Great BBC Documentaries

As its title suggests, "Nature's Most Amazing Events" focuses on some of the most amazing events in the animal kingdom. I actually like the fact that each episode stays in one location (as opposed to the way Planet Earth jumped around the world). However, I thought it could have gone beyond Africa and North America. I also thought this series had some amazing footage of birds and whales, particularly of birds underwater. Those scenes alone make the series worth buying.

Now, onto the episodes:

1) Arctic Summer:
This episode focuses on Arctic environments and includes many of the usual suspects, such as Polar Bears. There was a great scene with baby Gillymots learning to fly. The birds essentially jump off a huge cliff and try to land in the ocean. Many miss and bounce along the ground - but survive!

2) Grizzly Wilderness:
This episode follows the Salmon migration in the pacifc northwest - and all of the animals trying to eat them. There's some great shots of the Salmon swimming through the water. In one shot, a Salmon is swimming through a waterfall, jumps out of the water, and - in slow motion - flies toward the camera. There's also a cool scene of a dead Salmon decomposing in fast motion.

3) Surviving the Serengeti:
The Serengeti episode follows the trials and tribulations of a small pride of lions in the southern Serengeti as they struggle to survive for the eight long months the wildbeast are gone and the grassland they depend upon for hiding in dries up. (Add to which, a vocano erupts!) The sight of the pride, walking along together, scrawny and weary--their bones sticking out and losing their fur (and one another!)--is truly heartrending!

4) Army of Predators:
This episode covers the army of predators that chase Sardines. I loved the footage of Gannets plunge-diving into the water to eat fish. The birds look like they're swimming underwater. I've seen some other documentaries trying to capture birds underwater (including Blue Planet: Seas of Life), but this scene was by far the best. The episode climaxes with a battle royale between Gannets, Dolphins, Fur Seals, Sharks, and Bryde's Whale all chasing the Sardines.

5) Kalahari Flood:
This episode focuses on southern Africa, with the drying up of the Okavango River in Botswana. The footage of the Termites up close looks great in HD. These scenes were even better quality than the Termite footage in Life in the Undergrowth. Also lots of elephants wallowing around.

6) Pacific Feast:
This is another underwater battle royale, with Stellar Sea Lions, Orcas, and Humpback Whales all going in for some Herring. This episode includes some of the best blu-ray footage of whales I've seen, with extensive footage of Humpbacks hunting using "bubble nets." The "whale song" that the Humpbacks use while "bubble netting" is haunting. After watching this, it is absolutely clear that these animals are intelligent - coordinating group action, using tools (bubbles), and taking advantage of the Herrings' weaknesses. There's also a great shot of a Humpback exhaling through its blowhole and catching a rainbow on its breath. The mist from the blowhole changes colors from blue to green to yellow to red. This is easily some of the best Humpback footage ever.

In short, if you enjoy nature documentaries, don't miss out on "Nature's Most Amazing"! It has wonderful footage of birds underwater and whales. While there are some low points (notably the Serengeti), the best moments far exceed the ocean scenes in Planet Earth.

Planet Earth is by many estimations the greatest nature and wildlife documentary series ever produced. Following the similarly monumental achievement of The Blue Planet: Seas of Life, this astonishing 11-part BBC series is brilliantly narrated by Sir David Attenborough and sensibly organized so that each 50-minute episode covers a specific geographical region and/or wildlife habitat (mountains, caves, deserts, shallow seas, seasonal forests, etc.) until the entire planet has been magnificently represented by the most astonishing sights and sounds you'll ever experience from the comforts of home.

Accompanied by majestic orchestral scores by George Fenton, every episode is packed with images so beautiful or so forcefully impressive (and so perfectly photographed by the BBC's tenacious high-definition camera crews) that you'll be rendered speechless by the splendor of it all. You'll see a seal struggling to out-maneuver a Great White Shark; swimming macaques in the Ganges delta; massive flocks of snow geese numbering in the hundreds of thousands; an awesome night-vision sequence of lions attacking an elephant; the Colugo (or "flying lemur"--not really a lemur!) of the Philippines; a hunting alliance of fish and snakes on Indonesia's magnificent coral reef; the bioluminescent "vampire squid" of the deep oceans... these are just a few of countless highlights

With so many of Earth's natural wonders on display, it's only fitting that the bonus disc in the five-DVD set is devoted to Planet Earth: The Future, a separate three-part series in which a global array of experts is assembled to discuss issues of conservation, protection of delicate ecosystems, and the socio-economic benefits of understanding nature as a commodity that returns trillions of dollars in value at no cost to Earth's human population.

Covering 70% of the planet, the ocean is truly a dominating force, yet we know less about our oceans than we do about the surface of the moon. Five years in the making, with a budget of over $10 million, The Blue Planet: Seas of Life is the most comprehensive underwater documentaries ever.

Extraordinary footage and eloquent narration by David Attenborough highlight the BBC's remarkable wildlife series The Blue Planet: Seas of Life. "Ocean World" begins with astonishing views of a gigantic blue whale--the elusive Holy Grail of undersea photography--and the marvels continue to demonstrate the power, diversity, and profound ecological influence of Earth's oceans. "Frozen Seas" examines whales, walruses, penguins, and other creatures under the extreme conditions of the Arctic and Antarctic Circles. The next two episodes are even better. "Open Ocean" travels thousands of miles into the vast "liquid desert," where currents determine how the ocean's diverse life forms will assume their places in the food chain. More amazing, "The Deep" descends with a state-of-the-art submersible to the ocean's abyssal plain and beyond, filming such bizarre creatures as the fangtooth, bioluminescent jellies, transparent squid, the giant-mouthed gulper eel, and the never-before-seen hairy angler fish.

There isn't a moment in these four DVD's that won't have you gazing in wonder and admiration at the effort and amazing footage captured in this series.

The inspiration for Darwin's theory of evolution, the Galapagos Islands are a living laboratory, a geological conveyor belt that has given birth to and seen the death of many species of plants and animals. As the western islands rise up from the sea offering a chance of life, the eastern islands sink back beneath the waves guaranteeing only death. Between the two are the middle islands; fertile, lush land in its prime that contains an incredible diversity of life. Nowhere else on the Earth are the twin processes of creation and extinction of species so starkly apparent... see it all unfold before your eyes in this stunning series filmed entirely in high definition from the BBC and the National Geographic Channel.