Human Planet (2010)

Human Planet is a wonderful documentary that celebrates the ingenuity and resourcefulness of the human species where it still exists in wild places. The photography and presentation is top notch, reminiscent of the BBC's flagship series Life and Frozen Planet. There is some recycled footage from earlier documentaries (most notably Planet Earth) for some sequences, but the vast majority of the footage is new and suitably spectacular--one of my favorite sequences involved a fly-by of a previously uncontacted human tribe in the rain forest. There are several necessarily violent depictions of animal hunts in this series, and while all of them are treated with the respect such a long-standing tradition deserves, some are quite gruesome and perhaps unsuitable for younger viewers. In my opinion, there are a few faults with this series. The narration is well written and for the most part well delivered, even if after watching so many landmark series by David Attenborough every other British narrator just sounds like a guy trying desperately to be David Attenborough. The documentary also falters whenever the emphasis shifts from survival and resourcefulness to exploitation, especially in the last few episodes. I thought the sequence featuring a million-dollar cattle drive in Australia and several sequences after that were superfluous to the theme that drives the other episodes. The narration also actively demonizes plenty of species in the "Cities" episode, which I thought was rather anthropocentric and immature. The special features on this blu-ray are decent, with the highlight being the making-of featurettes at the end of each episode. In a few cases I actually enjoyed them more than the main feature, especially the one that documented the scary struggle of the crew while filming in the Arctic. I would recommend this series to anybody with a high-definition setup who enjoys learning about the natural world. Even though there are definite traces of hubris here and there, for the most part it is a humble look at how humans have struggled to make a living in the natural world.

There have already been some excellent reviews posted, so I'll be brief: Visually stunning, this series shows how humans have adapted to survive in the most inhospitable and difficult environments on Earth. For anyone interested in documentaries of the world around us, this is a top-quality BBC production. Included in the boxed DVD set are episodes showcasing Oceanic, Jungle, Arctic, River, Desert, Mountain, Grassland and City cultures. Every episode might not be your cup of tea (I personally found the City episode to be less interesting than the others, though ymmv), but as a whole, the series paints an amazing picture of the ingenuity we have been endowed with as a race. (It also paints an amazing picture of how, even in the most primitive of places, we humans have the capacity to take advantage of each other.) As it's from the BBC, the series does not shy away from nudity or sexual topics - though they're in no way 'waved in front of your face'. (Which i applaud - to be human is to possess the equipment and drives necessary for making more humans, and this is a series about humanity.) The only reason I mention this is because many people might look to purchase this for viewing with young children. Be warned that you will probably have to explain a few things to your kids as they watch this series. This bothers me in no way, but there might be more conservative Amazon members reading this review. (E.g., the puritans who successfully campaigned to have parts of the "Walking With Beasts" series blurred out.) A monumental work of modern anthropology, and highly recommended.

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After watching it on Discovery, there are three reasons I bought this DVD: 1. It is surprisingly raw for American TV. Normally Americans prefer to watch cute people eat dirty things, rather than watching dirty people eat cute things. Audiences complain when people living in harsh conditions kill whales to survive. Not everyone wants to be confronted with the messier, complicated reality when they can find solace in a simplified television narrative. That this show has the temerity and honesty to require a parental a advisory for "disturbing content and indigenous nudity" instantly wins a place in my heart. 2. This series presents what I believe is our best way forward with the environment. It shows an alternative to our conquer or be conquered conflict with nature. The idea that man can live as part of nature rather than as either as it's master or at its mercy is ultimately the key to our own survival. The key is not to absent ourselves from nature, but reconnect with it. Although many of the people in this series maintain ancient traditions, most are by no means primitive, living modern lifestyles combined with traditional ways. 3. Human Planet, like the actual humans of the planet, is refreshingly polyglot. Abandoned is the obnoxious convention where a person begins speaking in a different language, only to be talked over by a translator. Instead they are granted the dignity of speaking in their own voice, with translations appearing in creatively inserted subtitles. This also allows me to practice my listening skills in some obscure languages. But now that I've got the DVDs, there are three things that really surprised me: 1. John Hurt has a lot more gravitas as a narrator than Mike Rowe, who just seems a little too smug to narrate this kind of documentary as he did in the American release. 2. There is a hilarious advertisement for BBC America narrated by John Oliver (of Daily Show fame) 3. MOST IMPORTANTLY! THERE IS A LOT MORE. Not to overshadow it's other virtues, but the reason to buy these DVDs is simply there is a lot more to see. Discovery truncated the series down to 5 episodes and a sixth rehash of clips from previous episodes. The Original, contained on these DVDs, has 8 episodes: 1. Oceans 2. Deserts 3.Arctic 4. Jungles 5. Mountains 6. Grasslands 7. Rivers 8. Cities (and 9. Extras) The Discovery condensation was not only unwarranted (what's the hurry? Did they need to finish quickly in order to have more reruns of Desert Car Kings?) but also awkward. Although the episodes on Rivers and Oceans did combine smoothly, the juxtaposition of Jungles and Grasslands was jarring and disjointed. Worst of all, they entirely omitted the final episode on Cities, which re-contextualizes the entire series as a voyeuristic museum of the primitive, rather than a nuanced articulation of the place of nature and tradition in modernity and society. In its entirety, this forms a vital document of humanity, nature, and a possible solution to some of our greatest problems today.

