Another Stunning Documentary From the BBC Natural History Unit
Over three years in the making and in the tradition of excellence seen in Planet Earth and Life, Human Planet is a documentary that originally aired as eight one-hour programs on the BBC beginning in January 2011. An abridged and somewhat differently edited version was shortly thereafter shown in the US on the Discovery Channel. But both the DVD and Blu-ray discs contain the UK version, and thus include about three hours of footage not broadcast in North America.
The big idea of Human Planet is to depict the relationship between humans and nature in unusual circumstances. Each program begins with approximately 49 minutes of material focused on a single category of environment: oceans, deserts, arctic, jungles, mountains, grasslands, rivers and cities. A making-of featurette then fills out the final 10 minutes of each program.
Shot in about 40 countries around the globe, Human Planet contains 70 or 80 stories. Examples include dolphin-assisted fishing in Brazil, Tubu women crossing the Sahara on camels, narwhal hunting in Greenland, building tree houses 100 feet above ground in West Papua, eagles doing the hunting for people in Mongolia, men stealing food from lions in Kenya, fishing on the edge of Victoria Falls and beekeeping atop New York City skyscrapers.
Human Planet is narrated by John Hurt and has original music by award-winning composer Nitin Sawhney. But what sticks in the mind are the fascinating stories, exotic locations and spectacular visuals.
Special Features
Both the DVD and Blu-ray editions of Human Planet contain two featurettes not shown on the BBC or the Discovery Channel. Each featurette runs about 10 minutes. One is about filming in Fez, Morocco, at a tannery, and it's revealed that pigeon droppings are used to make the leather soft in handbags and shoes. The other is about shooting at one of the vilest and most dangerous workplaces in the world, an active volcano in Indonesia where sulfur is mined.
On Blu-ray only, there is also an additional making-of bonus material available via BD Live. The title of this extra is "Zanskar," and it deals with filming in Tibet at the edge of the Himalayas. However, to access it you will need a broadband Internet connection plus either a BD Live-enabled Blu-ray player or a Playstation 3.
Release Date: April 26, 2011
Total Runtime: 7 hours 50 minutes
MPAA Rating: Not Rated