Cheap Planet Earth: The Complete BBC Series (2007)

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Never have I been so moved by a series to exclaim in wonder and actually shed tears of joy at the beauty that surrounds us on this wonderful planet.

I have been watching it on Discovery HD Theater when it premiered in March. The first episode "Pole to Pole" set the tone by showing the range of life and species that exist on this planet. The subsequent episodes delve into the habitats one by one. Mountains, Fresh Water, Caves, Deserts, Ice Worlds, Great Plains, Jungles, Shallow Seas, Seasonal Forests and Deep Ocean are the subsequent episodes. This is one series that has to be seen to be believed of what the intrepid cameramen of BBC/Discovery Channel have been able to capture through their sheer perseverance in remote locations. The HD technology has captured some scenes and images never seen before and some seen before but never with this clarity and beauty. 5 years, 62 countries and 204 locations is what it took to make this series, and the result is a lifetime TV series.

This is one series that fascinated my kid as much as it amazed me. She wanted to watch her cartoons but the moment the episode began she was captivated. Both of us shared together the wonder that is our Planet and it was she who brought up the subject of what we might be doing to it by our actions. We cried when we saw how polar bears have begun to drown as ice melts faster every year. The image of one lone bear trying to walk on ice but falling into the slushy waters, and having to swim longer distances to capture food and finally dying with exhaustion was heart breaking. The series makes no references to the present conditions, just in passing as with the polar bear. I think the directors and producers of the series just wanted to show us the beauty of the natural world, the fight for survival of several animals even when there is no climactic change. And as we keep watching and are filled with awe and wonderment that we're lucky enough to live on this planet, we begin to appreciate quietly in our hearts how we need to change today to ensure that we save our planet.

That is what my daughter felt on her own, she asked me why we were not doing more to save our natural world and I did not have any good answers. The last 3 episodes, Planet Earth: The Future delve deeper into these issues, which I haven't had a chance to see yet.

I watched a clip of David Attenborough's version video on the web before I started watching the series with Sigourney Weaver's narration, and I was disappointed by her blandness and lack of depth. I bought this set like many others to listen to Sir David's narration. I was torn between the regular DVD set and the HD DVD though. This series is good enough to make me buy an HD DVD player just to be able to watch it in its true form! However, the regular set has the Future series and the Planet Earth diaries which the HD set does not have. I loved the Planet Earth Diaries (or behind the scenes) with cameramen, it made a fascinating documentary on it's own, and wished some were longer. If they had the extra material in the HD DVD set, it would have been my first choice.

I had saved the Discovery HD Theatre epidodes on my HD Cable box and I was able to compare their image quality with this Standard DVD version playing on an upconverting DVD player. The Discovery Theater images were crystal clear, and you could literally see each grain of sand on the sea bed or each crevice on a rock face. The Standard DVD looked pretty good when upconverted to 720p and if I had not seen the HD version I would have been quite amazed with the image quality. Right now I've been spoilt by the Discovery Theater version. If you're considering the HD version it's a great choice if you have an HD DVD/BluRay player. You'll probably not see a better HD disc. This series was shot completely in HD format. From my experience in the media industry I can tell you that this is a very, very expensive format to shoot in especially given the 5 years that it took to make this series. Most television is shot in a regular digital format and then upconverted to the HD format later. That gives great images but they cannot compare to something shot totally in HD. That is the reason the image quality of this series is spectacular. In HD they were able to capture the action which when replayed in slow-motion also stays crystal clear. Therefore you have breathtaking images of a shark capturing its prey (and many others) in slo-mo.

This really is the set to buy. It's like a living documentation of the beauty of our earth, some of which was starting to disappear right as the cameras were rolling. Perhaps, that is why BBC and Discovery spared no cost to produce this series and it is a masterpiece.

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First off, let me say Thank you to Amazon for clarifying that the great David Attenborough is the narrator for this series. No Attenborough would have meant no purchase on my part. Simply put the most amazing documentary on life and animals and the world around us that I have ever seen. The clarity is simply breathtaking(and that was on my tv brodcast which was in 720P...the HD transfers are in 1080p!!!!).A huge tahnak you to the creators and producers for doing this for people like myself and many others who care deeply about the world around us.

My one minor complaint has to do with the fact that on the HD transfers, there is absent the supplemental material that is present on the standard defintion release. There is no 110 minutes of behind the scenes footage of what took place on these excavations to these wonderous places or interviews with the people, Attenborough or anyone for that matter. The other special feature not found on either the Blu-Ray or HD-DVD transfer is Planet Earth: The Future, which is a 150 minute documentary(Shot entirely in high defintion mind you) which chronicles how the whole series was created, and how we can continue to preserve our earth so that we may continue to have wonderous documentaries like this for our children's children. Finally, amazingly there are charging the HD customers around $25 MORE for a product that has LESS content than on the standard defintion release.

Otherwise highly reccomended presentation that is extremely addictive and immeasureably sensational from the first scene to the last. Its simply amazes me the beauty of God's creations.

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Planet Earth was filmed on Seven continents. It took Five years and included a $25 million budget. Planet Earth is such an epic, that it earns comparisons to some of the biggest Hollywood blockbusters. I think High Definition Digest said it best "It's the Titanic of television nature documentaries a work of great majesty, high ambition and huge financial risk (after all, this isn't a genre known for generating huge profits)." David Attenborough's narrates the series and does a great job at it. Planet Earth first started airing as an eleven episode series on the BBC in England late last year, and more recently on the Discovery Channel and Discovery HD here in the United States. With Planet Earth you will see beautiful landscapes of our planet, and amazing animal scenes all which will leave you either breathless, or at times put you on the edge of your seat. How some of these things were even able to be photographed by humans often makes you wonder. If you have a 1080p HD TV I highly encourage you to get the blu-ray or HD-DVD of Planet Earth. Only then will you will really appreciate the beauty of this amazing series.

