Product Details

• Actors: John Rhys-Davies
• Directors: Lad Allen
• Writers: Lad Allen
• Producers: Lad Allen
• Format: NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Illustra Media
• DVD Release Date: September 29, 2010
• Run Time: 60 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (150 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0002E34C0
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #18,196 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Privileged Planet" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

PRIVILEGED PLANET - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

190 of 217 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars People on both sides are missing the point, September 30, 2005

By 

Patrick (Tri-Cities, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Privileged Planet (DVD)

I'm absolutely baffled at how many reviewers bring up the subject of "evolution" in their reviews of this DVD. Be they for it, or against it, they seem to base their opinion on it based on how they feel about "evolution". However, this DVD actually does not really take on that topic at all! What it does cover is something along the lines of Peter Ward's "Rare Earth". The uniqueness of earth in its ability to foster life.

Yes, it does have more of an Intelligent Design slant, which isn't suprising considering who made it, but there is nothing actually against the theory of evolution in this video at all. If you decided to love or hate this DVD, don't base your opinion of it on your opinion of Darwinism (be it for or against). That's really not the substance of the video, and anyone who thinks it is is completely missing out on the focus of the video.

This video is really well done, and features narration by John Rhyes Davies. If you're interested more in this subject, I'd definitely recommend the book "Rare Earth", or the DVD "If We Had No Moon" (narrated by Patrick Stewart).

344 of 399 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars DANGEROUS!!! We can't have dissent!, September 7, 2004

By 

Steven Lynch (Chapel Hill, Tennessee USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Privileged Planet (DVD)

From the folks at Illustra Media comes their latest nail in the coffin of exhausted theories on the evolutionary process.

Its a pretty big nail too.

This is the first well produced video that I've seen on the concept of the Anthropic Principle, the observation that our habitable earth...is just a little too perfect for life to exist when compared to the rest of the known Universe.

I'm pleased to see Dr. VanMeurs doctoral dissertation of a review on a video he's apparently never seen.

So for everybody else...here's a review by someone who HAS watched the video.

Very well produced and digitally filmed. The graphic presentations are excellent and near the level of the first edition in this series.

The scientists interviewed are very articulate and not out to bash you with the concept of "God" but to point out that the concept of our Universe actually teeming with life... is something that seems to fly in the face of the known facts.

FOR EXAMPLE: If we just took the space between Alpha Centauri and the star we call our Sun (about 4.3 light years) there seems to be only about a 2 mile layer of atmosphere that is known to be habitable by humans, without the aid of some sort of equipment.

Most of the video spends its time on the major points of the Anthropic Principle...right kind of sun, location in the solar system, location in the galaxy, atmosphere, presence of water...etc.

I wish there had been more video of the earth's landscapes used...simply because our earth is beautiful...and the respect this video gives it is breathtaking.

I found myself being in awe of the minuscule proportion of my existence as compared to the rest of the universe, yet somehow trying to figure out in all that space...why so little of it is accessible to a human being and why are we concsious of this fact?

The video should be an excellent starting point to start any discussion on the eternal question... "Why?"

Its been said that the Intelligent Design movement is dangerous. Dangerous to who? Those who have the most to lose in a debate I guess. Those who have no answer to the "Why?"

One technical flaw...on the bonus features, one of the pages on the Q & A section has no picture...but still works.

78 of 87 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Science and the Big Questions., July 8, 2005

By 

Bruce D. Woodall "BWoodall M.D." (Jellico, TN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Privileged Planet (DVD)

A thoughtful gaze cast beyond our atmosphere begs questions as to the how and why of time, exsistence, and purpose; questions which no sane person can, or should, ignore. In acknowleging the metaphysical dimension inherent to physics and cosmology, Gonzales and Richards join company with Kepler, Einstien, Hawking, Davies, and common folk like you and me. The
Privledged Planet film is a an excellent introduction to the more detailed book of the same name. It's a provocative guide through current evidences in physics and cosmology, which challenge the Copernican Principle and its cousin, the Principle of Mediocrity. Stimulating analysis such as this is what energizes science to move forward in the pursuit of truth, in this case looking not just at what the cosmos is, but to what it says.
If the tone of vulgar, sophmoric derision found in some of the negative reviews sounds eerily familiar, one should hardly be surprised. Defenders of orthodoxy never welcome dissent, or open inquiry for that matter, and visceral reactions are predicatable when such people sense a heretic in their church. The Privleged Planet has committed no sin against the empirical enterprise known as science; it merely refuses to genuflect before the doctrine of philosophical materialism. Gonzalez and Richards
have laid out a persuasive, testable argument and set a good example. Science, understanding, and the pursuit of truth will be better for it.
B. Woodall, M.D.