The Planets (US Television Version) [4 Discs]

Product Details

Format : NTSC
Aspect Ratio : 1.33:1
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9780767025522
Product Group : DVD
Publisher : A&E Home Video
Release Date : 2002-06-01
UPC : 733961700985

ASIN : 0767025520

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Editorial Reviews

From Amazon.com

Where did it all begin? How did the universe give birth to the sun and its family of planets that form our solar system? How is a bubbling atomic reactor in space the source of warmth and light for life as we know it? Why will Mars be the first planet we colonize? What is the long-term fate of the planets in our solar system? Are we alone? The Planets is an entertaining, comprehensive, and informative A&E documentary series that sets out to answer many of life's most physically existential questions. This series combines scientific history of early scientists, rich knowledge from the leading minds in modern astronomy, and extraordinary image technology to tell the story of our solar system, from its beginnings to the present and beyond. The topics of the eight-volumes are: "Different Worlds," "Terra Firma," "Giants," Moon," "Star," "Atmosphere," "Life Beyond the Sun," and "Destiny." From the sweltering rocky surface of Mercury to the violent stormy skies of Jupiter to the cold, mysterious land of Pluto, The Planets is a fascinating exploration of discovery and adventure for anyone who has looked up into space on a starry night in total amazement. --Rob Bracco

Customer Reviews

Zooming back and forth (2004-04-07)

This is acceptable for young children, because no topic is covered at any length at any one time. This is fine for kids who can't sit still long enough to get a lot of detail. And the presentation continues for four disks, revisiting most topics at least once.Unfortunately it doesn't really do more than reiterate pretty trite information and opinions, despite the abundance of interviews with quite a number of people in the US and former Soviet space programs. The fact that the USSR made an attempt to probe Mars in 1961 is remarkable, but the complete failure of the mission is not mentioned at all.Probably the best of the eight programs in this collection is "Moon", which is strictly about the Apollo missions to the Moon, which remain the most amazing achievement of the space age. Also, that program has a single focus and doesn't jump around. The other program from disk two is "Giants", which recounts the US probes to Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune."Life Beyond the Sun" on disk four discusses the labeled release experiment, which did in fact detect microbial life on Mars. The program only gives the official NASA view that no life was found, and doesn't bother to interview Gilbert V. Levin, who designed the experiment, and has a long series of published papers defending the results of the experiment and debunking the inorganic chemical "explanations".The oddly named "Terra Firma" (an ancient name for the Earth) gives a survey of various probe missions to Jupiter, Mars, Venus, and the Moon. "Atmosphere" again discusses Venus and Mars, and repeats the silly claim that there's a "greenhouse effect" at work.The main deficiency of this package is the repetition and lack of focus. I would have liked more in-depth discussion of (for example) the search for the various planets X (Tombaugh, Van Flandern, but emphatically NOT Zecharia Sitchin, Andrew Collins, et al), focussed comets as an argument in favor of the existence of one, and critical arguments of the possible existence of a trans-Neptunian major planet.I'd suggest getting this from the video store first and seeing if your children like it, then purchase it if they do.

Okay, but lots of talking heads (2004-01-09)

This series was okay, but could have been much better. Like all the BCC's work you can't fault it technically, but the abundance of talking heads does get annoying (though there is a little bit of CG). Any fan of space will find the knowledge they recite as rudimentary at best. It's okay for a novice, but otherwise it's pretty boring to hear a guy in a lab tell you basic facts about the solar system.

Some of the archival footage, particularly of the Russian space program is very interesting, however.

Space is incredible but show it to me, don't tell me about it! I think the BBC's upcoming 'Walking with Spacemen' series, which will be 100 percent CGI and use the technology to recreate what it would be like to visit various planets and moons in the Solarsystem will be much more interesting (If you have seen Walking with Dinosaurs then you'll know what kind of breathtaking visuals they should come up with).

Anyway, till then, the Planets is still a great series.

... (2003-09-19)

*I watched the original BBC version with the male narrating (i think Richard CHamberlain was name)... Apparently some people don't like the american dub.... why they bothered to make it in the first place is a bit confusing.*

Even if you're uninterested in space, other planets, or earth's own origins and achievements, The Planets is worth a vieiwing on the merits of the genrally spectacular visuals alone, and is very capable of sparking an interest in even the most dormant of brains (mine). Although much of the CGI is low-budget tv quality (from 1999~2000), it's generally kept to a minium and the better cgi (like the simulations of an expanding sun) is MUCH better. It avoids the overly serious tone in the narration that seems to be common to these types of documentaries, and although there is some content overlap between segments, it doesn't diminish the experience.

This is a must see for anyone and everyone (although you can probably catch it on A+E or one of the BBC america channels, rather than spend 80 dollars for this box set (which is worth it, I think- though there are a number of equally worthwhile documentaries that cover some similar ground in a much more intellectual fashion, like Cosmos and Stephen Hawking's Universe, but I haven't seen any that, visually, really convey how fantastic the universe is as much as this one).

Great for people wanting to know basics about astrology! (2003-08-22)

Captivating and exciting, this will educate you on many things about our solar systems, the planets and the moons that surround them among MANY other things, great set!

The best space documentary (2003-07-29)

This is my favorite space documentary! It handles most aspects of the solar system: the planets, of course, but there are also episodes on the sun and the moon.

Historical footage is really astonishing! With a lot of missions you feel like standing next to the guys in the control room. You can smell the tension! The computersimulations are really beautifull and worth making a screensaver from some time (any volunteers?).

There is also a book about the subject (from the BBC). I would also recommend this one!

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• Subjects > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Astronomy
• Subjects > Science > Astronomy
• Genres > Documentary

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