I know that Planet Earth is a demo HD material. But is it worth watching multiple times ? Is it good value for the money ? Please advice.

Yes, it is worth the money.

Planet Earth is one of the best HD DVDs that I have purchased, and I have watched some of the episodes multiple times. My children also love it -- the baby ducks jumping out of the tree in the "Seasonal Forests" episode is their current favorite scene. (And I must admit that I really get a kick out of watching them jump, too. :) ) The filming and picture quality of the series is stunning, and the information is amazing, as well. I don't think you will be disappointed.

As an opposing viewpoint, I think the image quality is lackluster to poor for a modern-day HD title, and the show itself is mind-numbingly dull. There are gems in there but I don't feel like wasting 6 hours of my life for 20 minutes of 'ooh' material. You're better off watching a real movie.

Hopefully they actually storyboard the next one instead of dumping a pile of random nature footage tape on the editor's lap hoping he can pull something non-disastrous out of it.

Come to think of it, it's about time they stuck an HD camcorder on a rocket and did a little solar system tour.

Yes - i had originally purchased it to re-sell, but after watchign the first two discs it's definetly a keeper for me.

Can anyone that has watched the whole series advise me on something, please.

I would love to own this set, but get the impression that it features an awful lot of "animal attacks" in glorious graphic HD. Now I know this is all part of nature, but personally I have zero desire to watch animals being ripped to shreds. I am not ashamed to say that scenes like that haunt and upset me for days.

Are there a number of episodes that manage to avoid such scenes and dwell entirely on magnificent scenery etc., or do they manage to include at least one such slaughter in virtually every episode.

Thanks for any advice.

My copy arrived in Lebanon a couple of days ago and I watched it all yesterday. WOW oh WOW, now I've never bee a fan of documentaries but this is in a whole new league. I had never seen it before and now I guarantee that I'll be watching it every now and then. It really inspired me to take a trip to some place exotic next summer :p . Highly recommend the disc especially if like me you had not seen it. Plus it has a prettty snazzy cover :D.

Can anyone that has watched the whole series advise me on something, please.

I would love to own this set, but get the impression that it features an awful lot of "animal attacks" in glorious graphic HD. Now I know this is all part of nature, but personally I have zero desire to watch animals being ripped to shreds. I am not ashamed to say that scenes like that haunt and upset me for days.

Are there a number of episodes that manage to avoid such scenes and dwell entirely on magnificent scenery etc., or do they manage to include at least one such slaughter in virtually every episode.

Thanks for any advice.

There are a few scenes of animals eating other animals, a few chases involving wild cats and their prey. But imo nothing very gory

I'll describe a few scenes

They show a leopard chasing a deer, the leopard bites it but the deer gets away, later they go back to the leopard who made a catch but the animal is already dead and she's just dragging it to her cub.

They show a wolverine ripping into a dead caribou, probably one of the more gory scenes

Another leopard finds the dead body of some creature and tries to open the hide so her cub can eat

Vultures are shown eating dead animals

I personally think there is less gore and animals eating animals than most documentaries. You do see the red meat of some dead animals as they are eaten. I still haven't seen every episode so I could be a little off base, but I have seen most of them.

For the most part, I found the photography to be good, but the science to be mediocre. Its eye candy, but you won't learn anything new.
J

The PQ in Both the NEW and OLD (Fett)'s ratings aren't Near TOP (Tier 0) whatsoever.

NEW PQ = 4.3 Stars
OLD PQ = LOW Tier 1 (Before the addition of Platinum Tier)


These are the Best PQ

TIER 0

Corpse Bride (Animated)
A Scanner Darkly (Animated)
King Kong (U-C)Requires latest firmware
Hulk
The Ant Bully (CMB)(THD) (Animated)
Happy Feet (THD)(CMB) (Animated)
One Six Right
Underworld Evolution (Spanish Import)
The Matrix Reloaded (THD)(IME)
The Matrix Revolutions (THD)(IME)

The PQ in Both the NEW and OLD (Fett)'s ratings aren't Near TOP (Tier 0) whatsoever.

