This is a rare gem of a movie.

The film is simply magic, and reveals to us both the world of feelings in the small child, and how a loving teatcher is able to give each child full attention and the tuition every child deserves to get in school.

It is a must for every teacher and parent in the world.

A wonderful documentary

I have just received it this morning and saw only parts of this DVD BBC Collection.

Pictures are as wonderful as the ones of Planet Earth : I regret not having yet bought an LCD Full HD TV set, it's worthwhile for such a good documentary.

An important point for foreigners like me (French): it's subtitled in English for the Hard of hearing. The subtitles make easier for us to understand all the Sir Attenborough's commentaries. Even the extras are subtitled.

Obviously it would be better if the BBC had released this DVD, as Planet Eaerth, with other languages subtitles.

But nevertheless I recommend the buying of this item strongly to Amazon's customers.

If you like Laguna Beach you'll love this....

Following Lauren/LC off of Laguna Beach The Hills is a lot more interesting as it creates new characters and new locations. Seeing Beverly Hills is a change of scenery and LC was always a popular character on LB so is enjoyable to watch her progress and undertake her internship at Teen Vogue. I really like being able to see the lives of others in different countries, and it's not overly fake too. There is still loads of drama in this series with characters such as Heidi. I now prefer The Hills to Laguna Beach - probably because it's newer but also because I love the new locations! Series 2 is even better :) :) can't wait for the DVD release.

Quite breathtaking!

Everything about this mini-series is quite exceptional; the photography, the sound quality, and the first class presentation by Dr. Stewart. I'm so pleased that he got an new species of ant named after him. He worked very hard to find it.

Anyone with the slightest interest in our quite fascinating planet just has to get hold of this product and treasure it. If I could give it more than 5 stars I would!

Brilliant BBC!

Excellent

On of the best introductions to India and its people. I watched this series before travelling to India myself and it was a great help understanding the sub-continent on my travels.

When I am re-watching the series I am still fascinated by the material and the wonderful presentation which instills facts in an inobtrusive but engaging way - cewlebrating a country with such a rich history and far-reaching influences.

The series is an absolute preparatory must for travellers.

Namaste

Priceless kick up the backside we all need.

Well done Al Gore for showing us what we all need to hear. Each and everyone of us can change the world for good or bad, the choice is ours and we should feel compelled to make our stand.

An inconvenient truth is what it's all about and it's time we all stopped hiding from ourselves.

This film is so powerful and a warning we should all heed. Not just for ourselves, but for our children, our families and our planet.

We all have a duty to spread the word and do what we can to help save our home. I shall be buying 100 copies of"An inconvenient truth" and giving them away to friends, family and colleagues.

Lets change the world before it's too late.

Winston Churchill once said
"The era of procrastination, of half-measures, of soothing and baffling expedients, of delays, is coming to a close. In its place we are entering a period of consequences."

In relation to another world crisis, but the words still ring true in our current crisis.

We need to stop supporting fair weather politicians without vision & balls to see in to our own future and act upon it.

Ignorance is no excuse in law, neither in life.

Al Gore has opened my eyes to the fact we have been duped for a very long time.

This isnt about politics or conspiracy theories and the world doesnt owe us anything. This is about us and our negative impact, and do we really need to be destroying ourselves like this? I dont and I am going to change what I can in all areas of my own life.

"A landscape alive with visions"

The words are those of mystical poet William Blake when staying in a cottage in Sussex, and the description can be aptly applied to this whole worthy production.

Written and presented by David Dimbleby, this six-part series has five different directors, but under the same executive producer, Basil Comely, the same guy who produced the excellent"Francesco's Venice". Thus, each programme is slightly different in some way - more thematic perhaps, or involving a lesser number of interviewees - but all of the episodes run together under the same overall format.

As with"Francesco's Venice" this DVD is worth it as much for its excellent photography - in all seasons, in all weathers, both night and day - than for its story. The landscapes are often breathtaking, and the camera has been used imaginatively too, for example intermingling older paintings with modern scenery (a feature of episode five). The original music is an almost continuous soundtrack, full of colour and brilliance composed by Andrew Blaney. (But did I hear music from The Lord of the Rings at one point?)

