8.7 | / 10 |
Users | 4.8 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Planet Earth II is an immersive exploration of the jungles, mountains, deserts, islands, grasslands and cities of the world. Journey to the four corners of the globe to discover the extreme forces that shape life in each of these iconic landscapes and the remarkable ways animals manage to overcome the challenges of surviving in the wildest places on Earth.
Starring: David AttenboroughDocumentary | 100% |
Nature | 89% |
Video codec: HEVC / H.265
Video resolution: 4K (2160p)
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Three-disc set (3 BDs)
4K Ultra HD
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Ten years after the original Planet Earth, the BBC
premiered its sequel, Planet Earth II, with
U.K. broadcasts beginning on November 6, 2016. It took another three months for the series to
reach our shores, with U.S. broadcasts by BBC America, AMC and Sundance beginning on
February 18, 2017. By that point, the series was already available in Britain on Blu-ray and UHD.
BBC Home Video is now catching up with a U.S. Blu-ray release, but they have packaged
the discs differently for North American viewers. In the U.K., the UHD package followed the familiar pattern
of including both 1080p and 4K versions, but here the 4K release omits the standard Blu-ray
presentation. A separate BD-25 contains extras in 1080p, which are discussed separately
below, as are some minor variations between the program on Blu-ray and UHD.
The series remains the gold standard in nature documentaries, with its gently authoritative
narration by David Attenborough and vivid footage of landscapes and animals filmed all over the
world. Shot with a variety of cameras, many of them customized for the production's
specialized needs, Planet Earth II is billed as the first TV series specifically designed to be seen
in 4K and HDR.
For some, remote islands offer sanctuary away from the mainland: the tiny pygmy three-toed sloth only survives because of the peace and safety offered by its Caribbean island home, while seabirds like albatross thrive in predator-free isolation. But island life isn't always easy. In the barren, volcanic islands of Galapagos, marine iguanas have been forced to find food in the ocean, but their ingenuity allows a raft of other animals to survive - including deadly racer snakes. At the end of the Earth, more than 1.5 million penguins appear to have found their version of paradise on an active, wave-battered volcano.
Only a few pioneering animals have what it takes to survive up high in the world's great mountain ranges. Witness for the first time ever four snow leopards filmed together as a mother and cub become trapped in a desperate fight between two rival males. Like crazy pole dancers, Grizzly bears comically scratch their backs on trees whilst a bobcat struggles to hunt for ducks without getting its feet wet.
From the jungles of Brazil, home to caiman-hunting jaguars and strange jungle dolphins that swim in the tree tops, to Costa Rica where ninja frogs fight huge wasps, we watch as the animals face life in the most competitive place on Earth. We follow alongside the beautiful indri as she bounces through the forest in Madagascar, and we stay out late at night to witness glow-in-the-dark creatures never before filmed.
In this episode we visit the world's deserts, a land of extremes that pushes life to the limit. . . . A pride of desert lions are so hungry they risk hunting a giraffe several times their size, whilst male sand grouse fly nearly 200 kilometers each day from their nests to the nearest waterhole, simply to collect water for their chicks - and when they arrive there are predators waiting for them. And, never filmed before, a tiny bat takes on one of the world's deadliest scorpions just to get a meal.
Grasslands cover one quarter of all land and support the greatest gatherings of wildlife on Earth. The extraordinary creatures that live here must survive the most hostile seasons on the planet. From bizarre looking Saiga antelope in Asia, rarely seen by humans, to the giant ant-eaters of Brazil, grassland animals show remarkable survival techniques. In the flooded Okavango, lions take on formidable buffalo in epic battles, stunning bee-eaters ride on the back of ostriches like miniature jockeys, while caribou embark on great migrations, where they must cross paths with their nemesis, Arctic wolves.
Cities are growing at a faster rate than any other habitat on Earth. They may seem an unlikely place for animals to thrive, but for the bold this is a world of surprising opportunity. Leopards prowl the streets of Mumbai, peregrine falcons hunt amongst New York's skyscrapers and a million starlings perform spectacular aerial dances over Rome. We welcome some creatures into our cities; in Jodhpur langurs are revered as religious deities and in Harar locals live in harmony with wild hyenas.
(Note: Screenshots included with this review are 1080p captures from the standard Blu-ray disc.
