Planet Earth - The Complete BBC Series

My general rule about Blu-ray is that I will not replace a DVD I already own with a Blu-ray DVD. Like every good rule, it should have a few exceptions and Planet Earth is one of them.

This series was made for Blu-ray.The photography, stunning even on standard definition, is astonishing in 1080p. As the camera moves from helicopter sweeps of vast herds of yaks on the high plains of Mongolia, to elephants emerging ghostlike from high grasses in India to vibrant underwater vistas of barrier reefs teeming with tropical life, we get a sense of our own relative place on our blue ball.

David Attenborough's career has been devoted to the interface between the communication arts and the natural sciences. He is the perfect narrator for such an ambitious series, bringing scientific credibility together with a classic BBC voice. Attenborough is no mere narrator however. He is the principal writer of this award winning series.

Once you have committed to HDTV and Blu-ray this should be an essential part of your collection, even if you already own the standard definition DVD.

This product is a great teaching tool. It brings the reading content of earth from the page to life for the chidren.

So many times on Amazon I look for a review of the PRODUCT, and end up getting a review of the movie/documentary/story etc. So I will attempt to review the PRODUCT (blu-ray vs standard) rather than Planet Earth itself.

I bought the standard DVD format after seeing a few episodes on Discovery, and before I managed to get my blu-ray setup. I was thoroughly engrossed, the visuals, the quality, the information, and the narration by David Attenborough on this standard DVD were superb. Absolutely no complaints on this format.

Got my blu-ray setup, and this was the first product on my list (I actually bought the entire BBC collection which included Galapagos, Wild China, Ganges). Quality was as I expected of blu-ray, really brought out the images as 1080p would.

Major flaw on the blu-ray version however - the last disc of the standard DVD is not included, exactly why, I have been unable to find a reason. This disc contained some valuable extras, including a great segment on the state of the planet right now, and some compelling examples and visuals of our human impact on many locations around the globe.

My feelings towards this product are consequently mixed. There is no arguing the superiority of blu-ray vs regular DVD. However, Planet Earth was so spectacularly done, that looking at the images on the standard DVD format are still fantastic.

If this blu-ray version had all the discs included, I would recommend it hands-down ahead of the regular. If you are willing to surcumb to the marketing strategies (or whatever was the reason) of BBC and pay for both versions (as I ended up doing), then you're set. However, if you are looking to buy just 1 version, I personally think that the extra disc, partnered with the already magnificent quality of the standard DVD, puts it ahead of the blu-ray package offered.

This is the best thing I've seen on Blu-Ray. It's a MUST HAVE! By far the best documentary of nature I've seen, hands down!

David Attenborough's narration is much better than Sigourney Weaver's, so make sure if you click the buy button for this much played on TV series that you get the rich, satisfying British voice. Can't top Sir David's style.

This gorgeous portrait of our planet Earth leaves all viewers in wonder and awe of our seemingly unique, one of a kind world. The vast topographies of continents and rich plurality of complex life forms are put on crisp display. It's a loving tribute and while your sitting in your home watching the images on your TV screen you might take a moment to appreciate that you were among the last humans to be alive to witness these phenomenon. Maybe it would be great to see them for yourself in the flesh. And it *might* occur to you to help save them, because the planet Earth on display here is not going to last. Stylish documentaries like this may very well serve as records for future generations of what once was -assuming humans survive the damage we've wrought.