The six episodes are based on geographical areas, so to a certain extent the series is a travelogue as well as a documentary. The first,"The Romantic North", starts in the Lake District where Dimbleby introduces the change in attitudes to the landscape that took place in the mid-eighteenth century, when wildernesses were seen as places of great beauty rather than as places of barbarity. In fact, he rather too emphatically places the birth of the picturesque to the year 1752 and the author John Brown, before then going on to the rules of William Gilpin and the poetic responses of William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

The literary angle is one that often re-appears throughout the series: this is not just a programme about the painted picture of Britain, but also the literary portrait and the musical sketch too, though these are not so pronounced. Nevertheless, they are a constant feature, so that we hear quotes from the works of Emily Bronte, Rupert Brooke, John Clare, WB Yeats, Robbie Burns, Charles Dickens, William Morris, Rudyard Kipling; and the list goes on. As for music, we hear, in their geographical context, from works by Holst, Vaughan Williams, Britten, MacCunn, Mendelssohn (for Fingal's Cave), Butterworth, and Elgar.

As he moves about the country Dimbleby talks with a variety of people, from Helvellyn's mountain-rescue guide to a geologist panning for gold in the Welsh hills. Along the way he engages with farmers, wherrymen, tourists, and artists. Episode one covers the Lake District, Northumbria, Yorkshire; episode two ("The Flatlands") travels through Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire; Scotland and Ireland are the subject of"Highlands and Glens", the third programme; whilst the fourth"The Heart of England" visits an unwieldy mixture of places from Manchester at the time of the industrial revolution, through Derbyshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, the Cotswolds and the Malvern Hills; the fifth episode,"The Home Front", focuses on the Isle of Wight, Hampshire and Sussex; and the final part,"The Mystical West" visits Wales, Wiltshire, Dorset, Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall.

The series officially highlights over one hundred paintings, covering in time from Gainsborough all the way up to the present day: there are interviews with contemporary artists Maggi Hambling and David Inshaw. Most are from the nineteenth century. The one artist who features in all six programmes is the magnificent and ubiquitous Turner. Using the pause button, you can appreciate all the featured works at your leisure.

The choice of pictures is presumably Dimbleby's own, although the series is a collaboration between the BBC and The Tate, and was linked to an exhibition of many of the paintings featured when the series was first broadcast. No doubt, there are complaints of omission from all parts of Britain about local painters who have been overlooked. From my own neck of the woods, for example, there is no mention of Widgery's Dartmoor scenes or Condy's of the Tamar Valley. Nevertheless, overall I found the journey enjoyable and fulfilling, and I learned a great deal. Many of the artists featured are well-known names; but equally many were new to me. I even had my opinion on Constable changed after seeing his interpretation of Hadleigh Castle.

This is in some regards a personal journey for Dimbleby himself. We see him on his sailing boat in Devon and amongst the landscape of his home on the South Downs in Sussex. There is even archive film of him and his younger brother Jonathan making a film when they were in the teens. But this personal aspect never intrudes too much into the story that Dimbleby has to tell. However, he does have a dangerous habit of addressing the camera whilst driving his Land Rover along the roads of Britain.

Dimbleby is engaging and erudite, often witty, commenting, for example, on how Landseer realised that a wealthy man would pay more for a picture of his dog than for his wife. He has a nice turn of phrase, for instance, while referring to Portsmouth he says that,"When Britain ruled the waves, this was her throne." And he is not a bad painter himself, as demonstrated in the first episode.

Overall then, a magical journey around Britain's scenery as seen through the eyes of its landscape painters.

should be compulsory viewing in schools

I saw most of these when they were broadcast on ITV in the 70's/80's (anybody remember when ITV used to screen material other than pop idol and x factor?), they made me really angry then and most of them make me angry again on rewatching. Everything about this box set is top class except perhaps the title but I'll forgive that, Pilger's docu about the arms trade is worth the price on it's own. Watch them, get angry and do something about it because history just repeats itself, look at Iraq today and the threats toward Hugo Chaves and others in Latin America.

excellent item

if youre like me and have very unreliable driving instructs with weeks apart between lessons then this will keep you a fresh on the basic of driving while also studying for your tests. highly recommended

Tom D

This series is better than good until something better comes along and that is a compliment. Of course there are pluses and minuses. I probably agree with the comments across the spectrum of opinions. But hey guys, has anyone done anything better and fresher than Michael? I have an interest in FSU etc. and have visited some of the places (or like them) in the series, in the last few years. Mind boggles what we have been missing for the past 50 to 100 years.

The budget for this road-show, it seems, did not allow for an in-depth treatment, alas. Typically the visit to Lvov...or Lviv, was so short you would have missed it if you were to put the kettle on. Perhaps this is the nature of the beast? Therefore deserves my 3.85 stars.

The best episodes are finally released!

Top Gear, frankly, is one of those things that has made me feel excited about television again. For a long time, I only really used my TV to watch a DVD/play a game. There was little to nothing for me to watch in terms of original broadcasting. Then my cousin recommended watching Top Gear...and everything changed for me.

