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[subzero9285]

Originally Posted by subzero9285:
They're definitely worth it in my opinion, also you should add South Pacific to your potential purchases. This series features some stunning footage of the more exotic environments in the world, and scenes like this;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BOhDaJH0m4



What is South Pacific, I am assuming its the same as Wild Pacific which I have, but I guess I check to make sure I am not missing one.

South Pacific was the name used in the UK, however the name of the series was changed for the US market.

 

[methos75]

South Pacific was the name used in the UK, however the name of the series was changed for the US market.

That is what I thought, I always buy the BBC versions and never deal with the US releases. Only time It has bite me is with Planet earth, the UK version is housed in a cardboard box while in the US it came in a nice steel case ;-(

 

[subzero9285]

But I guess I check to make sure I am not missing one.

I'd also recommend Nature's Great Events (Nature's Most Amazing Events - US market), if you haven't already seen it, it's also narrated by David Attenborough and Yellowstone; another high quality HD documentary.

A few clips from each of the series;

• Nature's Great Events - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBd4sNHBnYc&feature=related
• Yellowstone trailer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlaadKhEv4o
• Yellowstone - The infamous fox dive - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dP15zlyra3c

 

[methos75]

I'd also recommend Nature's Great Events (Nature's Most Amazing Events - US market), if you haven't already seen it, it's also narrated by David Attenborough and Yellowstone; another high quality HD documentary.

A few clips from each of the series;

• Nature's Great Events - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBd4sNHBnYc&feature=related
• Yellowstone trailer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlaadKhEv4o
• Yellowstone - The infamous fox dive - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dP15zlyra3c

Got it also, I recommend the BBC BD Earth the biography and the Story of India as well, really good docs.

 

[HarryHengst]

Just get everything the BBC has made and/or David Attenborough has narrated. :lol

 

[methos75]

Just get everything the BBC has made and/or David Attenborough has narrated. :lol

its old as dirt, but if you can find it The Living Planet is a must. It was the first big BBC Attenborough Life doc made back in the 80's. Its not as pretty as Planet Earth being in 480i 4:3, but as far as actual info goes its actually more informative than Planet Earth is.

 

[Zombie James]

Planet Earth is what got my parents down with HD, can't wait to add this to the collection.

 

[falastini]

I'm the kind of guy who rarely buys movies, generally a rental suffices. But Planet Earth is one of the few I actually bought. I look forward to grabbing this as well.

 

[Alucrid]

I'm the kind of guy who rarely buys movies, generally a rental suffices. But Planet Earth is one of the few I actually bought. I look forward to grabbing this as well.

I agree, I rarely rewatch movies unless someone else wants to. However, (I don't own planet earth...yet) whenever I went to a friends house I made it a point to watch something from Planet Earth every time. This is a must get.

 

[Gavarms]

WOW! WOW! WOW!

Another excellent nature doc from the BBC. Finally got to see the real benefit of having SKY HD. Picture quality was stunning!

A lot of people knock them but you can't touch the BBC when it comes to this.

Blu-Ray has already been pre-ordered

 

[subzero9285]

I might as well keep this thread alive during the series. So, here's another article detailing the work of the Life crew.


Walking on water

Remarkable slow-motion footage has been taken of two lizards that seem to do the impossible - walk on water. A high-definition film, shot at 2,000 frames per second, shows a brown basilisk lizard running across the surface of a pond in Belize. More footage shows how a species of gecko is so tiny that it can walk across a puddle without breaking the water's surface tension.

These amazing feats are captured for the BBC natural history series Life. The group of animals known as basilisk lizards commonly lives along the edge of rivers running through rainforests, eating small insects among the foliage. The lizards need to bask in the sun to warm up each day, which leaves them vulnerable to being caught by predators, such as large birds of prey hunting from the air, or carnivores such as cats living on the jungle floor.

So the lizards have evolved an extraordinary escape mechanism. They drop into the water and then run across it, earning the lizards their nickname, the "Jesus" or "Jesus Christ" lizard. Exactly how they do so is revealed by the slow-motion, high-definition footage taken at 2,000 frames per second.

"Because they run so fast they create a bubble as their feet hit the water and then they push off from this bubble before it bursts," says Simon Blakeney, a producer on the Life series who helped direct and film the footage of both reptiles.

"They can only run at that speed. If they were going any slower, for example, they wouldn't stay upright, they would slip into the water and would have to swim."