I had originally purchased the blu-ray of this, but ended up also buying the DVD version of this because of all the bonus material included on it. Sadly the bonus material is not included on the blu-ray or HD-DVD versions.

Planet Earth The Complete BBC Series [Blu-ray]

Planet Earth The Complete BBC Series [HD DVD]

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Having seen this series on the BBC HD Channel Here in the UK I would recommend this series to anyone that has a Interest in Documentarys and has a HD DVD player, and can safely say you havent seen anything like this before, the amount of detail the HD Cameras add to this is out of this world and the high production values make this a must have for anyone with a slight interest in the world that surronds us. Buy this and I guarentee you wont be disappointed! Its the ideal thing to show off your new HD TV and HD DVD player!

For people in the U.K as HD is region free this will play on your HD DVD player too even though this says region 1, beaware though you can only import goods upto £18 so you might have to pay duty and a Royal Mail admin charge!

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This title is worth every penny. And it does play on the Xbox 360 HD DVD add on. You have to be connected to Xbox Live and it will download an update that will allow this title to play correctly. It also works fine on the stand alone HD DVD players(HD-A1, HD-A2, and HD-XA2) I have.

Cheap Escape From Planet Earth (2013)

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This movie was fun to go watch, albeit a little slow starting out. Being a geek myself, I enjoyed watching a movie where the geeky engineer is the protagonist, gets (already has) the girl, and saves the day. Escape from Planet Earth is a pretty predictable movie, but what would you expect from a children's movie. I enjoyed the fact that almost every alien stereotype and conspiracy theory is addressed as the source of comedy in the movie (i.e. the road signs stating that Gary Supernova was entering and leaving area 48, 49, and 50 before "entering" area 51). Although a movie made for children, Escape from Planet Earth is a good movie for the young at heart as well. It seems like not many family movies now days actually contain an entire family, but this movie does. It also focuses on the tight-knit cohesiveness of the family unit and brings to the surface the fact that we would do almost anything for family.

The reason I rate it 4 stars is that, as I stated before, it is slow-moving. I would have expected a little quicker plot, as the title and movie artwork would suggest. However, I feel that the moral of the story, combined with the humor, overcome the pace. It really is an enjoyable movie, though it might be better to go to a matinee or wait for it to be released to video.

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The beginning of the year is a slow time for the PG regular movie-going crowd. Family-friendly movies are more sparse, and GOOD family movies are a downright rarity. Which has never made much sense to me, since in the cold winter, going to the movies is one of the few (somewhat) affordable things to do with kids. So, we were excited when Escape From Planet Earth came out and we had high hopes that it was going to be a good watch.

It was a nice story about two very different but close brothers who have to learn how to be themselves while also letting the other one shine. Anyone who has more than one kid would probably agree that they watch their own children struggle with this quite often, so I liked the message behind the movie.

The other positives:

the animation is great (but nothing we haven't seen), it's colorful, appropriate for young kids, and has a few laughable scenes sparringly scattered throughout.

The not-so positives:

It's extremely predictable. Yes, it's a kids movie. But does that mean it has to be a generic kids movie? My kids appreciate something original just as much as I do. Unfortunately, being formulaic means despite its best efforts, it gets pretty boring most of the time. I had to take away my 10 year old's itouch because she kept going on it and my 7 year old son was more entertained by playing with his 3D glasses and the seat. They don't demonstrate poor behavior during movie showings, we go all the time. So when they get this distracted, I know that they're getting just as bored as I am.

The movie TRIES to engage parents, even reaching as far as staging a good old fashioned Mommy-War in there... You know, the Stay-At-Home-Mom gets belittled by the Working Mom yet ends up being 10x's smarter and more resourceful, demonstrating that Stay-At-Home moms are worthy of respect.... Oh, yawn. The only people who don't respect Stay-At-Home-Moms or Working Moms are morons, so do we really have to be pandered to like this during a kids movie? Of course, my kids never would have picked up on this, it was just an annoying observation. Had the movie been able to keep us successfully entertained, I would have completely overlooked it.

But, apon walking out after he movie was over and asking for reviews, all I got from the kids and their friends was a resounding shoulder shrug and a "it was okay... Can we go to the arcade now?"

And that's what Escape From Planet Earth is: Boring for parents, just okay for kids.

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I didnt expect much and I was surprised. It's worth a watch. Funny and heartwarming with a good message about the nees for others to have your back.

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It was a great movie. The kids (7 and 5) loved it! We watched it as a family and my husband and I laughed out loud.