The whole premise of the show is just genius. Three big kids, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, loving cars and getting into all kinds of adventures and mishaps is just brilliant. In their own special way, they're all intelligent, entertaining, quick-witted and produce some hilarious, hair-raising and truly unforgettable viewing together. For me, Top Gear is the best thing on television today, hands-down.

Having developed a love for Top Gear (and subsequent DVD releases) in virtually no time at all, The Great Adventures is doubtless something to be really pleased to own. The reason why this box set is such a mandatory purchase is because it features the two most memorable specials ever in the programme's history.

Scratch that. BEST EPISODES EVER in the programme's history.

Starting with the Polar Special, you have Jeremy Clarkson and James May driving an extensively modified Toyota Hilux pick-up truck, competing against Richard Hammond and a dog team...in a 450 mile race to the North Pole. Those who watched this when it was first broadcast will remember it being not only an epic race, but also a tremendous test of survival, very real danger, incredible discovery and a true sense of accomplishment.

For the TV version of that amazing challenge to finally be released on DVD is special in itself, but the thing here is that this version of the Polar Special is actually the Director's Cut. And this is not a cheap plug with only a few measly seconds of insignificant footage included. This is the real deal. The Director's Cut is ten minutes longer than the hour-long version that was originally broadcast. The extra footage is absolutely amazing and enlightens the viewer more on what the lads went through in preparation for the adventure, the stress and dangers they endured, and what other astonishing discoveries they made.

The other special included is the U.S. one. This was the first ever episode of Top Gear I watched, so naturally it has such a special place in my heart. Here Jezza, Hamster and Captain Slow have purchased $1000 wrecks to embark on the ultimate American road trip over 700 miles to their destination of New Orleans, encountering all kinds of memorable challenges along the way. These consist of lap races, breaking before alligator-infested waters, preparing a road-kill feast and baiting the people of Alabama and surviving.

The U.S. special is just as excellent as I remember it. The lads' quest for purchasing American cars on such a low budget, the hilarity of the lads' road-kill feast, the frightening realism of their dangerous antagonising trek through Alabama are the highlights. And the charitable acts of the presenters to the people of New Orleans merits such respect and admiration, making it the perfect ending to a fantastic adventure.

However, I was very surprised that the lads' frightening drive through a fierce storm on the highway was cut from this home release of U.S. special. It didn't deter me from it anyway, but it is a tad on the disappointing side. What's really disappointing, though, is the music edits that had to be made due to contractual reasons. This is very noticeable during the Polar Special Director's Cut. A lot of the soundtrack music used here instead of that on the original broadcast really doesn't have the same quality impact on the presentation. In fact, the substitute soundtrack feels somewhat out of place and like it doesn`t really belong here.

There's no extras either, which is a shame. Some outtakes and deleted scenes would've been really nice. Along with audio commentaries from Clarkson, Hammond and May regarding their own personal reflections of their amazing adventures.

But at such a bargain price, and with such a beautiful DVD transfer, I shouldn't complain, really. Top Gear: The Great Adventures is a box set that every fan has been waiting for. These two expeditions are events that best showcase why these three guys have every right to be proud of what they do, what an amazing life they lead and why Top Gear is the best thing on television right now. The best DVD release of the show so far? I'd definitely say so.

This is a real mixed bag... but lets not throw the baby out with the bathwater.

I thought this DVD, which I borrowed from a science PhD friend, was an interesting introduction to Quantum Physics for the layman. It's very accessible, which is part of it's appeal. You don't need a degree in physics to understand it. I found it intriguing, as many people who have given it 5 stars also did. So why only 3 stars?

I watched it with a discerning mind and found it left me enthused but with lots of questions like"Did that mass meditation experiment really take place in Washington, and if so, what kind of meditation was it?" and I did feel that the mystical female's comments were out of sync with the scientific nature of the rest of the talking experts.

I was disappointed to discover that there was so much controversy surrounding this DVD and that in the process of it being made into an accessible DVD it had been dumbed down to the point of being"pseudoscience" and distorted, in particular to fit in with mystical the mystical views of a very bizarre cult who seem to have financed it.