NEW PQ = 4.3 Stars
OLD PQ = LOW Tier 1 (Before the addition of Platinum Tier)


These are the Best PQ

TIER 0

Corpse Bride (Animated)
A Scanner Darkly (Animated)
King Kong (U-C)Requires latest firmware
Hulk
The Ant Bully (CMB)(THD) (Animated)
Happy Feet (THD)(CMB) (Animated)
One Six Right
Underworld Evolution (Spanish Import)
The Matrix Reloaded (THD)(IME)
The Matrix Revolutions (THD)(IME)

What does this have to do with the OP's question?
J

Because the OP INDEED stated PE is demo HD material... it maybe still Great, but there are tons movies above it is what I am trying to say.

IF You like Animals and Nature then Planet Earth is a NO-Brainer. I also bought it cuz I love Animals & Nature.

If you DON'T, just because you want to get a Movie with Greatest PQ, While great, it isn't the Cream of the Crop, then go for the movies above it in PQ ratings.

There are so many movies with BETTER PQs, than PE.

However, like I said, if you LOVE Animals/Nature Planet Earth should be in your collection!

Can anyone that has watched the whole series advise me on something, please.

I would love to own this set, but get the impression that it features an awful lot of "animal attacks" in glorious graphic HD. Now I know this is all part of nature, but personally I have zero desire to watch animals being ripped to shreds. I am not ashamed to say that scenes like that haunt and upset me for days.

Are there a number of episodes that manage to avoid such scenes and dwell entirely on magnificent scenery etc., or do they manage to include at least one such slaughter in virtually every episode.

Thanks for any advice.

Not much gore for a nature show. But there is a scene where a crocodile attacks some other amimal in slow motion that is kind of disturbing for sensitive types. I have seen the whole thing and I cant remember seeing any animals being "ripped to shreds". Not all episodes even feature animals, "Mountains" for example, just birds and some awesome scenery.

Because the OP INDEED stated PE is demo HD material... it maybe still Great, but there are tons movies above it is what I am trying to say.

IF You like Animals and Nature then Planet Earth is a NO-Brainer. I also bought it cuz I love Animals & Nature.

If you DON'T, just because you want to get a Movie with Greatest PQ, While great, it isn't the Cream of the Crop, then go for the movies above it in PQ ratings.

There are so many movies with BETTER PQs, than PE.

However, like I said, if you LOVE Animals/Nature Planet Earth should be in your collection!
The Posters above had assumed the OP was talking about content, since that is why most people buy discs these days. Or else, he might have just asked what was the best PQ out there. You bought it because you love animals and nature-that is the answer he was looking for.
enjoy,
J

Yes!!!

yes, its fantastic

Not much gore for a nature show. But there is a scene where a crocodile attacks some other amimal in slow motion that is kind of disturbing for sensitive types. I have seen the whole thing and I cant remember seeing any animals being "ripped to shreds". Not all episodes even feature animals, "Mountains" for example, just birds and some awesome scenery.

I don't have it yet, but plan on getting it. My wife and I love nature, and my son absolutely loves it as well, so it is on the must buy list for us. I saw a little bit of it on the discovery channel last weekend. Not sure what episode it was, but that great white shark going completely airborne to catch the seal was one of the most amazing pieces of nature coverage I have ever seen...absolutely stunning.

Can anyone that has watched the whole series advise me on something, please.

I would love to own this set, but get the impression that it features an awful lot of "animal attacks" in glorious graphic HD. Now I know this is all part of nature, but personally I have zero desire to watch animals being ripped to shreds. I am not ashamed to say that scenes like that haunt and upset me for days.

Are there a number of episodes that manage to avoid such scenes and dwell entirely on magnificent scenery etc., or do they manage to include at least one such slaughter in virtually every episode.

Thanks for any advice.
I haven't seen any graphic scenes of animals being ripped to shreds. It will show the chase, and up to the catch (or near catch), but it doesn't show the gory killing itself. Maybe when the shark bites into the seal it dies instantly but there's nothing bloody (that actually made me hungry, seal meat is awesome!) :)

i was in the same boat...wondering if I'd watch it more than just one. I can undoubtedly say you will. It's amazing and it's totally worth it.

If you hurry, you can still get the 20% off at deepdiscountdvd.com...which is where I got mine for $53 dlvd.