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Its alright but it gets boring about half way through it but over all it wasnt that bad although i think reck-it ralph was 100% better

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very informative, good video, very clear picture and audio

complete timeline of the weapons development and field use

accurate historical desciptions

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Review of After Earth (Two Disc Combo: Blu-ray / DVD + UltraViolet Digital

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I'll try not to give the plot away but my overall opinion is that this is a mediocre rental at best. I had high hopes for this movie as I'm a fan of post apocalyptic movies and futuristic movies. Adding Will Smith's good acting to the mix had me thinking this was a sure hit. Unfortunately-the movie follows his son Jaden Smith, whose acting skills are less than stellar. Will Smith does start out in the movie with a majority of the scenes but 15 minutes into the film and his exposure is cut to a him communicating with his son through basically a wrist walkie talkie. He is not involved in any of the action sequences in the movie and Jaden Smith's acting skills are not developed enough to carry a movie in my opinion. I can only assume he was cast in this movie as a favor to his father. Will's performance as a strict futuristic military type father is just ok as his character is supposed to come across as a very strict-almost unfeeling father and yet it's just stiff acting at best. And again-Jaden Smith's acting is just not all that good in my opinion. He just lacks believability to me but he's young and I have hopes he'll master the trade as his father did.

While there are a few "creatures" in the movie-so much more could have been done with the premise of this movie yet the focus was generally on Jaden Smith's character rather than diving into the evolving of creatures on this planet. If you are looking for a movie with a lot of action and sci-fi special effects-there are a few but this film falls short of what they could have done with this storyline. If you're looking for a film with a deep meaning intertwined with the plot-this is not it. If you're expecting another great film showcasing Will Smith's impressive range for acting-this is not it.

What you'll get is a movie starring Jaden Smith and a few shots of Will Smith as he speaks to his son through the radio communication device (so you hear his voice a lot). It's not an awful movie but not the best and definitely not worthy of box office prices. At best this is a rental-but keep in mind that you will watch this and realize there were better rentals available.

Just for reference-I'm not a picky reviewer and like a lot of films that seem to get bad reviews. I also still enjoy films with stellar special effects even if the acting isn't the best. This movie just doesn't have that for me. I think watching 2012, The Day After Tomorrow, Battleship, or John Carter is time better spent.

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I don't know why they still give M.Night Somethingsomething yet another chance to make a movie. One horrible piece of garbage after another.

So you have M. Night's talent for producing utter trash 10 out of 10 times, then this pathetic idea of promoting Will Smith's son just because he is Will Smith's son even though he can't act better than a paper bag, plus you have a script that must have been written by someone completely stoned out of his mind and the result is predictable disaster.

To give you an example for how bad the script is the entire movie rests on the concept that in order to fight the evil aliens you have to be able to control your fear, because that controls your body odors. Because the aliens are blind and can only kill you when they smell you. Are you still with me?!?

So this is supposed to be a hard sci-fi movie, with a human civilization that has mastered interstellar travel, large-scale terraforming and faster than light communications but they have to fight some aliens with swords!

And therefore they have to walk up to them and they have never considered just wearing a suit with helmet that would just contain their odor. Or, you know, use weapons that.. are not SWORDS! They do have odor-containing plastic bubbles to protect their children when the aliens attack, so they are aware that this is a concept that would work but no, they put their children under the bubble and then the parents go and fight with SWORDS!

Not a laser gun, or even just a rifle or heck even a crossbow would do, since the aliens are actually quite vulnerable (to swords...).

No, it has to be a sword so that there can be an entire movie about Will Smith's son carrying his father's blade and then finding his own and learning to control his body odor in ways other than just taking a shower or wearing a suit and helmet.

This is how incredibly dumb a piece of nonsense this is. Now imagine adding M.Night Shalala's directing and Jaden Smith's "acting" and you understand why this will go down as one of the 3 or 4 worst movies of this decade.

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You know, there are many reasons people rate movies poorly other than the movie sucking itself. I think unfortunately because of M. Night Shyamalan as a director and Jaden Smith as the main character, whom most people feel has his career in acting due to his fathers clout, this movie has been received with a bit of negative Bias. Now, I have seen some pretty sorry movies over the years. If you ignore the bias and look at the movie objectively without consideration of cast and crew, this wasn't a sorry movie. The very first part of the story is a bit weak. Not enough character introduction was shown to get you involved in the characters lives. I am thinking the scenes that lead up to the son's dismissal were cut leaving a gap that isn't properly explained. It gives no visual representation of why Kitai (Jaden Smith) was cut from the ranks of the graduating rangers. Probably due to the finished product of those scenes not meeting the quality requirements. they were probably not filmed again due to costs. Other than this, the acting was watchable and the story (A survival story) was good and reasonably believable based on the level of technology shown during the movie and the amount of time in the future (Enough time to develop faster than light interstellar travel, find a new world to live in, run from a hostile planet that had evolved in many ways to kill humans and live 1000 years after that time). In other words a distant future. The special affects were good and believable enough to keep you involved but not spectacular.

The theme of the story is the understanding that fear is not real except in ones mind but danger is. That you can overcome the danger if you overcome your fear and learn to think clearly instead of letting fear cause you to panic and ultimately cause you to make a very fatal mistake. Not a bad survivalist way to think and live. I think the story gets this point across nicely. General Raige's son Kitai learns this as he goes to retrieve the second emergency beacon in the tail end of the crashed ship averting many dangers and barely surviving some. The ship is approximately 2 days away. Kitai's father is struggling to stay alive with 2 badly broken legs, one with arterial damage. The large bird part of the story is a bit hard to believe but, I guess it could be possible if these animals have had the time to evolve and become more intelligent. The final fight with the Ursa was done well. It brings a climax and nice ending showing the theme to the movie in action. That's what I saw. Judge for yourself, renting here in HD is only $5.99 with tax. Hope this review helps people decide.

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I'm sorry to say I paid full price to see this movie in the theater. I felt robbed. I love science fiction and I am a Will Smith fan so what could go wrong? Everything. This movie was slow and the characters were not likable. The acting was horrendous and the plot....was there a plot, I can't remember I was so bored. I'm sorry to say I will never get that hour and a half of my life back. I'm giving it two stars because the special effects were decent.

