Bathing Baboons

If you haven't at least seen one episode of the BBC's Planet Earth miniseries, rent it. Now. Or Tivo it. Even if you're not one for animal shows, the photography is so spectacular, especially when viewed in HD, that it honestly will take your breath away.

It also makes for a great drinking game. Watch the series in HD with a bunch of people, and every time anyone says, "This photography is amazing!" or something like it, everybody drinks. If we had played the first time I watched it, I would have ended up passed out.

And if you are someone who enjoys animal shows, this series is even more amazing. There are lots of shots of cute little animals--ducklings, polar bear cubs, tiny antelopes--which is to be expected, but there are also a lot of weird animals that you didn't know existed, like the ginormous salamanders that live in cold upland rivers. Or the mayflies that live in African lakes, and when they mate, it makes the lake look like it's on fire.

The camera crews really took the time to get shots of rare animals, like the snow leopards in the Himalayas. And even better, they took the time to gets shots of rarely seen events, like piranhas feeding or the hyenas chasing down an antelope. These extended scenes add depth to the series, and make it more than just a bunch of very pretty pictures.

Me, I watch it for the monkeys. I think monkeys are some of the funniest animals ever, and this series definitely doesn't disappoint. In the freshwater episode, there are some great shots of monkeys that go swimming, and in the mountain episode, there's a section on these monkeys that live on cliffs. But my favorite monkey shot (so far...I'm only through disk 1) has come from the pilot episode "From Pole to Pole" that gives a general overview of the earth. There is an extended sequence on how water changes part of the Kalahari Desert in Africa into a fertile oasis, and how all these animals migrate there. Even baboons:



A word of caution--if you're going to watch it, try to get the BBC version, narrated by David Attenborough. Sigourney Weaver narrates the version that aired on US TV, and while her voice is pleasant enough, there were additions to the script that make it more irritating. She keeps saying things like, "This is the first time this has been caught on film." True as that might be, when said 10 times in 40 minutes, it gets old quickly.