I have a kid who absolutely loves it so this is probably one of teh HDDVDs I will watch many times, it is great eye candy and great for showing off the setup.

its great to watch, especially if you only have a little time here and there, you dont need to watch each episode all the way through like a movie.

Can anyone that has watched the whole series advise me on something, please.

I would love to own this set, but get the impression that it features an awful lot of "animal attacks" in glorious graphic HD. Now I know this is all part of nature, but personally I have zero desire to watch animals being ripped to shreds. I am not ashamed to say that scenes like that haunt and upset me for days.

Are there a number of episodes that manage to avoid such scenes and dwell entirely on magnificent scenery etc., or do they manage to include at least one such slaughter in virtually every episode.

Thanks for any advice.

Ok, I must say that I have not watched the whole thing, but that is because my wife and I could not make it through it. I am not saying it is not good. On the contrary, it is very good in the parts that I could stand. Some of the nature stuff really was good to watch (the worms in the cave) but then something would die and my wife could not handle it.

<spoiler>
I have to admit myself when the little penguins died (they dont show it but they say it happens) I was sad. Not that I can not handle that, I just do not like to be entertained by death or sad stories. It is just me.
</spolier>

I know you asked for someone who has seen it all, but I feel like you and I may be alike on that. I just do not like paying to be made sad. Makes no sense to me. What I could watch looked great in my opinion. The little bird jumping out of the grass in the commercial tickles me every time I see it, but there was just enough little critters dieing either implied on on the screen that I could not watch it all.

Just in case it helps.

Reylas

dont worry about any death or violence. if anything people were complaing about the lack of the death kill ... seriously

people were mad they show the chase but not the kill :shrug:

there's a little bit, but nothing excessive or too graphic. just the circle of life

I like most of it. My nearly 6 yr old daughter doesn't. She recently said "That's boring. It's just like Discovery" (I like to watch Discovery HD).

We refer to it as "Animals eating other animals in HD" at my house.

Thank you all. I have ordered PE along with Apocalypto (Blu-ray), Departed (HD DVD) and Pearl Harbor (Blu-ray) in deepdiscount at 20% off. Hope that they ship it properly. Thank you guys !!!

Hi guys, as my first post, it seems appropriate to comment on my fave title. Like other viewers, I also sat down and watched the whole series in one sitting. It features amazing picture and sound quality and I could not fault the production values. Those who find nature docs boring should probably avoid it, but then with the rate of species extinction, it may be great to watch this title in 20 years and look back and explain to our kids what has happened in our lifetimes!
All in all, a great title and well worth collecting. Check ebay, as I purchased mine for 50 bucks plus 10 postage. It retails for a lot more than that!
Enjoy and lets hope that BluRay goes the same way as PSP, BETAMAX and MINIDISC.
Love my HD-DVD! :)

There was a long thread here about how it DID NOT show any killings/eatings. Obviously there are a few but i think it's done in a tasteful way.

I use the show as a picture on the wall without sound when I'm doing something else in the room. i don't have any paintings. This works much better.

My friends kids love it too. They now watch it instead of violent cartoons.

well maybe it was me but i thought the 150 chimps going over to another chimps area, attacking and killing 1 chimp, then to rip it apart,and take a piece of its face in its hand, and climb up a tree to eat it was a little graphic but hey what do i know...

at the end of the day, nature is well nature and this sort of stuff has to belong in a documentry or else whats the point.

Yes.

Yes most watched material I own. Myself, gf, and kid all enjoy...plus it looks great and I am learning. Win win..and more win.

Yes.


Let us know how you like it.

I consider those collector's items.

Funny there should be a thread like this. Because I know exactly what the OP means for once. Guess we're soft.

PE isn't a big offender for the most part, but there was a stretch where I started getting annoyed by this pattern: "This is the majestic landscape of XYZ. Majestic..but deadly! 1000 furry little animals come to nest here each year. And this is the mother. And these are her little ones. And this is their predator. *cue chase*. Overyl dramatic voiceovers and music. It's excellent for the most part, but it does have a tendency in some segments to distill all the stories that could be told down to the next slo-mo chase or sad panda. Very little gore though, they don't dwell on it. Often you don't even see the result or kill as people have said. But for sensitive types, a polar fox trying to cram 5 fluffy yellow chicks into its mouth while their heads bob and loll is enough.