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I watched the movie first and did not read any reviews for it. I did hear this movie wasn't that good, but I gave it a shot anyways. Not surprised that there are mostly negative reviews than positive reviews on here. Anyways, let's get on with my review.

I thought this movie does have the story going for it, but you really have to "pay attention" to what is being said in the beginning of the movie. If you miss anything from what they told you, than most likely, you're going to get a little lost into it. The story is very interesting. Earth is slowly becoming an inhabitable planet, and so, the military made a department division called, The Rangers core. The Rangers go out and try to locate a new planet for Earth's people to live on. Eventually, they did find a new planet, Nova Prime, and the people of Earth move relocate there. They do find out that they were not alone on the planet. The Aliens of that world try to kill the humans by creating these new huge monsters that can locate humans and kill them off. The monsters cannot see and are blind, but they can smell fear and that's the only way they can locate the humans.

I'm thinking that it's strange that the humans don't use guns on the monsters as they don't even try to shoot it. I can only assume that guns have no affect on the monsters? Then, again, humans at that point should have powerful laser guns, but they don't even try that. They don't even try bombs or anything. Instead, what they have is Will Smith with a two-sided blade weapon going in and hack and stash his way to victory for the humans. Will Smith has an ability to have no fear against these monsters. The ability is called Ghosting. If you can forget that they don't have guns or any advance weapons in this movie and just use their concept of ghosting than maybe you're like this movie. I can't really.

Jadan Smith character is very strong physically, but mentally he's unstable and falls apart in front of danger. This is because the alien's monster killed his big sister when he was a child. He wants to be like his father, a genreal in the military and original ranger that invented ghosting. Jadan doesn't see his father much and so he doesn't know him very well, but he looks up to him a lot. That part I did like Jadan funny side, and does that well. But, I don't like when his scared acting or his fierce/strong acting. He just doesn't pull it off well.

Now basically, the story of this movie is very simple and easy to make. There are no characters besides Will and Jadan after the beginning of the movie. Every character would be a flash back after that, so pretty much 90% of the whole movie is just those two guys on the screen. I don't really like that and wanted to see more them just those two guys.

The rest of the story is Will taking Jadan on his last mission as General before retirement. They need to take a ship and just go to a planet and Will trains the new rangers about ghosting there. Simple, right. A twist is when we see that they bring the human killing monster with them on the ship. That because they want to use it for training there. Somehow the ship gets damage and they need to make emergency landing before it's too late. Closes planet is Earth, which we know that it is inhabitable, but they have no choice. The ship blows up just before the landing and it crashes onto Earth. Jadan is unhurt in the crash, but Will can't move. His legs are broken and everyone else is dead. Now, Jadan has to go get help by traveling to retrieve a bacon at the tail part of the ship, and that's 100 kilometers away from them. The bacon will send out a search and recuse signal to the Rangers for help.

Jadan journey is a simple task, but NOT supposed to be easy. Jadan isn't use to Earth's gravity, there are dangers animals and insects everywhere, the air isn't breathable, and finally, the alien's human killing monster is lose and ready and waiting to kill! Jadan has the help of his father by him carry a backpack that has cameras that lets him see and hear what Jadan may or may not see at first. He has breather devices that let's him breath on air for a short period of time. Finally, he has Will's two-sided blade weapon that can change to many different forms.

Now, some people may think this is an action movie, but there isn't that much action in this one. This movie shouldn't be in that action category at all, and it should only put in the Sci-Fi section. The action is down to the bare minimum. It is mostly about Jadan talking about himself to his father, and how scared he is doing this task. But through this, they also learn much about each other and how they both react in the same situation different. Remember, the father has NO FEAR, but his son is totally afraid. In a way, it's like a father trying to teach his son how to do his job. Of course, the son doesn't get it at first and takes time for him to learn the job. I see what they did in the movie and great writing.

Everything is done in CGI. All the monsters and locations are supposed to be sci-fi, so it's understandable that it would be like that. It's not the best CGI I seen, but it would do for this movie.

After watching this movie, I thought it's not that good. I wouldn't even say it's average. It started out great by the story they built up (forgetting about guns part), but they couldn't keep on going and deliver with the rest of the movie. It needed to be longer. They needed more background story. The plot needed to be bigger and better. They needed more characters! This movie could had been 4 or 5 stars, but it was the bare minimum to a even better movie that it could had been.

I do NOT recommend this movie.

Ae Apocalypse Earth Reviews

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Not perfect, but well done. The CGI effects were better than I expected for a grade B sci fi movie. Adrian Paul's acting was quite a bit better this time than some of his past efforts. Richard Greico's acting skills were not taxed by any means in this movie. Chalk that up to directing and how his character was written, any fan of his knows he has done better. Interestingly one new actor (Bali Rodriguez) turned in a good performance (for a lovely lady whose main career is in modeling). This movie is worth watching just to see her run around in camouflage. This movie was better than I expected, and is of better quality than much of the stuff running every week on the syfy channel. I felt it was worth the money to rent this movie.

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This is an Asylum film (not the one with Will Smith) which incorporates several other films or film pieces. There is a twist 10 minutes from the end which you figure out 10 minutes from the beginning, and I am going to great lengths (ugh!) not to reveal it Scooby-doo, although for most Sc-Fi fans if you know there is a twist, you know the twist. Sorry.