They offer previews of the 4K disc's content, but they cannot begin to convey the superiority of
its video image. Watch for 4K screenshots at a later date.)
BBC Video has divided the six episodes of Planet Earth II evenly between two 2160p,
HEVC/H/265-encoded UHD discs, and the result quickly leaps to the top of must-have titles for
those eager to show off their 4K systems. The combination of native 4K resolution and HDR
encoding renders the series' wide assortment of creatures with such depth and immediacy that the
image achieves a kind of hyper-realism in closeups, rendering fine textures and shadings of fur,
feather and scale with an intensity that is almost three-dimensional. The digital cameras bring
these creatures much closer to the viewer than one could ever hope to approach them (and, in
many cases, survive the encounter), and the UHD presentation brings out the tiniest variations in
color and consistency, even in mass groupings like the flock of mountain-dwelling flamingos in
Episode 2, the phalanx of "marching" red crabs on Christmas Island in Episode 1 or the locust
"super swarm" in Episode 3.
The heightened sharpness and detail of the 4K image is especially pronounced in the prolonged
aerial shots that are something of a trademark in BBC Earth documentaries. Whether tracking a
family of Rocky Mountain grizzlies as they search for food across snow-covered expanses
(Episode 2), tracking a family of ibex descending a perilous peak in search of water (also
Episode 2) or following the flight of a peregrine falcon swooping over the Manhattan skyline in
search of prey (Episode 6), the 4K/HDR maintains an astonishing clarity for both creature and surroundings,
so that the animals are always visibly distinct from their background, even when the coloration is
similar. The landscapes themselves are rendered with extraordinary fine detail, revealing minute
variations in ancient rock formations, dry desert sands, mountain peaks, flowing rivers and
frozen expanses. Individual leaves and branches in dense foliage are discernible even at a
distance. Verbal descriptions cannot do justice to the intensity of Planet Earth II's 4K imagery.
You have to see it for yourself.
[System calibrated using a Klein K10-A Colorimeter with a custom profile created with a
Colorimetry Research CR250 Spectraradiometer, powered by SpectraCal CalMAN 2016 5.7,
using the Samsung Reference 2016 UHD HDR Blu-ray test disc authored by Florian Friedrich
from AV Top in Munich, Germany. Calibration performed by Kevin Miller of ISFTV.]
Planet Earth II arrives with a 5.1 surround mix encoded in lossless DTS-HD MA, and the sound editing is as sophisticated and precise as that of any feature film. The track doesn't attempt to replicate the disorganized racket of a natural environment. Instead, the mixers have selected specific sounds of nature to complement and accompany each scene, and those effects may be placed in front, in back or all around. Pans between left and right and between front and rear are frequent. Rain, surf, volcanic activity and the roar of an avalanche are among the many enveloping environmental effects. Countless varieties of animal vocalizations occur both on- and off-screen. All of these effects are seamlessly integrated with David Attenborough's narration, which floats authoritatively over the front center, and with the orchestral score by Jasha Klebbe and Jacob Shea (with the principal theme by Hans Zimmer), which has the sweep and grandeur of a major Hollywood adventure.
A recurrent theme throughout Planet Earth II is the degree to which many of the landscapes
captured by the project have been (and continue to be) changed by human expansion. From that
perspective, the decision to devote the final chapter to "Cities" is noteworthy, as it charts some of
the unexpected adaptations created by the narrowing space between civilization and nature. Who
would have expected that Earth's largest leopard population would be residents of Mumbai,
surviving on local livestock and the occasional passerby? The concluding visit to Singapore's
Avatar City (a/k/a "Garden by the Bay") provides a reassuring example of the possibility for
peaceful coexistence of people and wildlife—and it too is rendered in such 4K splendor that it
appears just as exotic as any of the far-flung corners that Planet Earth II has already visited. The
UHD edition of Planet Earth II may be the best reason yet to upgrade to 4K. It's the most vivid
sightseeing you can undertake without leaving home. Highly recommended.
2017
2019
2017
The Complete Series
2006
2018
2023
2022
2021
BBC
2011
BBC / Narrated by David Attenborough
2009
2022
Disneynature
2015
The Original UK Series
2011
IMAX
2008
IMAX Enhanced
2016
Disneynature
2014
2003
2013
2014
2004