Human Planet (DVD) : The Complete Series.

Starring Various.

The BBC's follow-up to their landmark Planet Earth is another astounding document of natural selection, focusing on the constantly shifting--and often remarkably harsh--relationship between human beings and their surroundings. Narrated by John Hurt, this eight-episode series explores the amazing lengths people must go to in order to survive in various unwelcoming habitats around the world, such as deserts, mountains, grasslands, and oceanic environments, all of which feature unique moments of terror and beauty. (The final episode, focusing on modern city life, suffers a bit by familiarity, although it does allow non-New York viewers a chance to glimpse rats the size of toaster ovens.) An overflowing chest of wonders, really, with such eye-popping sights as a diver who appears to have appropriated fish DNA, the most efficient way to catch giant bats, and a terrifying hunt for mussels within a rapidly submerging Artic crevasse. Amid the wealth of rewind-worthy moments, perhaps most impressive of all are the brief behind-the-scenes featurettes at the end of each episode, which show the amount of persistence, vision, good humor, and sheer luck it took to get these slices of life to the screen. Take a bow, folks. --Andrew Wright.

CHV Rating: PG.

AC-3, Dolby, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen. Subtitles: English SDH.