Planet Earth made the most ambitious televisual attempts at documenting the story of how life on Earth developed. This program took five years to assemble, was shot on high definition cameras, and is one of the most costly productions of its type.
Narrator David Attenborough covers a wide area. With computer graphics, it helps to illustrate the birth of the planet, with stunning photography capturing the evolution of the world and its inhabitants.
This release includes all five episodes from the original BBC production, as well as an extra 90 minutes of footage not seen in the original show.
It would be too lengthy to go into detail concerning each episode and its individual content, here is a small summary :
View Planet Earth trailer here.
- Pole to Pole: Illustrates a “journey” around the world and reveals the effect of gradual climatic change and seasonal transitions en route.
- Mountains: All of the main mountain ranges of the world are explored with extensive aerial photography.
- Fresh Water: Describes the course taken by rivers and some of the species that take advantage of such a habitat, as is provided by such habitats. All of which ultimately illustrates that, though only three percent of all the world’s water is fresh, all life is ultimately dependent on it.
- Caves: Explores the planet’s “final” frontier, as it presents to viewers the world of caves and tunnels found throughout the world.
- Deserts: Features this harsh environment that covers approximately one third of the planet, as well as the various forms of life that have adapted to survive its harshness.
- Ice Worlds: Primarily looks at the regions of both the Artic and Antarctica.
- Great Plains: Deals with savanna, steppe, tundra, prairie, and takes a look at the importance and resilience of grasses in such treeless ecosystems — systems that contain the largest concentration of animal life on Earth.
- Jungles: Examines jungles and tropical rainforests, two environments that occupy only three percent of the land yet are home to over half the world’s species.
- Shallow Seas: Is devoted to the shallow seas that fringe the world’s continents — an area that may only constitute only eight percent of the oceans, yet it also contains the most marine life.
- Seasonal Forests: Surveys the coniferous and deciduous seasonal woodland habitats — the most extensive forests to be found on Earth.
- Ocean Deep: Concentrates on the most unexplored area of the planet, the deep ocean.
Each episode runs approximately 58 minutes in length. This includes “Planet Earth Diaries,” a 10-minute feature that details the filming of a particular event.
It’s not often that nature documentaries obtain widespread public attention, but Planet Earth astounds audiences with spectacular sights and an amazing atmosphere. This 11-part series dissects areas of our planet seldom seen in such detail, highlighting countless new species and their curious behavioral patterns…but it’s not just educational, it’s supremely entertaining.