PLANET EARTH Blu-Ray (BBC America 2006) BBC VIDEO
Every once in a long while, a television franchise about
the natural world comes along that is immense and captivating in its scope,
able to create wonderment and genuine awe about the tiny planet we only ‘think’
we know, leaving us dumbstruck and enriched by the experience. Such is the case
in reviewing BBC's Planet Earth (2006) - a comprehensive globetrotting
trek across the remotest tundra, deserts, rain forest and polar ice caps.
Through 11-one-hour segments narrated by David Attenborough, Planet Earth
sweeps the viewer across a vast, untouched and narrowly forgotten landscape of
untapped resources - exposing the rare, exotic, bizarre and dangerously raw,
uncharted natural splendors in all their mythological glories. Winner of 4 Emmys,
Planet Earth is a dazzling assemblage of primal wonders to behold.
Employing more than 40 cameras to 200 exotic destinations circling the globe,
from the comfort of our living rooms we bear witness to the poetic desolation
of the Arctic Circle and blistering Sahara desert, travel deep into the bowels
of the earth to uncover a glittering undercarriage of nocturnal activities from
predators who have never seen the sun, sail high atop the most dangerous peaks of
devastatingly rugged mountain ranges that have claimed both animal and human
travelers alike, and finally, splash down and far below, into the estranged
realms of underwater coral reefs where sea monsters of all shapes and sizes
continue to rummage and ravage these open waters.
Perhaps not wanting to overtax our senses, the
narrative by Attenborough is scant on all but the most captivating details,
allowing instead the images to speak for themselves. George Fenton's momentous
scoring of each episode provides a grand and solitary backdrop for this
excursion, perfectly anchoring Andrew Shillabee's starkly poetic and haunting
cinematography of the surreal. In the U.S., Attenborough's whimsical narration
was inexplicably replaced with a less inspired commentary track by Sigourney
Weaver. Thankfully, the BBC Video's new Blu-Ray compendium has restored
Attenborough's voice-over. The series is divided into 11 segments; Pole to
Pole is a brief cook's tour of all the places the series intends to visit
in further depth elsewhere. Beginning with 'Mountains' the viewer is
taken on a sublime aerial bypass of the most isolated caps, peaks and craggy
rock formations studding the globe. Next up is an exploration of Fresh
Waters', 'Caves', then Deserts and Ice Worlds - the latter,
exploring the haunted solitary regions most remote and isolated from mankind.
From the 'Great Plains' and 'Jungles' the series moves below the
water line into 'Shallow Seas' concluding its exploration with 'Seasonal
Forests' and a journey to the 'Deep Ocean'.
Running approximately 550-minutes, Planet Earth
is the ultimate rush for the natural explorer. In an age ravaged by an
overwhelming amount of microcosmic examinations of our own small contribution
to this planet's development, Planet Earth is a fateful reminder that
what was here before the dawn of man is far more fascinating and likely to
endure for centuries yet to follow – with or without our participation. BBC
Home Video's presentation of Planet Earth on Blu-Ray is - in one word -
breathtaking. The 1080p image is near flawless - the one exception remains
during those rare instances where hi-def cameras could not be employed to
capture the images presented to us. Colors are rich and vibrant. Fine details
are evident throughout. The lushness of greens and blues is truly stunning.
Contrast levels have been superbly rendered. The audio has been viscerally
captured in Dolby Digital 5.1. Truly, this documentary series belongs on
everyone's top shelf and should be required viewing for geography classes in
high schools across the world. Highly recommended!
FILM RATING (out of 5 - 5 being the best)
4
VIDEO/AUDIO
5+
EXTRAS
2
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