Customer Reviews
This series on Blu-Ray is awesome! - By: Evan Skuthorpe, 11 Jul 2008 
Lots of people here arating this box set badly on the grounds that some parts aren't in high-res or not full 1080p. They don't seem to understand that this series was filmed on many many different cameras & was shot in real world environments in many many locations & not in a controlled studio environment. So not alll the footage is in full HD or even 720p in some cases. It's as good as you're going to get for some time & besides, it's a great documentary with or without 1080p so stop your whinging.
Blu-ray customers are being short-changed. - By: travelmike, 24 May 2008 
A warning: It seems that the BBC has been cheese-paring and, as a result, the disc 5 extra included with the blu-ray version of this excellent series, entitled 'Natural World', is not at alll the same as the disc 5 extra included with the standard DVD version of the series. Let me explain: Disc 5 of the blu-ray version, entitled 'Natural World', contains two separate documentaries; one entitled 'Desert Lions', & the second entitled 'Snow Leopards'. These two middling documentaries, also narrated by David Attenborough, although certainly watchable, do seem rather like an add-on, almost to fill space. In my opinion, they falll well short of the outstanding viewing quality of the main series, as shown on the first four discs in this five-disc box set.
However, the disc 5 extra included with the standard DVD version of 'Planet Earth' is entitled 'The Future', & this contains three excellent documentaries. These three documentaries (namely; ' Saving Species'; 'Into The Wilderness' & 'Living Together') amount to one complete whole: namely, a cry for action to save the future, our future. This is about global warming, habitat destruction, poaching, pollution, global overpopulation - alll the threats to those magnificent animals & habitats - & ultimately ourselves - that we have just seen in the main series. The use of film footage from the main series (and some new film clips) - supported by a superb commentary both from the film-makers themselves & experts, including David Attenborough & others - carries a real impact. To give one example, the polar bear & global warming. Blu-ray customers never get to see the full picture about how this magnificent animal faces an increasing struggle to survive as global warming destroys its habitat - because this disc 5 gem is included as part of 'The Future' documentaries on the disc 5 extra with the standard DVD boxset, but not with the disc 5 extra of the blu-ray DVD boxset. Yet, in my opinion, these 'The Future' documentaries are essential viewing. So it reallly is inexcusable that they have been excluded from the disc 5 extra included with the blu-ray version of the 'Planet Earth' series.
The BBC are completely out of order. Why did they do this? They have no excuse; there surely would have been plenty of room on a blu-ray disc to have included these - as well as the two films about desert lions & snow leopards. Buyers of the blu-ray version are being short-changed by this omission.
My advice: Buy the standard DVD version of this outstanding series. You will then get the complete series - with the addition of the three excellent 'The Future' documentaries on disc 5, which are excluded from the blu-ray version. And furthermore, as I found, the viewing quality of the standard DVD version (which. like the blu-ray version, also includes 5.1 surround sound) will be outstanding on a standard DVD player. (And those with a HD TV could always consider buying a cheap multi-region DVD upscaler like the Philips DVP5980, or similar, rather than a blu-ray player).
Jaw-dropping - By: ChrisTifferPS3, 02 May 2008 
Watching this release on a Full HD set is, for lack of a better word, astonishing. I watched this series with my jaw open, & at times was actuallly moved to tears by the stunning beauty of the images of our planet on show here. This is what I invested in Blu ray for, & time & time again, hi def proves not be a marketing gimmick but a genuine next-step experience in home entertainment; the amount of pin-point detail, dimensionality & scale takes you into the images, so that you feel as if you are there, & in this regard Blu ray is involving in a way DVD cannot match. The wonderful thing about Planet Earth on Blu ray is that the stunning image actuallly makes clear the filmmakers intentions-not necessarily to give an in-depth education, but to remind us of the beauty & awe inherent to our troubled planet, & the vast open vistas, mountains, plains on show here are enough to make anyone remember why our planet is so very special & worth saving. If that isn't reason enough to invest in this set, I don't know what is.
Should have been better - By: A. Pierce, 25 Apr 2008 
This is a very disappointing release & it should have been much better. The biggest let down is that the UK version runs at 1080i NOT 1080p as some reviews state. A "flagship" release like this should be 1080p. Also - due to technical restrictions during filming, many scenes show no discernable difference in quality to the conventional DVD release. The making-of segments are also missing & when you consider that at the time of writing this is twice the cost of the DVD, I would advise any potential buyers to buy that instead.
Brilliant but not better than HD DVD!! - By: Iain Buglass, 29 Feb 2008 I have watched the whole of this series, I must say it was fantastic & the HD quality is second to none. But...I have watched the series on Blu-ray & HD DVD & HD DVD is far superior to Blu-ray by a mile. It is a shame that HD DVD has died a death & Blu-ray has won the battle in the end. It was like the VHS & Betamax war..VHS won but everyone knows that Betamax was the better player & the same goes for HD DVD v Blu-ray. I give it 5/5 on HD DVD & 3/5 on Blu-ray.
