The BBC Natural History Collection featuring Planet Earth (Planet Earth/ The Blue Planet: Seas of Life Special Edition/ Life of Mammals/ Life of Birds)

The Great Barrier Reef is informative, the reef is dying, but not as fun as the BBC Natural History Collection series: The Life of Birds, The Blue Planet, The Life of Mammals, Planet Earth I and II. The History Channel's Universe series and the two Cosmos series are also good.If the above don’t sound interesting you might like a couple of space race shows. I spent a month on a space race binge. First I read Space by James A. Michener. Then I watched two movies, The Right Stuff (1983) and Apollo 13 (1995), and then two great series, From Earth to the Moon (1998) and The Astronauts Wives Club (2015). They’re a great combination.If the above shows don’t sound interesting here are a few of the series I really enjoyed watching more than once. I love good miniseries like Band of Brothers (2001), Frank Herbert’s Dune (2000), Into the West (2005), Lonesome Dove (1989), Pride and Prejudice (1995), Taken (2002) and The 10th Kingdom (2000) because they have beginnings, middles and endings, like a good novel.Other shows I’ve really enjoyed include Battlestar Galactica (2004-2009), Breaking Bad (2008-2013), Cowboy Bebop (1998), Downton Abbey (2010-2015), Firefly (2002), Game of Thrones (2011-2019), The IT Crowd (2006-2013), Jericho (2006-2008), Lost (2004-2010), Merlin (2008-2012), Rome (2005-2007), Spartacus: Gods of the Arena (2011), Spartacus: Blood and Sand (2010), Stargate: SG-1 (1997-2007), Stargate: Atlantis (2004-2009), Star Trek The Original Series (1966-1969) and Star Trek Voyager (1995-2001). I didn’t list any contemporary series I’m following that don’t have an end date yet, not conducive to binge watching from beginning to finish, or the hundreds of other fantasy and science fiction shows I’ve watched.If you like reading try some of my favorite fantasy and sci-fi authors: Richard Adams, Palo Bacigulupi, Suzanne Collins, Abe Evergreen, Diana Gabaldon, Hugh Howey, George Martin, Brandon Sanderson, John Scalzi, and Andy Weir.

The set I got was mostly unplayable at all.This BBC Natural History Collection was originally made by Warner Bros in 2007 (I didn't know this until I could see the item in person), which is squarely in the time frame when discs manufactured by them have a known problem with rotting (google "warner brothers dvd rot"). Nobody should be buying or selling this collection, used or new.

The content of these DVDs are of amazing quality, as could be expected from the BBC and David Attenborough's work.However, the DVDs do NOT have subtitles in Spanish as indicated in the product details. I am upset at this since not everyone in my family is fluent in English, and this is the reason why I bought this edition of the DVD set. Without subtitles they are not able to get the full information shared in these documentaries. I will not return the product, but you should note the lack of subtitles before ordering.

I can not begin to express what an amazing collection of outstanding videos the BBC has put together. Superb quality of picture and sound make this DVD set stand out among any documentaries that I have ever witnessed. I have traveled to mountains, canoed hundreds of miles down the Mississippi River, and seen some of the most beautiful things on this Earth... This is the next best thing for me. When I can't be out seeing things first hand, this collection has enough DVDs to keep anyone entertained for days on end.Each DVD covers a new and interesting subject. Many things that I will never see up close, and yet- these videos create a feeling that you have seen it. What an awesome collection.Obviously, I give this series a lot of praise and have given it 5 stars. It is expensive to some, but you get so much out of it - for any family too - that it is hard to resist. I recommend it to anyone and everyone except for tiny infants because of their lack of attention span and their limited capacity of and for English vocabulary.On a personal note... When visiting my Grandfather, I brought along this set. He could not believe what he was seeing. He was taken aback and asked to borrow the rest. It really is something to see.

Of the four sets of 3-5 discs each, only one set worked on a DVD player, a Windows computer, OR an Apple computer. The others would not read

I'm only on the first DVD disc and there are frequent pauses. I cleaned the DVD and it still happens. Very annoying.!!!Other than that it's a wonderful DVD. Can't miss with Sir David Attenborough.

Thanks to the upconverting of my LG blu-ray player I viewed this series in almost HD quality. I bought this on a gold box deal for a little over 4 per disc. I think this is one of the best of the many incredible deals I've purchased at Amazon over the years. The entire series is so visually stunning and its bonus is it being highly educational. I think everyone should view it at least once either as a special on TV or rent it from Netflix. After watching the set it made me more convicted to environmental stewardship. My favorite of the series was Life of Mammals only due to the topic. Next was the Blue Planet and I also purchased this as a stand alone set for a friend. Truly this series has something for everyone and may pique your interest in a subject you previously had no interest. I don't see how anyone would be disappointed in this breathtaking series. Enjoy.

