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What are the best science documentary DVD's? (1 Viewer)

David Von Pein

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I feel compelled to disagree here.
Awful series, IMO.
Annoying narration by Miss Stone.
Very, very dry.

Again, just my 2 cents however.

I assume you refer to the A&E "Planets" series. It, however, is only 4 discs, not 5.

(I never had the DVD version though. Only the severely-overpriced VHS box. :eek: Needless to say, it's been since sold off. The DVD set is ridiculously high as well, with a towering $80 MSRP, for just 6.6 hrs. of material.)
 

GeorgeRF

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The Blue Planet/Seas of Life is mesmerizing. I have the Region 2 version, but as far as I know that's basically identical to the Region 1 version. That's not the case for all BBC productions (such as Walking with Dinosaurs and The Planets), which sometimes have different narrators and some differences in content between R2 and R1 versions.

Whichever version you get, if you enjoy ocean life, I think The Blue Planet is a safe bet. Enjoy!
 

Brian_L_Kleis

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I'd throw in MicroCosmos as a great documentary (scientific look at nature and insects), along similarly facinating lines. But, I have only the VHS as I think this is still being waited for on DVD... Any info on it would be greatly appreciated...

For All Mankind: Criterion Collection is a great film to go along with the ones you already have. FTETTMoon on DVD was the original inspiration behind my purchasing a DVD player way back when and is still an amazing series (though the packaging leaves something to be desired)...

I have both the Cosmos and SH's Universe sets as well, and appreciate them greatly... I kinda like the NASA Archives sets of Gemini and Apollo 11 - Don't have the Apollo 8 and Mighty Saturns yet... They're more recorded films taken directly from the NASA broadcasts and don't have a full documentary feel at all, but they're fascinating if you're into the space thing...

I'm a big documentary guy, and while not on the exact same subject, I've found that even some of the inexpensive A&E/History Channel sets are amazing too... I'm particularly fond of the Myths and Legends set (Holy Grail, Atlantis...) and the Mysteries of Egypt set (Sphinx, Building the Pyramids, Tombs and Mummies...) Each of the two disk sets can be found retail for $15 or so, and they've all got four 1 hour long show on them. The Las Vegas set is also very cool...

Lost Civilizations (Time Life Collection) is also a cool set... Found for about $45, it has 10 hour long documentaries, detailing ancient civilizations (Aztecs, Babylonians, Celts, Greeks, etc...)

Last Days of the Civil War (History Channel) is also a very good box, personally... Very interesting features, plus a few episodes of A&E Biography for Lincoln and J.Davis to boot...

The Endurance, narrated by Liam Neeson, is also excellent - Much easier to get through than the long and drawn out Kenneth Branaugh A&E film adaption (personal opinion only...)

And as the proud owner and lover of 33 PBS Gold disks (the pride of my collection), you can't go wrong with most of these - Watching my latest one on MacArthur later tonight...

Hope there are some things here to have piqued your interest... I know, I know, I can't shut up about these things...

:D
 

Jeff_HR

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"Connections" and "The Ascent of Man" are 2 titles I'll mention since I own both. I'll disagree with Mr David VP about "The Planets", I find it quite interesting.
 

Travis Olson

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Just browsing Amazon I'm amazed at the amount of these programs available. So far the ones I'm getting are The Walking With... set, The Blue Planet set and The IMAX Space Collection. I want to get A brief History in Time, but I don't even know where my VCR is anymore.

Thanks for describing what the Space Films Apollo sets are about, Brian. If they're just footage I'm going to hold off getting them. The Lost Civilizations and Myths & Legends sets sound decent. I'm going to look into those.

One that I'm surprised to see on DVD already is The History Channel's Barbarians. It just aired a couple of weeks ago. Naturally, I was only able to watch a little of it. What I did see was very good.
 

Simon Howson

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I recently watched this one on HDTV which I really enjoyed:
http://www.amazon.com/Natures-Most-Amazing-Events-Blu-ray/dp/B001W79MQS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1249739027&sr=8-2
 

Tony J Case

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Well, I *was* going to mention my top shelf series: cosmos, but you already have that covered. Past that, I've loved Walking With Dinosaurs. But then - who doesnt love seeing Dinosaurs tear shit up? Another series - I dont know if this is on DVD yet or not - that I've been getting a kick out of is Life After People. The premise is: what happens to the world if every human were suddenly to up and vanish. It's kind of repetitive when watched back to back (dont do a marathon), but it's still kind of cool.
 

Leo Kerr

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In some rights, they're pretty horrible, but they were fascinating bits and snapshots of the 1950s, but Frank Capra did a bunch of films with/for Bell Labs. Hemo the Magnificent, The Strange Case of the Cosmic Rays, Unchained Goddess, Our Mr. Sun.. they're horribly outdated, but for a large percentage of the population who saw all of them repeatedly through elementary school, they're very much a part of our past. (All through the 1970s for me.)

I know at least four were released on DVD.. Frank Baxter, Richard Carlson, and Mel Blanc also star...
 

Dick

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The only thing in my collection more beautiful than WINGED MIGRATION is WINGED MIGRATION on Blu-ray.
 

Sumnernor

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It may have mentioned indirectly is the BBC "Planet Earth" which available on SD and Blueray. I have the PAL SD version and the PQ is super. In the US get the BBC NOT the discovery Channel which is cut and has different audio
 

Joseph DeMartino

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Another vote for The Ascent of Man. Despite some of the science having beend n overtaken by events (hardly surprising after 30 years, and also true of Cosmos) this is a magnificent series and a wonderful celebration of the very human endeavor known as science. Sadly the discs are pricey because they are only available in the U.S. through an educational DVD publisher, and the technical quality leaves something to be desired. (The discs appear to have been sourced from the NTSC broadcast video masters. I really wish that someone had the time or money to go back to the original 16mm film and remaster the set from scratch. Still, no amount of visual fuzziness can hide the sharpness of Jacob Bronowski's intellect, or disguise his enormous personal warmth and charm.)

And I second the comments about the BBC version of Planet Earth vs. the Discovery Channel edition. The latter is what aired in the U.S. It was recut to allow for commercials, and that, in turn, necessitated a new narrative track (by Sigourney Weaver) and a new score. Now I first saw the series on television and thought the visuals, score and narration were just fine, contrary to some of the comments on Amazon.com. But I would still want to own the original uncut version on DVD. The Discovery Channel DVDs are only available through the Discovery Channel store and website. The BBC version is sold via all other retail channels in the U.S.

Regards,

Joe
 

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