Earth is under attack by aliens. A large ship, the Albert Einstein (AE) manages to escape with a handful of people who go into cryo-sleep. The next thing we know they are on a pod, crash landing on a planet. This planet contains a race of invisible hunters called "Chameleons." There are locals and survivors from another space craft. Our group of hardy explorers are aided by Lea (Bali Rodriguez) because Pocahontas would be too obvious. There is also an android called TIM (Gray Hawks) who acts like he came from "Next Generation." Yes, "There are some who call me... Tim."

The goal of our group is to find a craft that didn't crash, get back to the mother ship in orbit and head on back to Earth...and kill as many Chameleons, giant CG bugs, and CG lizards as then can along the way.

The plot sounds great, but the acting and dialouge was dry. They created bad cardboard stereotypes when there was no need to do so. The film appears to be a TV pilot for a SyFy series. The execution misses the mark. Kids and SyFy movie fans might like it.

Parental Guide: No f-bombs, sex, or nudity.

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This low-budget gem of a story made under the Asylum masthead is not to be dismissed by the snobbery of the bigger studios. Set in the rigorous but breathtaking backdrop of the Costa Rican jungle, it is a fine example of what can be accomplished with less. Some of the leading players are well-known, but it was also nice to see the use of some local talent. This was a great vehicle for Adrian Paul, and it was fun to see his talent and very appreciable screen presence put to good use in this film. Richard Grieco also had some great moments. Newcomer Bali Rodriguez will be one to watch and her body makeup design was outstanding. The special effects were more than decent. The movie's score (by Chris Ridenhour) and it's panoramic cinematography lent a definite big-budget feel to the film. For those of us who are die hard SciFi adventure fans, I would like to have seen the story fleshed out a bit more, as there was the opportunity to develop the very good story line into either a longer, more complex version, or to continue this story in an ongoing sequel. It should be noted that this direct-to-video can be seen under the title "Alpha Earth" on Amazon Instant Video, or a DVD version alternately titled "AE: Apocalypse Earth."

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AE is an obvious mockbuster of After Earth, but so thoroughly surpasses it that only the presence of Will Smith in the genuine article gives away the copy. That's not to say it's greatthe effects are mediocre, anyone will see the twist ending coming from a mile away, and the middle lacks punch, but compared to the Asylum's usual fair, it's a well-shot, well-edited, totally passable film I would have no problem watching again.

These direct-to-video sci-fi films tend to follow a pretty predictable formula, so I'll break this review down into its constituent parts:

Lone Token Celebrity:

Adrian Paul. He used to be Duncan Macleud of Highlander: The Series fame, then he was a spokesman for lingerie companies for a while, and now he has to be content with banging supermodels and making cheapo sci fi movies whenever his Maserati needs a new timing belt. Poor guy.

Lesson About Man's Hubris:

None really. Fleeing earth for distant worlds after an alien invasion, the crews of several spaceships crash back ON Earth in the distant future where they must battle the descendants of the original invaders, survive the now-hostile jungle landscape that covers the planet, and score with the hot jungle-girl remnants of their own species. And they make a pretty good, selfless go of it; by the 90 minute mark our ragtag heroes have liberated humanity from alien slavery, ended racism, and shot down a space station. Even the requisite jackass naysayer character redeems himself in the end.

Carnage:

Surprisingly believable for an Asylum film. The alien attacks and monster fights are well realized and there's a panicked battle scene at the start that is very effective.

Awful Effects:

All the CG is decent, although like most Asylum films the best effects are there and gone again in the first 10 minutes. The invisible aliens are fairly decent, although having them ALWAYS be invisible makes it seem less like a plot point and more like a money saving device. We NEVER See the aliens made visible, unless that's one of them yelling at the movie title on the box there.

Romantic Subplot:

Adrian Paul meets a foxy lady in the jungle, and after spending about 3 days frolicking around the tropics they get it on in a lake. This is actually how he spends most of his winters, so it was pretty easy to make it seem natural.

Big Action Truck:

This is the future, so everyone has big action spaceships. The aliens have little gunboats they use to menace the heroes, but in the end Paul and company recover the Last Starfighter of the human fleet and much payback is had.

Predictable and slow, AE still manages to best that OTHER AE and become a genuinely acceptable action romp. If this is the direction Asylum films are going to continue taking, then the other (AA) studios may have to watch out.

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This movie doesn't fall into the SyFy-esque category of laughably bad films suitable for evenings of group camraderie while consuming intoxicating substances. It falls into the realm of movies so poorly written, poorly acted, choppily edited, and confusing that even heavy imbibing will be insufficient to get you and your friends through it. And then there are the clumsy attempts of the actors to hit their marks and emote towards the camera, guaranteed to elicit groaning and objects hurled towards your TV. This film was possibly conceived as experimental forms of abuse for prisoners. I heartily recommend you stay away. If your friends like this movie, you need new friends.

Discount Disneynature: Earth (Blu-ray / DVD Combo) (2009)

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I bought this because of the way it was advertised. It was said that they followed 3 families, polar bear, whale and elephant families. I already saw BBC Planet Earth and I have a copy. I knew that it was made from footage taken at the same time that planet earth was filmed by BBC however I thought, because of the hype, that it would have additional footage of those 3 particular animal families that maybe they didn't put in the other films because of time constraints or they didn't want to dwell too much on one thing. I was wrong The footage on Disney's DVD is exactly the same. They show a lot of footage that does not pertain to any of the 3 groups to fill the added time. The photography is good, the views breathaking and worth watching but if you have a copy of the BBC planet earth series, don't buy it; you already have a copy of all the footage on those. There is nothing new here and it does not follow the 3 families in detail as advertised. If you don't have the plant earth dvds and you want a much more shortened version you would enjoy this.