Mr Blakeney and his colleagues filmed brown basilisk lizards (Basiliscus vittatus) running across ponds and rivers in the rainforest in Belize, around 60km from Belize City.

Capturing the footage of the animals in action proved tricky. "Around 80% of the time when they are escaping from things, they don't run, they swim. So filming them running was quite a difficult thing in itself." The lizard has long thin toes that are covered by scales underfoot. These help create the air bubbles that enable the lizard to push off and walk across the water.

Scientists had also previously established that basilisk lizards produce massive sideways forces in their running stride, which, perversely, help them stay upright. Slowing the action of the film to 1/80th of its real-life speed reveals the true spectacle, says Mr Blakeney. "As the water lifts up it makes this incredible trail of splashes behind it, like a pebble dropping into the water. "Then the lizard has already gone out of frame because they are so fast."

Another lizard, a tiny species known as a pygmy gecko, faces a different problem altogether.At just 2 to 4cm long from head to tail, the Brazilian pygmy gecko (Coleodactylus amazonicus) could be battered by a raindrop and risk drowning in even the smallest pool of water. So it has evolved to be essentially waterproof, which in turn allows it to walk across the surface of any puddle it encounters. Mr Blakeney's team encountered the remarkable gecko near a place called Aripauna, on the edge of the Amazon in Brazil.With the help of expert Dr Gabriel Skuk of the Federal University of Alagoas based in Maceio, Brazil, the team filmed the geckos surviving in the leaf litter on the forest floor.

"They don't really use water as an escape response, because even if they are trying to escape from something a puddle looks like a lake to them," says Mr Blakeney.

"Because they are so tiny, they are able to float on the surface of the water like a pondskater, so they don't break the surface tension.

"I've never seen anything like that to be honest."

The geckos have hydrophobic skin which repels water just like a waterproof jacket. One hypothesis put forward by scientists, says Mr Blakeney, is that as the geckos became smaller, they needed to evolve a way to float, to avoid drowning when it rains.

The water-walking lizards can be seen on the BBC series Life, which is broadcast at 2100BST on BBC One on Monday 19 October.

Link

 

[duderon]

Just watched the first episode. This is definitely Planet Earth: The Sequel. I can't wait until next week!

 

[Mogg0]

Does anyone have any idea on ways to access the behind the scenes footage of Planet Earth, where they show you how they filmed it?

Can't find it = (

 

[aznpxdd]

A couple of HD captures.

 

[DJ_Lae]

Does anyone have any idea on ways to access the behind the scenes footage of Planet Earth, where they show you how they filmed it?

Can't find it = (

DVD or Blu-ray/HD-DVD? The DVD content is accessed from each episode's menu, from what I remember.

The high definitions have no behind the scenes material at all because a bunch of cocks were in charge of the whole thing.

 

[Mogg0]

DVD or Blu-ray/HD-DVD? The DVD content is accessed from each episode's menu, from what I remember.

The high definitions have no behind the scenes material at all because a bunch of cocks were in charge of the whole thing.

Yeah, I picked up the HD-DVD version back in the day and was pretty pissed off that it had less features than the fucking DVD version. Can't justify rebuying it on DVD just for the behind the scenes stuff, so I was hoping it was online somewhere?

 

[subzero9285]

Yeah, I picked up the HD-DVD version back in the day and was pretty pissed off that it had less features than the fucking DVD version. Can't justify rebuying it on DVD just for the behind the scenes stuff, so I was hoping it was online somewhere?

You can find some of them on Youtube, there may be some missing, but it's definitely a start.

Here's the Ice Worlds diary;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lb_xyZ3oPTY

 

[mclem]

its old as dirt, but if you can find it The Living Planet is a must. It was the first big BBC Attenborough Life doc made back in the 80's. Its not as pretty as Planet Earth being in 480i 4:3, but as far as actual info goes its actually more informative than Planet Earth is.

Life on Earth came first in the series, I believe; then The Living Planet, and finally (at least in terms of the original Life trilogy) came The Trials Of Life.

While everyone knows the Life series, due to the fact they've kept going in various forms, it's not as well-known that there were two other big documentary series of the late 70's-early 80's, all with some Attenborough involvement (commissioned by him while he was Controller of BBC2). Civilisation covered the development of art in the west up until the present day - and was arguably the direct inspiration to the style of documentary presenting which Attenborough then ran with for the Life series - while The Ascent Of Man did much the same but for the subject of science.

Both are showing their age - naturally - but are arguably as good as the natural history documentaries, if not quite as full of 'wow' moments.

