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By
WADE GOSSETT
One word: Stunning!
Did I say, "stunning"? Oh, my. Nothing but
exclamations of awe and wonder can do this series
justice.
I had a similar experience almost thirty years
ago, when I watched David Attenborough's "Life on
Earth" on British TV. It was then groundbreaking,
using inordinate amounts of patience and
newfangled cameras (for the time) to show the most
intimate scenes of animal behavior. Unfortunately
-- and inexplicably -- "Life on Earth" is not
available on DVD for Region 1.
Thirty years is a long time, however, and "Planet
Earth" is a worthy descendant of "Life on Earth."
Some biologists have criticized the series as
being light on facts and long on images, but
they're missing the point: This is really about
images, incredible, stunning (did I say,
"stunning"?), wondrous images of our planet. And
facts too. The only thing this is series is not ,
is pedantic.
Five years in production, with a budget on the
tens of millions of dollars, with 40 cameramen
filming across 200 locations, and shot entirely in
high definition, I can only quote from the product
description that this is indeed "the ultimate
portrait of our planet." No PR here. Just the
truth. It really is. From deserts to oceans to
caves, and from the tropics to the arctic, this is
the most stunning (did I say, "stunning"?) nature
feature I have ever seen. Buy it, and watch it! No
mere words can do it justice -- although stunning
comes close (did I say, "stunning"?).
A couple of notes: Shown on the Discovery HD
channel stateside, the DVD edition is the original
BBC version narrated by the authoritative
Attenborough, while the Discovery version was
narrated by the very nice but less impressive
Sigourney Weaver. However, I must admit that the
TV version was even more stunning (did I say,
"stunning"?) since it was in HD. The standard DVD
is good, and this is what is being reviewed here,
but if you get a chance get the Blu-ray or HD
version.
Did I say, "stunning"? It is truly stunning! |