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I've read a lot of reviews complaining that this is just Planet Earth repackaged, and it is the same footage...but, can you beat the Planet Earth footage?? Nope! We have the Planet Earth series, but there is no way my kids would sit and watch it. The Disney Earth movie took the best and funniest bits and pieces of Planet Earth, added a more "kid friendly" voice, and packaged it into a 1 1/2 hour film. My 5, 3, and 2 year old ALL sat down to watch this entire movie and laughed and screamed to whole time. They loved it!!! And I loved watching it with them. Ever since, they've been pretending about waterfalls and jungles and safaris and such. Great short version of Planet Earth for the kids!!! Ignore the other complaining reviews!

Best Deals for Disneynature: Earth (Blu-ray / DVD Combo) (2009)

This film shows how truly beautiful our planet is!! it's breathtaking! The animals are very cute and a joy to watch. However, this movie shows the harsh realities of what nature is and this can be very disturbing to both sensitive souls and children. It shows animals struggling for their lives and being captured by other animals. It shows the harsh reality of polar bears struggling to find food and starving to death. It is not a quick scene or two. The circle of life, animals being hunted by other animals, makes up a large portion of the film. Now, I understand that this is important to document because it is real and we can't hide from nature. I get this. I also get this film's message of preserving our environment so that the polar bears have a place to live and have food to eat, etc. The environmental message is very important. The problem is that the film's trailer is deceiving. It looks like a film that focuses on the positive qualities of nature and a movie geared more for children. It is much too upsetting. This movie should not be rated G. It should be rated pg13. There were a lot of children in the theater when I went to see this and they were crying with the long, drawn out scenes of the animals about to die and be eaten. It was just too much for them to handle and I saw parents shaking their heads and leaving the theater with their crying children. As an animal lover and very sensitive person, I spent the majority of the film with hands over my eyes and crying because I hate to see any animal suffer or die, even if it is nature. I understand that death is a part of nature. But I don't want to have to see it for the majority of a movie. Some people are okay with this and are a bit tougher. That is fine for them. The movie is still beautiful and it really makes you appreciate our planet. I just wanted to warn those who feel like me and those who have children. Be prepared.

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This nature documentary is a 90-minute mini-version of the much longer Planet Earth produced by the BBC. The latter production took five years to make, had a $25 million budget, and employed the latest in photographic technology. The super slow motion and time lapse techniques are especially impressive. Watching the twelve-month transformation of a forest in 30 seconds is spectacular. Earth focuses on three animal "families"--a polar bear and two cubs, a herd of elephants, and then a mother and baby humpback whale that make a 4,000 mile migration. In between these three stories the film intersperses takes from the longer documentary. My only complaint is that this production oversells the product with music that at times is both melodramatic and cutesy, and a corny narration that is clearly intended for young children ("Time for mom and dad to fix breakfast for junior!"). If there is any nature photography that does not need hype, this big screen version is it. Still, like its longer predecessor, Earth makes for fantastic family viewing.

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I wish I would have done more research before purchased "Earth." "Earth" is a basically a condensed, child friendly version of "Planet Earth." It's great if you want to expose your children to the wonders of planet earth, but they lack the patience to sit through the BBC series. I also thought the narration left something to be desired. It did not really add much to the film and felt "dumbed-down." Disney's choice of James Earl Jones was also kind of comical, as I felt that Darth Vader himself was teaching me about the earth. The movie looks great, but we have seen it all before. If the series "Planet Earth" never came out, I could easily give this 4 stars, but "Earth" is just recycled footage with dry narration.

Avatar The Last Airbender - Book 2 Earth, Vol. 1 (2005) Review

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The Avatar is a cartoon series open to people of all ages. If you have not yet watched the series, it is basically about a boy named Aang who must master bending (controlling) the four major elements of the world (Earth, Water, Fire and Air) in order to save the world. Aang is the only hope left to stop the long 100-year war started by the Fire Nation.

The best thing about this particular DVD is that unlike its predecessors, this one includes 5 episodes! In Book 2: Earth, Vol. 1, the included episodes are:

Chapter 1: The Avatar State. In Aang's visit to an Earth Kingdom city, the general tries to help Aang reach the Avatar state in order to use his power against the Fire Nation. Is this Earth Kingdom general really trying to help Aang?

Chapter 2: The Cave of Two Lovers. Aang and his gang decide to head back to Omashu to visit King Bumi in hopes he'll teach Aang Earth bending. Their run-in with some nomads leads them to a cursed cave! All they need to do to get out is to "trust in love," but is it really that simple?

Chapter 3: Return to Omashu. When they arrive at Omashu, something seems different. The Fire Nation has taken over! And where's King Bumi? Aang, Katara, and Sokka also encounter the evil Azula and her 3 friends for the first time. Expert killers, will Aang and his friends make it out of Omashu safely without finding Aang's old friend?

Chapter 4: The Swamp. While passing over a swamp on Appa, Aang thinks he hears it calling to him. After trying to ignore it, a random tornado forces him and his friends to land on ground. There is something mystical about this swamp, but Aang can't quite figure it out. Although skeptical Sokka tries hard to seek a logical way out of the forrest, there is someone watching. Does danger always follow the Avatar around?

