DVD Talk review of 'Planet Earth - The Complete BBC Series'
 

I read John Sinnott's DVD review of Planet Earth - The Complete BBC Series at http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=28555 and...
I really have to disagree with the 5 star review for video quality. I will agree it looks better than the SD broadcast versions, but I was not blown away at all by the video quality of this series. I found it very uneven throughout probably because of the filming conditions and many scenes seemed very flat with little of the HD pop I am used to.

To give this the same rating at as other HD discs like Pirates or Batman is very misleading as the HD quality of this series doesn't come close to that.

I have to admit I'm a little surprised that you didn't see that HD pop that we all love from high-def sources Darkside. Though low light scenes did have that (naturally) I thought the rest of the series did. I've reviewed over 50 Blu-ray discs and I think this series compares favorably with any of them. While I haven't seen Batman or Pirates on HD, I think that this series does deserve a five star video rating.

You're comments made me curious, and so I did a quick search for other reviews. I couldn't find many, but Peter Bracke over at Highdef Digest also gave it five stars and summed up his video comments with this statement: "If you're looking for the best shot-on-HD Blu-ray release available today, 'Planet Earth' should be your five-star first choice."

Personally I'm gonna have to agree w/John. It is by far the best looking HD DVD on my system. I only wish they included the special features and the opening montage from the U.S. version.

Some of the scenes in Planet Earth didn't look great in HD because a percentage (albeit a SMALL percentage) were NOT shot with HD cameras.

However, it remains one of the best looking HD DVDs I own. I can't argue with the 5/5 stars for video.

Its a small quibble and its great for what it is, but giving something 5/5 to me means perfection and this series was not perfect by any means in HD. The conditions shot under and sections not shot in HD to me mean this can not be a perfect 5 star presentation.

I think everyone is so caught up in the hype of this show they are heavily overrating how good it looks and how good it is.

Again, just my opinion on things. After seeing a real 5 star transfer from Pirates though I have to laugh at this series getting the same rating. If I had it to do again I would have bought this in standard def to pay less, get more extras and get only a minor downgrade in video quality.

I guess that depends on whether you think the star rating scale should be a measure of eye candy, or whether it should be a measure of the transfer's accuracy to its source.

Good point. I guess it does look as good as it could and in that criterion it is 5 star.

I've not seen the HD-DVD or Bluray version of this, but have caught some of it on Discover HD and the pic quality was easily the most impressive thing I've watched on my new set so far.

I agree that the HD DVD video is not jaw-dropping. But what the cameras have captured is.
At some point in every episode I find myself laughing in disbelief or stunned by some animal's looks or its behavior. And I swear you start to think about g/God, the universe, intelligent design, a higher power, the purpose of life, whatever you want to call it, even if you're not sure you believe in such things. Now how many other TV shows do that?

America's Next Top Model, mostly. :D

I agree with John's review. I own this set on Blu-ray, and absolutely love it. I throw in disc one as a demo. One of the early scenes, migrating birds, amazes as the camera continues to pull back and reveals more and more birds, thousands eventually. Countless flapping wings, a sea of motion - and no blocking or noise. I had seen the same series on HD Net on Direct TV, with very different results. What a demo of bandwith/data rates. If you want to dazzle animal lovers (and who isn't) with the splendor of HD, and make them feel like they can reach out and pluck the individual hairs off their favorite wildlife, buy this set.

Planet Earth?
 

Should I buy it? Is it worth the price tag? I need opinions.

This has been out for months, so there are lots of threads if you run a search. Here's the main one from the TV Talk area:

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread.php?t=496239

To answer your questions, yes to both, assuming you like nature-type shows. And go for one of the HD formats if you're so equipped.