Planet Earth: As You've Never Seen It Before (2007, box set with five discs)

The sub-title of this BBC natural science documentary is not even slightly exaggerated. Think of the incredible still photos of National Geographic brought to life in video format, set to a remarkable musical soundtrack, and narrated by Sir David Attenborough. The BBC project took five years to make and enjoyed a $25 million budget. Using the latest photographic technology like high definition and ultra-high speed cameras, Planet Earth celebrates the majesty, mystery, and beauty of the natural world — frigid mountains and boiling deserts, jungles and caves, unimaginable migrations of various species, and elusive animals like the snow leopard that have never been filmed before in the wild. Each 50-minute episode comes with an additional 10-minute "featurette" diary of the behind-the-scenes wizardry that crafted the final product. This is family viewing for young and old at its very best; Planet Earth has received nearly 2100 customer views on Amazon, with over 90% of the reviews giving four or five stars.