 

[aznpxdd]

I just watched episode one in 720p. All I gotta say is HOLLLLLYY SHIIIIT @ the image quality. The content is also better than Planet Earth as well IMO, more focused on animals/planets than terrain.

 

[bluescreenoflife]

I just watched episode one in 720p. All I gotta say is HOLLLLLYY SHIIIIT @ the image quality. The content is also better than Planet Earth as well IMO, more focused on animals/planets than terrain.

Planet Earth=

Beautiful Terrain (feat. Biodiversity)

Life=

Biodiversity (feat. Beautiful Terrain)

 

[subzero9285]

Pebble Toad's throw themselves off mountains

When confronted by a predator, some animals fight, others run while a few hide, hoping not to be noticed. The pebble toad of Venezuela does something altogether different: it curls up like a ball and throws itself down the side of a mountain. By doing so, the tiny creature bounces down the rocks just like a rubber ball.

This extraordinary tumbling behaviour has been filmed in slow motion by a BBC crew for the natural history programme Life. The pebble toad (Oreophrynella niger) is tiny, measuring just a few centimetres long. It lives on the top of a type of mountain known as a tepui, which occur across the Guiana Highlands in South America.

These table-topped mountains rise out of the rainforest, isolating the animals and plants that live upon them. As a result, many of the creatures have evolved differently. For example, the pebble toad is unable to jump very far, an inch being the furthest it can hop. While there are no snakes living on the tepui, this lack of athletic prowess makes the toads vulnerable to marauding tarantulas, an ambush predator.

So the toads have evolved a unique escape mechanism. A threatened toad folds its arms and legs under its body, tucks in its head and tenses its muscles, assuming a "ball position". Because the amphibian is mostly likely resting on an incline, it then rolls downhill like a dislodged pebble. The toads travel far enough to escape the attentions of the tarantulas and often tumble into a crack or crevice where they are out of sight or difficult to reach. The toad's black and grey colour also helps it blend in with its sandstone habitat.

The toad is so small and light that the forces of impact are too tiny to cause it any harm. However, as well as being less than impressive jumpers, the toads do not swim well. So while most that land in puddles survive, there are reports of toads drowning after tumbling into deeper pools of water.

The team located the toads with the help of biologist Dr Bruce Means, an Adjunct Professor at Florida State University, US and head of a non-profit conservation organisation called the Coastal Plains Institute and Land Conservancy, based in Florida.

Dr Means ventured up the tepui, located in southeast Venezuela, to find the toads. Life assistant producer Mr Scott and cameraman Mr Rod Clarke then followed a few days later to film the action, using slow motion cameras capable of recording up to 2000 frames per second.

"The first time I saw one of the toads on a rock one morning, we saw each other, and I made some sudden movement, and it flicked itself back and flopped down into a channel at the bottom of the rock," says Mr Scott.

"We'd been told they do this thing and then it did it to me. It was an unusual thing to see at the top of a mountain. They just curl up and flop."

The tumbling pebble toad can be seen on the BBC series Life, which is broadcast at 2100BST on BBC One on Monday 19 October.

Link

 

[xBerserker]

Another must have Blu-ray!

Can we pre-order this for the US?

 

[subzero9285]

Another must have Blu-ray!

Can we pre-order this for the US?

Yes.

 

[kilongs]

The Planet Earth Blu-ray discs were the first ones I bought. I Love the series and can't wait for this new set. I only regret that I get easily attached to the animals that are being filmed, becuase watching them go down is heartbreaking.

I know its a long shot, but any chance that we see any footage of that newly explored crater in Papua New Guinea? The one with all the crazy new wildlife.

 

[xBerserker]

Yes.

Where? I can't find it on Amazon.

 

[subzero9285]

Where? I can't find it on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002KSA4F6/

 

[xBerserker]

I know that .... I meant in the US.

 

[subzero9285]

I know that .... I meant in the US.

From what I gather everyone outside of the UK is pre-ordering it from the UK, the US will probably get it around the same time but it hasn't been confirmed yet.

 

[feel]

The fact that it's not up for preorder on US amazon het, has me worried. I really hope they release it in US at the same time as in the UK.

 

[talking head]

how are you guys watching it online? the bbc player is for britain only :/

 

[geebee]

The mantis getting hit in the face by the chameleon tongue.. :lol

 

[zweifuss]

how are you guys watching it online? the bbc player is for britain only :/

I personally found it on Usenet, but will buy the bluray once it comes out.

