Customer Reviews

The BBC High Definition Natural History Collection (Planet Earth / Wild China / Galapagos / Ganges) [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(47)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As of this writing I have only previewed each disc in the collection. "Planet Earth" comes w/4 discs and is displayed in 1080 Progressive Scan. The remaining discs in the collection are in 1080i, however, I can see no remarkable difference. There is, however, a marked difference between DVD and Blu-Ray. This collection needs to be seen in Bluray to fully appreciate it's potential. So far, all discs are of the highest quality and interestingly narrated; As good as, or better, than the very best nature documentary one has ever seen on television. Well worth the price for the amount of high-quality footage (over 1000 minutes); Can easily be viewed more than once, especially by children...There is no price difference whether you buy these sets individually or in this box set---this way, though, they come in their individually marked plastic cases, and all 4 boxes fit into the pictured cardboard case.

Being a photographer and a lover of nature, animals, and culture I decided to gift myself the new HDTV, Blu Ray and this collection of documentaries for my birthday. I am incredibly pleased with everything I have watched and appreciate the cinematography, writing and narration that went into the making of this series. I have found all the shows so far to be fascinating, informative, even calming and relaxing after a hard day at work. I am humbled by the majesty of our world and feel blessed to experience those parts of it where I may never have a chance to visit.

This collection box is 100% worth the money. There are four discs in Planet Earth, 2 discs (6 hours) in Wild China, 1 in Galapagos and 1 in Ganges. All top Blu-ray qualities that you just cannot miss. I absolutely love this collection and will watch it again and again.

I bought this collection because I already have the Planet Earth in DVD and I tought if it already looks amazing on a regular DVD it would be fantastic on high definition... and it really is! The Planet Earth mainly, is amazing, with its fantastic images... Sadly, one of the best things from the original DVDs, the Planet Earth Diares, kind of a making of, explaining how complex and difficult is to produce such beautiful footage, is missing in this edition; and I can't understand why! Also I have to agree with the one star reviews complaining about the package... If I didn't knew that before I probably would already damaged one DVD! Remember to be extra careful! Besides that is a must have collection!

I had heard alot about planet earth, but had never had ocassion to watch it. It definitly lived up to all the hype. All of these films are broken down into one hour segments, which works well on a weekday when you need some time to wind down after work. The most impressive of the series was planet earth, which basically highlights many places in the world, but never focuses too deeply on any particular location. If I had a complaint, it would be that sometimes it would touch so lightly on a location it felt like I was watching a trailer for a much more detailed portrayal that was never given, but apparently that was the producers intent. Planet earth condenses, I can't imagine how much footage of nature, into a best of each area overview. Most nature films try to go into some depth about a particular area and its wildlife. Planet earth takes a different approach by giving a broad overview of the entire world. It is a best of nature video for the entire globe. It does this by dividing the world into climatic regions; deserts, deciduous forests, rain forests, artic... etc. All of the cinematography is done excellently and it was filmed in high definition, so the colors of the flora and fauna are vivid and seem to come to life on your screen.

The other films are also very good, I would rate them as being as good as most national geographic films. None of them are as long as planet earth and they were not filmed in high definition, but they are well done. Unlike planet earth, they do focus exclusively on one region of the world. Interestingly, two of the films focus on the most well populated areas in the world, India and China. These films are as much about the people of these regions as they are about wildlife. I guess it is difficult to seperate wildlife from people in countries that are so well populated that even in very rural areas wildlife must share space with humanity.

If you are someone who enjoys nature (which you must be if you are bothering to read this review), these films will definitly be worth the money spent. If you want to save money just buy, or at least borrow, planet earth, it is definitly the best of the bunch.

I don't understand the reasoning behind the other review of 2 stars. Yes it is a boxed set of each of the programs that you can also buy separately, but isn't that the definition of a box set? I have seen each of these programs, and they are all excellent! BBC always delivers great documentaries. Planet Earth and Galapagos are a must!

Length:: 0:47 Mins

These programs are obviously second to none; the shots are breath-taking, the cinematography is outstanding, and the narration is informative and engaging. They have so much repeat-watch potential and are single-handedly why I invested in a bluray player and HDTV.

However, the other reviewers' forewarnings about the packaging are NOT to be taken lightly. The discs for Wild China, Galapagos, and Ganges behave well enough, and even the 2nd and 3rd discs of the Planet Earth set are passable. The 1st and 4th of Planet Earth, though, I needed PLIERS to get out. The discs are snapped in so tightly that they were flexing to the point where they could've easily snapped in half before the packaging let up.

I eventually had to pull out my Leatherman and use it to squeeze/deform the little snap-in protrusion by squeezing it with the broad part of the pliers (see video). It was pretty nerve racking as the discs were still inside and I was afraid I might scratch or gouge them by mistake!! After all of that I could get the discs out with a reasonable amount of force, and they still snap back in, too... it was really THAT tight to begin with!!

This set, the Planet Earth portion in particular, is easily the most breathtaking sequence of high definition footage I've yet seen. The 70mm cameras manage to pick up shots with so much in them that it seems impossible that it can all fit within the frame, and yet everything is rendered in perfect detail. If you're looking to push your new technological toys to see how pretty a picture they can get, this is the best way to do it right now.

Not only have I put it through lots of use for just myself, it's a constant source of amazement for guests. Even those that have seen the episodes on tv are blown away by how incredible the blu-ray picture is. A perfect combination of eye-popping color, masterful cinematography, conceptual simplicity.

My only grief, and it is a major one, has nothing to do with the program, but the Planet Earth packaging really grips discs 1 and 4 tight. The first time I tried to remove disc 4 from the case, without any undue amount of pressure, the disc snapped in half. It seems in the feedback that this has happened to several others also. Luckily for me Amazon replaced my set and this problem must not have gone unnoticed by the manufacturer because the interior packaging was slightly different and less troublesome in the replacement (now having 2 double-sided flaps inside instead of 1 flap and a nub on either side of the cover). Either way, these discs are a gem, so take care with them.

This BBC collection is a must own. Planet Earth alone on blu-ray is worth it. The galapagos is interesting, but it really didn't keep my interest too much. The Ganges and Wild China are on par with Planet Earth. The imagery is amazing and sometimes the picture looked so good I thought the animals were going to walk off the screen. Buy this set.

James Cameron's TITANIC is the king of the world, all films. STAR WARS is the unsurpassable standard of all Sci Fi. GONE WITH THE WIND is the classic of all classics. AVITAR is the 3D of all 3D movies. Well, PLANET EARTH is the pinnacle of all nature films. Enough said.

Also, consider getting Planet Earth as a box set together w/ either Earth the Biography, or High Definition Natural History Collection, or boxed w/ Life (David Attenborough).

I've upgraded my Planet Earth to blu ray. It's a big step up in picture from the dvd, I've done side by side comparison. DVD has extras/bonuses, but it's not worth sacrificing the picture for. A note: after considerable amount of research, the picture is 1080i. Even if your package or TV says 1080p signal, 1080i cameras were used to film this entire series, becoming the limiting step.

For Galapagos, please read my review there.