^

Haha yeah I agree, hearing the typical "Beautiful, but deadly!" line got old.

As an opposing viewpoint, I think the image quality is lackluster to poor for a modern-day HD title, and the show itself is mind-numbingly dull. There are gems in there but I don't feel like wasting 6 hours of my life for 20 minutes of 'ooh' material. You're better off watching a real movie.

Hopefully they actually storyboard the next one instead of dumping a pile of random nature footage tape on the editor's lap hoping he can pull something non-disastrous out of it.

Come to think of it, it's about time they stuck an HD camcorder on a rocket and did a little solar system tour.


I'm going to have to agree.. There were 2 disks out of the 4 (can't remember which ones) but the picture quality wasn't very good.. And they seemed to show and talk about the samething in different disks (I even seen the same footage)..


The best parts of the series is the time laps video and the ducks jumping out of the tree belly flopping on 1in. deep leaves.

I'm probably in the minority but I liked the actress better narrating it..

I'm going to have to agree.. There were 2 disks out of the 4 (can't remember which ones) but the picture quality wasn't very good.. And they seemed to show and talk about the samething in different disks (I even seen the same footage)..


The best parts of the series is the time laps video and the ducks jumping out of the tree belly flopping on 1in. deep leaves.

I'm probably in the minority but I liked the actress better narrating it..

It would of been nice if both Attenborough and Weaver were on the HD DVD. The DD track was only 448 kbps it wouldn't of taken much memory to have a second audio track, only half a gigabyte if my calculations are right.

Yes PlanetEarth is that good. I prefer Attenborough but I know some people like Weaver better.

And they seemed to show and talk about the samething in different disks (I even seen the same footage)..


My wife keeps complaining about that "We've seen this episode already!" I have to tell her that they are obviously recycling some footage for different episodes as we haven't actually seen this episode yet. :confused:

We still love it however. We make a point of watching at least 1 episode a week. My kids love the sea snakes and the leaping Great Whites.

I was literally 2 feet away from buying Planet Earth at Fry's electronics but decided not to for now. They had it on display and I thought its too much like any other old 'nature' type show (but in HD). I'll pass for now, but may end up buying it later on. It does seem like a good video to ease the stress a bit after a long hard day at work though.

I wish "any other old nature show" were as indepth and eye opening as this. I am sure all the people who couldn't watch it on Discovery HD, and still bought the sd dvd would agree. I also think this series would have disappeared off everyones minds like every other nature show after it aired, but it didn't...go figure.:)

Just watched disc 2 for the first time yesterday and was equally amazed at disc one...with the exception of "Caves." But the desserts and ice world ones were awesome. I can't wait to get through the other half of the shows.

Just watched disc 2 for the first time yesterday and was equally amazed at disc one...with the exception of "Caves." But the desserts and ice world ones were awesome. I can't wait to get through the other half of the shows.


The water one is the best IMO, I actually learned alot from it..

I know that Planet Earth is a demo HD material. But is it worth watching multiple times ? Is it good value for the money ? Please advice.

way yes.
(unless beautiful natural scenery and nature footage is not your thing, but even then, it might be this time, unless it is really, really not your thing)

Planet Earth is a great show-off video for an HD set. I'm embarassed when showing SD to friends on my 1080P DLP set. However, I can put PE on and smile.

BTW, the most disturbing scene is in the "Jungles" episode. That's the least violent, but the scene is the most disturbing.

For those of you that want disturbing gore, watch "Predators at War" on the National Geographic channel in HD. I want to buy "Natural Enemies" on HD DVD. Perhaps I will in the future.

The quality of this series is so good, that it makes any high def TV shine--even those $400 720P LCD's.

IMHO, it should be shown on every display at a TV store -- not HD lite direct TV or even Serenity. They should have continuous loops of "Pole to Pole". I've seen this on a 50" 1080P plasma. It looks phenomenal!

To answer the original question, it's that good. It was worth the $60. (However, I would prefer Weaver's narration for the simple fact that she uses American pronunciations and units of measurements!)

I still have yet to buy this lol