Chapter 5: Avatar Day. After escaping from a small herd of Fire Nation soldiers, Aang makes his way to the city of Chin to discover that he's right in time for Avatar Day! However, it's not all what he expects it to be and the local townspeople are now accusing him of a crime centuries old. Can detective Sokka and Katara help clear Aang's name?

The next set of chapters come out April 10 of this year, so collectors should keep an eye out. If you haven't seen this show yet, check your local listings of the show on Nickelodeon. Enjoy!

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I am a 39 yr old father of 2 sons(6 yr old and 3). We watch Avatar faithfully with my wife who also enjoys the show imensely. It is the the only show on TV that the entire family watches together! It is one of the most beautifully animated cartoons on television. To refer to it as a mere cartoon is a diservice since the writing is far superior than 90% of all other tv shows. This show is not created strictly for children. The shows has very interesting and complex characters who are involved in a long story arc involving main protagonist(Ang) and his friends. The second season ,which this disc is the beginning of is just as interesting and exciting as the first season. The direction the show's plot goes is very compelling. I espeacially love how the show contains the right amount of comic relief and dosen't rely on any overtly cutesy chacters to blatantly apeal to children or girls (like most "serious" cartoons do).There are however several strong female characters in Avatar that take a major role in season 2's plot. What I like most about Avatar is that not everting presented in the show is black and white but in shades of grey. What I mean is that not all the characters are predictable and that they are changing throughout the show from new experiences.Is there violence in the show? Yes but it is not graphic or gratuitous and is there only to serve the plot.In addition to to the amazing animation and fabulous story telling it's the chacters who make this show worth watching.Anyone who is partial to fantasy or really good animation will enjoy this show.

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I am a 14 year old boy in menlo park, and yes, i love Avatar. I first saw this show when i was 12 and have loved it ever since. I love the way the Characters Aang, Katara and Sokka interact and mature through the show, helping and saving others while trying to throw off the fire nation persecuters. Also, the passionate animation and beutiful action scenes really stir me deep inside because all the bending disciplines are based on real Kung Fu.in this DVD there will be the episodes

1. the avatar stateAang learns about the avatar state and is attacked by a mean earthkingdom general who wants to use tis power

2. The cave of two loversAang and Katara get trapped in a dark cave

3.Return to OmashuAang goes back to learn earthbending from king bumi, but Omashu has changed

4.the swampAang & co go to a swamp and learn about zen.

i really like this show, and i think you will too. but i would recommend seeing Book 1, water before watching Book 2 earth. peace out!!

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This is a fabulous television show. It has been quite a challenge to find something my entire family can enjoy watching together -but Avatar can keep the attention of a four-year-old girl, a twelve-year-old boy, two gen-exers, and a grandpa. The characters are well-developed, the story is well-constructed, the animation is beautiful and the martial arts sequences are choreographed beautifully. It's adventurous and thrilling but not violent or scary. And it's funny. The episodes can stand alone, but the story also follows a linear path that moves at a nice pace and doesn't drag on forever...I could drag on forever about this show...It ROCKS!

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Avatar: The Last Airbender is certainly one of the best shows to come out of Nick in a long long... long time. The continuing serial storyline is in-depth, multi-layered, and follows a number of characters who are entertaining to watch. For this reason I am giving this product five stars.

BUT...

My frustration is over the fact that they continue to release the seasons in this broken up format of four episodes per volume. By the time Book 2, Vol 1 is released, the entire second season will have already aired. In due course it will be released as a season long package, but to have us wait simply to try to pull extra bucks from the less patient is (although understandable) annoying as hell.

My suggestion to everyone, satisfy your Avatar needs by watching re-runs on TV or viewing the fuzzy low-rez versions on YouTube (hopefully they will remain there). Eventually the entire Book 2 package will be released when they get to releasing Vol. 5 and you will be able to get everything from Episode 201 to 220 in one feld swoop... and more importantly, at a reduced total price.

Buy Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959)

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OK, there's been some controversy here about the quality of this release, so let me put it to rest. This DVD is spledid! I think this adaptation of Jules Verne's 1864 French novel is a prime example of 1950's wide-screen motion picture family entertainment -it's wholesome and has a little something for everyone. This is the best film version of this story, the most recent of which was done for the USA Channel on cable in 1999 and was very campy. They couldn't match the 1959 production values of this 20th Century-Fox film that has excellent color photography and art direction, and Bernard Herrmann's wonderfully atmospheric music score. These elements have continued to make it a favorite with fantasy film fans who can appreciate older movies, though it's true that some of it is silly at times, but I don't think the film's makers were trying for a serious movie. It also contains one of James Mason's best performances (He was always good). It's wonderful "Cinemascope" escapism from the bygone Eisenhower-era of the 1950s. Even though I've been watching it on TV since I was a kid in the sixties, I'd only seen pan&scan versions, and it wasn't until I got it letterboxed on laserdisc that I finally saw what a big-screen entertainment this movie was meant to be. It has splendid scope and a score by Bernard Herrmann that takes you right down into the bowels of the earth. Listen to it and you'll notice what I mean, as the movie progresses the music keeps going into a lower and lower register. Five organs were used, including one meant for a Cathedral. (The complete original recordings of the score are available on CD from Varese Sarabande.) Sure it's long in the telling and takes a while to get you down that extinct volcano in Iceland, but it's fun all the way with great special effects work by L.B. Abbott and matte paintings by Emil Kosa Jr. It's been a long wait for this to come out on DVD but it's now worth it. Although Fox should have known that fans would want more extras, including a production and poster still gallery and audio commentary by Pat Boone and Arlene Dahl perhaps?, or an expert on the production? (Perhaps we'll get it in a future release?), they have thankfully included the original theatrical trailer, whic is a lot of fun. They've also gone to great efforts to restore the color negative, and this 16X9 ANAMORPHIC TRANSFER has been struck from a newly made interpositive print, and has been further enhanced with digital video. The original 4-track MagOptical soundtrack is here offered in Dolby Digital 4.0 surround. Although the directionalized dialogue is often off the mark, the aged soundtrack sounds great and will really rumble your room if you've got a subwoofer. If you are a fan of 1959's JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH, you'll be very happy with this DVD. I'd give this DVD five stars but for Fox skimping on the extras. Boy, you people at Fox can be real dummies!