I love the Stalk-Eyed Fly for some reason. So interesting. Here's a pic of the male adjusting his stalks to take out all the kinks.

 

[Minamu]

I suppose it'll be alright to import this on Blu-Ray to Sweden from amazon.co.uk like with Planet Earth?

 

[eLGee]

I suppose it'll be alright to import this on Blu-Ray to Sweden from amazon.co.uk like with Planet Earth?

...yeah? Any reason to think otherwise?

 

[womp]

From what I gather everyone outside of the UK is pre-ordering it from the UK, the US will probably get it around the same time but it hasn't been confirmed yet.

I'm sure once Weaver is done recording the voiceover it'll be out.

:::rollseyes:::

As someone who grew up watching Life on Earth on PBS all those years ago, I cannot wait for this. Attenborough was like a god to me as a child.

 

[womp]

I personally found it on Usenet, but will buy the bluray once it comes out.

I love the Stalk-Eyed Fly for some reason. So interesting. Here's a pic of the male adjusting his stalks to take out all the kinks.

Looks like one of the aliens from Pitch Black.

 

[alr1ght]

Those monkeys using those stones to break open those nuts was amazing to watch. I always liked when Planet Earth focused on the animals, so this is great.

 

[subzero9285]

Episode two - Reptiles And Amphibians

Spoiler

A very slow-moving toad just an inch long, and with an inability to hop further than an inch, might seem living proof that this group can no longer compete. Yet when a predatory tarantula suddenly appears the pebble toad, from Venezuela's Mount Roraima, tucks up its legs and bounces away down the rocks like a rubber ball. The tarantula is left far behind while the amphibian lands safely at the bottom. It is so small and light its trick does it no harm at all.

The Jesus Christ lizard, from Central America, can move really fast but a predatory bird is at least as quick. The only way the lizard can escape in a chase is to trick the bird, sending it in the wrong direction, and gaining itself a few extra seconds. It lives beside rivers and, rather than running into the forest, as the predator would expect, it goes in the opposite direction and runs to the river. It pedals its hind legs so fast that it only ever sinks a few inches into the water as it races across the surface. A human being would need to run at 60 mph to achieve the same feat.

Breeding is a vulnerable time for any snake, especially the Niuean Sea krait. It has taken to a life underwater, but a female must leave the water when it's time to lay her eggs on land – where she, and they, will be vulnerable. But she has a unique solution – she dives and swims down an underwater tunnel to an air-filled cavern at the far end. It is sealed off from the outer world and is a totally safe place.

Chameleons are so slow they have no chance of running down their prey. Yet they are one of the most effective predators in the reptile world. After sitting and waiting for prey to come close they then fire a muscle-propelled, extendible tongue at it. Extreme slow-motion photography reveals that their vision is so acute they can fire with near absolute accuracy, grabbing their prey by the head almost every the time.

In an incredible TV first, Life reveals the unique hunting technique used by one of the largest of reptiles – the nine foot Komodo dragon – which enables it to bring down a massive water buffalo. Although dragons don't hunt as a pack, like lions, as many as 12 will gather around a victim. A new discovery demonstrates that they have a bite that is as poisonous as a snake's. A single wound to the back of a buffalo's leg can kill it but it can take several weeks, during which time the dragon pursues it relentlessly.Reptiles And Amphibians

 

[subzero9285]

Viewing figures for episode one of Life.

[B]Monday 12th October 2009[/B]

[B]BBC One[/B]
20:30 - Panorama: 3.84m (15.7%)
[B]21:00 - Life: 6.49m (26.4%)[/B]

[B]BBC Two[/B]
20:00 - University Challenge: 3.53m (14.8%)
20:30 - MasterChef: The Professionals: 2.96m (12%)
21:15 - Design for Life: 800,000 (3.6%)

[B]ITV1[/B]
20:00 - Tonight: 2.69m (11.3%)
21:00 - Blue Murder: 4.85m (19.7%)

[B]Channel 4[/B]
20:00 - The Enemy Within: 430,000 (1.8%)
21:00 - Daredevils: 930,000 (3.8%)
22:00 - Ugly Betty: 860,000 (5.1%)

[B]Five[/B]
20:00 - The Gadget Show: 1.51m (6.2%)
21:00 - FlashForward: 3.19m (12.9%)

A very good debut.

 

[Minamu]

...yeah? Any reason to think otherwise?

No, not really. I'm just a bit suspicious when it comes to importing :lol Unfounded fear of region locking & customs, you know

 

[TheRagnCajun]

This is awesome can't wait. I hope someday this team does a series on culture.

