The Galápagos: The Islands That Changed the World (2007)

On March 10, 1535, the ship of Tomás de Berlanga, Spanish bishop of Panama, blew wildly off course and discovered the "Islands of the Turtles." Charles Darwin was twenty-six when the HMS Beagle landed there on September 15, 1835. He left five weeks later and never returned, but his name and that place would be forever linked in scientific history. This remarkable BBC documentary is long at 2:30 hours, but it's divided into three fifty-minute chapters — "Born of Fire," "Islands That Changed the World," and "Forces of Change." If you enjoyed the BBC's Planet Earth, then you'll love this extravaganza of exotic and indigenous plant and animal life. The archipelago of a dozen main islands (and a hundred rocks and islets), located 600 miles west of Ecuador on the equator, is one of the most pristine and isolated places in the world. Climate, ocean currents, and volcanic eruptions continue to shape its history. The British actress Tilda Swinton narrates the film, but it's the stunning photography that makes this fantatastic for family viewing.