[quote name='SoulReaver']Umm actually I believe the US version with Sigourney is 5 discs, the 5th disc being called "Future." In the BBC version, it is called something like "Nature" I believe.
Really, I wouldn't read into it to much. There's a lot of misinformation
GTrunner: I have heard reports of the US version being both 1080p and 1080i, so I really have no clue.[/quote]
ok hopefully this will help you guys understand FROM highdefdigest.com:
(talking about the US ver of the show on blu ray)
With such high bar already set, I suppose it's inevitable that these Discovery Channel Blu-ray and HD DVD domestic releases would disappoint. Presented in a new 1080i/AVC MPEG-4 encode (compared to the 1080p/VC-1 on the BBC/Warner versions), 'Planet Earth (US Version)' is still a feast for the eyes, but there are a few clear deficiencies to that kept it from reaching the same heights as its previously-released counterpart.
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This US edition of the series is different in several ways compared to the previously-released BBC edition. Among the changes made by The Discovery Channel for the US broadcast were a re-sequencing of the series' eleven episodes, a new main music theme, and the replacement of David Attenborough's narration with the decidedly less British actress/conservationist Sigourney Weaver. Most controversially, the Discovery Channel version also excised roughly 6- to 7-minutes of material out of each episode to allow for commercial interruptions. The result is a total runtime of approximately 480 minutes for the domestic version of 'Planet Earth,' versus 530 for the unexpurgated BBCedition.
While none of these revisions substantially change the power of the series (even including the substitution of Weaver for Attenborough -- I found both to be equally effective), the exclusion of nearly an hour's worth of content from this edition for non-creative reasons is a real disappointment, and leaves me no choice but to knock the content score for this edition down a full notch.
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Even more troubling is that Discovery's US edition has more obvious noise and edginess. For example, during the penultimate episode "Earth's Forests," there is a breathtaking scene tracking a redwood all the way from trunk to tree-top. On the BBC/Warner encode, the image is generally solid, with no apparent jaggies. The Discovery version, however, has unfortunate jitter, and some slight pixelization is evident.
Simply put, this 1080i encode is clearly the inferior choice given the source material, and it's certainly enough to knock a full star off the Video rating for the US version. For the complete 'Planet Earth' video experience, the BBC edition remains unmatched
ING AMAZING.
