens for educational purposes. It may not be the best "baby sitter" for toddlers.

© 2008, theuerkorn