This is the second of these sets I have purchased, new. Also purchased a used one first. All have had defective discs. Not the same discs. Not the same defect. Some times it just quits, sometimes it goes black for a moment or two, some parts just don't play....Some of the sets are great. But there seems to always be some defect some where. Disappointed in that BBC usually has a higher quality...If you get it cheap enough it's still a lot of good discs for the money. A great package. Just wish it was better made....

WOW, is this set ever a bargain! You get around TWENTY DVDs packed with fantastic footage and amazing narratives.The Life of Birds - is a four volume set that is probably the most detailed "Life Of" series from the BBC. It does briefly examine the major kinds of birds, but it largely focuses on explaining how birds live. How they feed, fly, fight, mate, lay eggs, and parent. The examples are just amazing, and are sure to give you a real appreciation for the amazing solutions nature has come up with to solve various problems. The DVD features a bonus five minutes for each episode that expands on the existent show. The only problem is that these are generally VHS-quality programs, so they don't look that great on a big TV. That said, again, the content is just amazing.The Life of Mammals - unlike the Life of Birds, the Life of Mammals focuses on a different group of mammals in each episode. The film quality, being filmed much more recently, is much better than the Life of Birds. You get a little less in-depth coverage of how all mammals live, but you do get more depth on some individual mammals. Overall, it's a very good series.The Blue Planet - is amazing. From the opening scenes featuring the largest animal to have ever lived on Earth, to probing the mysterious depths of the deep, this is an excellent series. If focuses on exploring the different marine habitats, what makes them unique, and how this affects the life in each of them.Planet Earth - picks up from Blue Planet and just gets better. Both have amazing footage, both have spectacular examples of animals (and sometimes plants) doing the most amazing things/living the most amazing lives. Again, the focus is on the different habitats/ecosystems on Earth, primarily terrestrial ecosystems.So there you have it. For the price I paid (40% off on a DVD sale), this just can't be beat. You have hours upon hours of quality, intelligent, rare and exciting nature footage. Throughout the series Sir David Attenborough does a delightful job of highlighting and explaining the nature we see. For the money and for the content, I have a hard time seeing how you could do better than this set, other than the Blue Ray versions of Blue Planet and Planet Earth (Life of Mammals, and especially Life of Birds, would be wasted on Blue Ray). 100% recommended!

BBC makes you smarter - everybody knows that. The Natural History Collection is like a talking encyclopedia - and a pretty one, what's more.These are documentary films, of course, but they're also high in entertainment-value, keeping interest throughout. My children (5 and 7) love them and often ask me to put one on.Better than cartoons, certainly.One of my favourite things about the films are the extras - the 'making ofs'. Not only is there lots of additional information, but you get a good perspective on just how amazing the footage actually is, when you hear that a photographer spent nine months in the Himalayas trying to capture images of a snow leopard.As a homeschooling mother, I can't recommend these movies highly enough for other educators. There is a huge volume of subjects and most are presented as short sections: seven minutes on the polar bear, for example, or five on the blue whale. A lot of information is packed into these minutes, making them great resources for comp questions and unit studies. I searched online for lesson plans and found quite a few good ones that I printed out and used for my children.BBC has done an incredible job on these films. You won't be sorry you have them, even at the given price.

The review said the Planet Earth featured a sixth disc of seven hours of bonus features. I only got 5 discs in my order. How do I get the disc # 6?

We got these movies for our son for Christmas, from his grandparents. They are amazing and educational - God certainly has a marvelous creation! However, many of the sections are inappropriate for our young son to watch as they have an inordinate amount of time spent on reproduction. And it doesn't just show animals going "piggie-back!" The videos are incredibly graphic that way. Incredibly. For any Christians out there, there is also a lot of evolution focus where it is presented as fact and not the shaky theory it is.

I gave this 5 stars for what it is - a collection of 4 beautiful Attenborough-BBC nature documentaries that are so well-filmed and edited, with some amazing locations and unique sequences of their subjects. I have found them very enjoyable to watch and have been really quite excited by some of the events captured (some for the first time and after great effort and time spent waiting). This is what they are: great entertainment that should make you marvel at the beautiful and complex eco-system that is our planet; however, that is all they are - they are not going to serve as a biology or ecology university course and, thus, I now have questions provoked by the films that I will need to research. But, for all that, I recommend them, for people of all ages - your eyes will be opened in wonder and your mind will start to think of your place in, and your responsibility for, this great planet, Earth.