DVD Review: Planet Earth - The Complete BBC Series

BBC Planet Earth SetApr 30th, 2007 - 14:24:05

Having watched the entire series on tv I was very happy to own it on DVD.

HOWEVER, the dvd discs have (IMHO) a MAJOR flaw. At the Main Menu if Play All is selected The disc plays properly. But, if one of the other items, e.g. 'Caves', 'deserts', 'Seas', etc., is selected the correct selection is loaded but instead of playing it in a seamless fashion an array of boxes depicting each of the chapters within the item is displayed. Each of the chapters boxes need to be clicked on in order for the entire item to be viewed.

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christopher in californiaMay 4th, 2007 - 06:29:51

A few years ago I pulled the plug on the television and put it in the garage. My wife and I can live without it. Now, in fact, when we see television at a friends house or while out shopping we nearly always have the same response. Simply put: 'Not Good.' So, to say that we'd even discussed buying one again is pretty serious. We didn't in the end, but we were motivated, if only a little, because we'd seen footage of the BBC documentary series Planet Earth. I've been a fan of Sir David Attenborough's nature documentaries since I was a boy. I'm nearly 40 now and, as the rest of television has pandered to the will of the mob, he prevails with his seemingly infinite wisdom and integrity. And, as the world of television continues to sink into paper thin content, I find that he holds an ever more special place in my heart as one of the last remaining people on earth who seems to care. He cares about his words, he cares about his actions and reputation and about the quality and integrity of his work. He cares for the animals he covers in his documentaries, he cares for the mind of the viewer and he cares for the very soul of the natural world. So, imagine my surprise to find Sigorney Weaver narrating a U.S. version of a BBC documentary. When the hell did we become such a desperate people as to need a short-bus version of a BBC program? Why and how did this happen? Well, I think I have found the answer. I found it by asking a friend which version he had. Did he have the original BBC version or the Sigorney Weaver version. His response was this: 'Dude get the Sigorney Weaver version!' 'David Attenborough sucks!' 'He's a total ***.' Horrible. This is the same person who gave me Meet the Faulkers as a birthday gift and told me it was one of the best movies he'd ever seen. And yet, it's people like this that the Discovery Channel listens to. What a shame. What a terrible shame. The world is fast becoming a giant Dave & Busters and the slobs at the bar are saying Sir David Attenborough sucks. What a nightmare. If there's anyone left who cares that people of very little intelligence have supplanted those few incredible minds, who aught to be leading us and teaching us and sharing with us the beauty of their insight then, I implore you, go here:

bbc.co.uk/nature/programmes/tv/lifeonair/

read about the life of an incredible man, and let the fools at Discovery Channel know that what they've done was wrong, that we aren't lesser mortals, that we possess the necessary intellectual endowment to listen to a great man speak on a topic to which he's dedicated the whole of his life, and that, if they cannot see that catering to a mob of degenerates is quickly turning our world into a terrifying hieronymus bosch nightmare, then they do not deserve the power that the greatest communication device in the history of mankind has afforded them.

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