uno de los documentales mas impresionantes que he visto. maravilloso. imagenes fantasticas y historias increibles. y para este precio es un chollo, me compre 3, uno para mi y dos para regalar.

I have recently purchased the BR version of the Human Planet from one of the independent sellers listed in Amazon.ca. The version they have sent me turns out to be an "UK" version with format 1080i/50. The way to distinguish the version is by the cover, the UK version has a yellow "PG triangle" in the left bottom corner, while the US version doesn't. The problem with this UK Blu-ray is that due to its format, it's not playable to any North America machines (PS3, LG BR ROM, Samsung Blu-ray etc). In order to play, you actually need an all region player which I don't have. I ended up sending back to the seller and got my full refund. So if you're planning to buy the Blu-ray from any independent sellers from Amazon.ca, make sure you check with them whether they have the correct version and check the cover when you rec'd the package, b/c it turns out that my seller and its supplier weren't even aware of the region issue. See below links for more details. Hope you have a smooth purchase without going through the trouble like I did! Issue with UK version: [...] Cover between the UK version vs US version: http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_2_13/276-0570144-2471667?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=human+planet+blu+ray&sprefix=human+planet+%2Caps%2C303 Update - After rec'd refund from the independent seller, I finally got the correct North American Version. All I have to say is Wow, this has to be one of the best BBC Nature Series, right there at the top with Planet Earth. The picture quality from this series is superb, it content is amazing, plus the behind the scenes extra, this is must have for any BBC or Blu-ray collector. The series deals with human and our co-existence with Nature. A great educational documantary. Enough praise, go check it out yourself!

カルチャーショツクを受ける映像がたくさんあります。輸入Blu-rayの視聴はPCが良いと思います。

I cannot think of words good enough to describe this series - it was utterly amazing, fascinating, informative and always stunning! The BBC always does good natural history programmes, but this one was, without a doubt, one of its best. The Madagascar one was also stunning, but the Human Planet showed how we, as humans, adapt to the different environments in which we live. I loved the one about the Tibetan family who had to walk for six days along a frozen river for the children to get to school! How many children in this country would even think about doing this - if they can't be taken a mile or so by car, they moan!! This series should be compulsory watching in ALL schools, both primary and secondary, so that all children can see how other people live and survive in sometimes very hostile environments.

Magnifico. Rispetto a documentari più noti narrati da David Attenborough o più recenti è forse leggermente inferiore da un punto di vista tecnico, ma la produzione è straordinaria. E' una rappresentazione completa, affascinante e stupefacente della diffusione dell'essere umano sul pianeta e dei numerosi adattamenti comportamentali ed evolutivi della specie alle condizioni ostili delle diverse regioni. Non sono specificamente un esperto di antropologia, ma sono abbastanza avido di ogni fonte di informazione scientifica, tuttavia la maggior parte dei fatti narrati mi erano del tutto ignoti e ho seguito gran parte del documentario spalancando gli occhi per lo stupore. God bless the BBC.