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I LOVE it!. There's absolutely nothing bad to be said about this wonderful film. It's one of the 10 best movies ever made, and it's lost none of its magic.(I like it just a tiny bit more, than that other famous 50's fantasy/adventure favorite of mine: "20.000 Leagues Under The Sea".) When I'm with Mason & co., I'm like a little kid again. There are movies you never stop loving; and this is one of them for me. They just don't make 'em like this anymore. If you're "old and wise", I trust you'll agree.(I'm 32, by the way.) -They can show me all their latest computer effects, I don't care, they're all empty like a balloon, and they have no soul. Any kind of real and interesting magical atmosphere, is almost impossible to capture in modern movies. Older films have a facinating, almost other-worldly quality to them. It all boils down to the look of a movie, and today they all look the same. Sad, but true. -At least one can spend the rest of his or hers life, watching nothing but old movies; and that's just exactly what I intend to do.

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A 19th century French businessman, Jules Verne decided rather late in life to give up the stock market and write children's fantasy novels. I'm so glad he did. The movie version of his "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea", in 1954, set off an explosion of major Jules Verne film adaptions(over 12 movies in 10 years). One of the finest was "Journey to the Center of the Earth". As the story opens, an Edinburgh professor receives a gift; a meteorite fragment from his student. Intuition fires Prof. Lindenbrook's imagination: Could an historic scientific message be hidden inside? After testing, the rock explodes. Lindenbrook assembles an expedition to follow an explorer's trail down into an extinct Icelandic volcano. Enemies surround him. Mysterious creatures are everywhere. For Prof. Lindenbrook and his party, a fantastic adventure is about to begin. "Journey to the Center of the Earth" stars Pat Boone, Arlene Dahl, Thayer David, Alan Napier, and the magnificent James Mason. But the real "star" is composer Bernard Herrmann, who's thundering, booming film score is nothing short of classic(and actually, only one of many). Director Henry Levin fashioned a lively, colorful saga in 1959's "Journey to the Center of the Earth". Extensive shooting in Hollywood, Scotland, and Carlsbad Caverns produced sweeping set-pieces of subterranean caverns, a giant mushroom forest, and even the lost temples of Atlantis. Special effects include miniature constructions, matte painting, and more. Sadly, the film's main draw-back is a horde of painted lizard "dinosaurs" thrown at the camera in the exciting finale. This brand new widescreen anamorphic (2.35:1) DVD is an excellent transfer. Fox found the original 1959 camera negative worn and faded. A search for viable film elements led to a black-and-white silver print; from this came a 35mm interpositive. Finally came digital restoration and video enhancement. DVD extras include 40 chapter stops, 8 trailers, and a conclusive restoration documentary. Famous and wealthy in his time, Jules Verne predicted the future use of submarines, space-travel, and crustaceous exploration. Over 80 motion picture and TV productions around the world have heralded his work. The first science-fiction movie was made in 1902 by George Melies. And yes, you're right. It was written by Jules Verne.

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Fox Studios was so successful with this film that they immediately made another Verne classic, "The Lost World" with Claude Raines as Professor Challenger. "Lost World" didn't fare as well. The reasons were obvious.

"Journey" was put together by a team of Hollywood professionsls at all levels: script, direction, actors, production deisgners. They were all dedicated to one goal: to entertain the audience while not pandering to them. The actors take their roles seriously, bringing them to vivid life.

This is a long film for a general release, family oriented project. It goes into good, solid character development, rather than settling for action over story, as they did with "The Lost World." The only thing both films have in common appear to be dinosaurs.

The special effects are excellent. Try not to compare them to what can be computer-generated today. Matte painting artists of the old Hollywood studio system could truly be called artists; this film is a prime example of this art.

Bernard Hermann's score is one of the true stars of the picture. It supports the film; it is like a character all its own; it complements the story rather than overpowering it.

This is a movie that can be seen over and over through the years and it still appeals. Once again, the DVD format presents the film in its original CinemaScope aspect ratio, which is the only way to appreciate a truly excellent example of the old Hollywood in its finest form.

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I first saw this on the "big screen" as a child, and was totally blown away by the special effects. I'm still amazed at what they were able to do given the "state of the art" at the time (1959). No, it's not precisely the way Jules Verne wrote it, but the basics of the plot and story are there. James Mason is the archtypical passionate professor, and quite good in this role. Arlene Dahl does a fine job in what could have been "just another pretty face" role. She actually gives it some character and "spunk." And Pat Boone works well in the student role, once he gets past the cheesy "Scottish" accent.

This is a great family flick -minimal violence, nothing that would tempt other than a "G" rating -and the "good guys" win in the end. Fantastic scenery, believable special effects -a great way to spend an afternoon!