 

[Wes]

So who be watchin'?

 

[Mecha_Infantry]

Watching, and am absolutley STUNNED by the gecko that has water proof skin

They repeated(ish) this praying mantis/panther chameleon from last week

edit* lol @the chameleon doing a chin-up

 

[Mecha_Infantry]

WOW @ the two tone chameleon

Nature if fucking amazing

 

[Benjamin_MFF]

I'm waiting till it gets released stateside. End of next month you say? Cheers.

 

[gofreak]

Some stunning footage tonight. Mind boggling to think of the effort and time that must be required to get some of those shots.

Poor buffalo

 

[aznpxdd]

Damn komodo dragons are badass.

 

[Gavarms]

This series keeps getting better and better. As has been said some amazing footage was shown. Especially loved the Komodo dragons and those frogs had some killer escape moves! :lol

It's funny but the best case for moving to HD/ Blu-Ray has been BBC nature documentaries.
They really show the difference between the leap fron SD to to HD! At least 2 people I know are getting Blu-Ray plyers just to get these shows and have already pre-ordered Life from Amazon.

BBC Earth =

 

[abstract alien]

Oh fuck yeah, Ill be all over this.

 

[subzero9285]

Golden eagles hunting reindeer

Golden eagles have been filmed hunting and attempting to kill reindeer calves. One eagle was filmed swooping down and grabbing a calf, while another pulled out of an attack at the last minute.

A BBC natural history film crew gathered the extraordinary footage along a reindeer migration route in northern Finland. It finally proves this eagle species does occasionally hunt reindeer, something suggested by forensic evidence and the local Sami people.

The crew filmed the behaviour while capturing footage of the reindeer migration for the BBC natural history series Life, though the images were shot at too far a distance to be included in the final cut of the high definition programme. Television producer Dr Ted Oakes, cameraman Mr Barrie Britton and scientist Mr Harri Norberg set out to film the hunt along the northern edge of Finland.

For his PhD thesis Mr Norberg has spent the past few years studying how predators interact with the reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), which are known as caribou in North America. Mr Norberg would tag calves, then search out those that had stopped moving to find out what had killed them.

By examining the bodies and the size and shape of claw, bite or talon marks, he ascertained that the majority of reindeer calves killed in the region had been attacked by eagles. But he had never actually witnessed such an attack.

"It is also something that the Sami had always told people and complained about but people didn't believe them," said Dr Oakes.

So to get documentary evidence of the behaviour, Dr Oakes and his colleagues used four-wheeled bikes and the advice of local Sami reindeer herdsmen to follow the reindeer along their migratory route. Striking a new camp every few days or hours, the crew kept up with the animals as they moved out of the forest and into more northern, open and mountainous land. The reindeer travelled there to avoid wolves and biting insects such as mosquitoes.

"When the reindeer get out in the open, that's when the eagles have a chance," said Dr Oakes.

The film crew captured a handful of successful and aborted attacks on camera.

"One of the things I witnessed was an eagle up a kilometre high and it put its wings up over its head and it fell in a bizarre way, vertically," Dr Oakes described.

"Then in the last 100 yards it went into a low powerful glide and hit the back of a calf."

"This is an extremely dangerous thing for an eagle to do, because the prey is much larger and heavier."

To kill a reindeer, the birds strike it in a specific region in its withers, driving their talons into the mammal's lungs.

"They are not killing anything instantly so they have to ride like a rodeo cowboy on the back of the calf," explained Dr Oakes.

"No wildlife filmmaker has ever filmed this before."

"Another one was when the eagle came down and landed near to the calf and was trying to make up its mind," he said.

"I think it had misjudged the approach to the calf and ended up on the ground. It was staring at the calf thinking whether it should have another go and the mother reindeer ran in and scared the eagle away."

More often than not the golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) appeared to attack white calves, rather than tan or brown ones, though the crew did not know why. According to Mr Norberg, it is usually immature golden eagles that kill the calves. However, he also believes the birds occasionally hunt adult reindeer. Another larger species of eagle lives in the region, the white-tailed eagle, but this bird is less aggressive than the golden eagle, and will often be chased off a reindeer carcass by its smaller relative. The Sami people that live in the area say they have seen white-tailed eagles also killing reindeer, but this behaviour has yet to be scientifically documented.

The BBC series Life is broadcast at 2100BST on BBC One each week from Monday 12th October.

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