There are lots of lessons to be learnt, mainly don't believe everything you are told, even about science! Everything we learn through the media (newspapers, TV, DVDs like this) is MEDIATED. It's been edited by a person or persons who will present the story (news, science, anything) from a certain point of view. No two newspapers will present a story in exactly the same light and can often vary wildly in their portrayal of the same event or piece of news. That's one of the things they teach people on all these media studies courses. A DVD of this length was never going to give anything other than a very basic view of highly complex theories. I just wish someone like the BBC or Open University had been able to make a programme about Quantum Physics that wasn't dry and theoretical but made it exciting and accessible and relevant to our lives, as the makers of"What the Bleep" seemed to do, but from a relatively unbiased editorial standpoint i.e. to inform and educate rather than to manipulate, as it seems"What the Bleep" has done. (Has such a series been made or an accessible book been published by reputable scientists???)

The problem with things like"What the Bleep" and"The Da Vinci Code" is that people are easily manipulated by a well told story, even if that story is only half true. I am always amazed at how many people take things at face value and do not engage their critical faculties or judgement or who would see the makers as having the answers to life's spiritual questions and would trustingly investigate the"mystical cult" (which sounds frankly bizarre - channelling ancient spirits from nonexistent continents - outer body experiences???) promoted by some of the people who spoke on the video. I am bemused by the existence of such cults and the bizarre stuff that some people believe an so would be concerned at impressionable people going to the website, getting the newsletter and possibly being sucked in by a cult. Who knows... By all means, go ahead and watch the DVD and see what all the fuss is about, and let it enthuse you about science. But then go on and read works by real scientists if it really floats your boat. And if you really must watch it, whilst the jury is still out on the makers of this film and what the proceeds go towards, try to do like I did and borrow it from a friend or get it second hand so you can make up your mind without worrying about funding cult activities.

And I think it's important not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Quantum Physics can be interesting and I know books are being written, for example, on how the view of reality forwarded by Quantum Physics has closed the gap between science and certain religious traditions like Buddhist Philosophy. I just don't know as yet how accessible these books are (whether I'll need a degree in Theoretical Physics and Buddhist/Eastern philosophies in order to understand it).

I'm torn as to how to rate this. I think for sheer entertainment value and the fact that it opens peoples eyes to Quantum Theory, that little understood branch of physics, I can understand people rating it as a 5 but for the nasty aftertaste that it has left in my mouth which has led me to ask myself if I've been manipulated or hoodwinked, it can be no more than a 3.

Jamie Oliver - Jamie At Home

Jamie Oliver - Jamie At Home.
A nice change. Its not just 'Another cookbook' by a celebrity chief. This explians how to grow and cook yourself.
Probably the best book Jaime has written.

Should be shown in every school...

The eye witness accounts including confessions of some of the SS guards and harrowing recollections of some of the survivors is shocking. What happened at Auschwitz wasn't just due to the Nazi participants but also to the collective blind eye that was the rest of Europe. I had never realised before that the camps could have been bombed but were not, or that other governments had refused refuge to the Jews trying to escape. I also now understand why this subject should never be forgotten or dismissed as having happened"in the past". Recent world events involving"ethnic cleansing" such as in Bosnia are reminders of how a"modern" cultured nation can still descend into this type of insane hell. This 6 part series should be shown to all school kids, as part of their curriculum.

Grand Designs is finally back on DVD

I had emailed Channel 4 a few weeks ago about Grand Designs being released on DVD and they said they had no plans to do so. Well, here we are and Fremantle Media has announced that Series 4 will be released in May. This is excellent news. This is the best property show ever made and is very, very engaging. If you have never seen the show before then I recommend you pick up series 1 on DVD and see if it is for you. Kevin McCloud presents the show with good humour and interesting ideas. Has to be one to own! Here is to the rest of the seasons being released on DVD soon!

Essential viewing

The film is aimed squarely at the US audience, which can have the initial effect of making the narration and other voiceovers a little unpalatable for those used to british documentaries. However after the few minutes taken to become accustomed to that aspect of the film, the viewer is immersed in a gripping and well put together account of the plight of the Tibetan people.

Delighful Dan on a personal tour

The transfer to DVD features all 10 episodes on 4 discs. It's packaged in a single box with two DVDs overlapping on each side + a rather pointless cardboard oversleeve. No extras but there are English subtitles.

Dan Cruickshank is a delightfully gentle presenter and this series features the first serving at the buffet for the world architectural gems and incredible objects that are his passion. It features some fairly well known items- the Taj Mahal, the Parthenon, Machu Pichu, the death mask of Tutankhamun and so on. There are also more surprising items- Inca saltpans which are still in operation, the Samarkand skyline and the rebuilt Bridge at Mostar in Bosnia (signifying a first tentative reconciliation after the Yugoslav war). He doesn't stint on modern objects either- I was most intrigued by the sinister origins of the VW Beetle.

As this represents a staged journey around the world- it's a great guide for adventurous travellers to the less well trodden but accessible world treasures.