Friday, May 13, 2011
Human Planet Review
Warner Bros. Entertainment was kind enough to send me a copy of the Human Planet DVD for review. When I first received the offer I thought well you know this is semi related to the theme of my blog. Well after watching it I proved myself wrong. It was more related to Ben G. Outdoors than I thought. Follow along and I will explain why you should get your own copy.
As I started watching this I first realized it was right up my alley I really enjoy learning about how other people, their cultures and where they live. This DVD Series has seven different episodes each focusing on a different places and how humans live in each of them. It soon dawned on me a lot of the human planet DVD showed how these different Cultures hunted and fished for their food. The more of these hunting and fishing stories I heard the more I knew that I would not hesitate to put this review up on the blog. I will give you a brief review of each episode and you can decide for yourself if you want to purchase the Human Planet DVD or Blue Ray disc. (I say two thumbs up for sure).
Episode one
Oceans
Wow I couldn’t believe some of the stuff I saw here, spearing whales the old fashion way with harpoons that were man powered. (They were crazy). My wife actually sat down to watch some of this with me and started to get into it too. Neither one of us could believe how one fellow free dove down 20 meters to the bottom of the ocean to catch a fish. He was under water longer than I thought a human could hold their breath it was just plain amazing. The Pa-aling fishermen were nuts. These guys used a diesel engine to pump air through small plastic hoses, so they could stay under water and chase fish into a net. Oh and they didn’t make very much money for risking their lives.
Episode two
Desert
I have never been to a real desert before so this episode was the one I had the hardest time relating to. At the same time I learned the most from this watching it. It starts out with a young fellow trying to find water for his cows, but has a run in with a herd of elephants. Another cool part is the Dogon people who don’t fish in the dry season except for one day when thousands of fisher men try and catch fish in a tiny lake filled with fish seems easy right; not at all you will have to get the DVD and see for yourself. The Gobi desert in Mongolia is the scene where a family winter their camels. The only problem, they have to deal with desert wolves (huh kind of sounds familiar doesn’t It.) and pregnant female camels not a good combination.
The Arctic
From Ice fishing for four days to catch a Greenland shark just to feed you dogs. To a polar bear patrol in Canada this episode hit home the most, being from Minnesota I could relate to some of the stories, but not nearly to the extremes these folks go through. A couple of my favorite parts of this episode were Narwhal hunting/fishing it’s crazy how stealth these guys have to be to get their prize. My other favorite part is the guy who catches Auks (birds) in a net as they fly past his hiding spot. Oh and he catches at least 500 in a day. This is something I think I would like to try.
The Jungles
One of the best ways to survive in the Jungle is to hunt for food and there plenty of examples of that in this episode, but hunting in the jungle is very difficult. Kids learn to hunt goliath trantultia so they can eat, but they have to watch out for the hair on the spiders back. These hairs when they get on your skin itch like crazy. Then you have a fellow climbing a giant tree with nothing more than a vine to secure him to get honey for his family. He also has to deal with bees when high above the forest floor. (This one kind of scares me). One of my other favorite parts is logging with elephants. Not only is it safer for the jungle, but it is cool to see how strong these elephants are.
Mountains
I miss the mountains I sometimes wish I live back in north Idaho. The first part of this episode is set in western Mongolia a father and son grab a baby golden eagle chick so they can train it and hunt foxes and wolves with it. You have to see this young boy protect his family’s fields around harvest time from monkeys. Another of my favorite parts is the guys who catch bats in a giant net. The create a path in the forest which makes a short cut over the mountain for the bats then they put up their net which can’t be detected by the bats.
Grass Lands
The grass lands typically mean bigger animals, like lions and kudu. One part of this episode I just don’t understand it the part with the Dorbo people of Kenya. These guys attempt to steal meat from a pride of lions (they are just plain nuts in my book). One part of this episode did remind me of hunting deer here in the states. A couple of fellows set up a blind near a water hole and waited for the kudu to come in close enough to shoot with their bows. This is the part that I don’t think I could handle they stayed in the blind for at least four days. Now that’s what I call a dedicated hunter. Last but not least the Maasai children speak to a bird called a honey guide and the bird leads them to honey of course if they do end up finding honey the share some with the bird.
Episode 7
Rivers
This episode starts out with a very dedicated fisher man who uses nets on the very treacherous Mekong River in Laos he risks his life everyday to catch only a few fish and feed his family. The other story in this episode that really sticks in my head was the Father, son, and daughter team who follow a frozen river for quite some distance in order for the son and Daughter to go to school.
Episode 8
CitiesThis episode has a lot to do with pests New York City kind of takes the cake here with rats. I didn’t realize how many rats actually live there. Let’s just say I won’t be eating in any restaurants there ever. The story about the guy who uses a Peregrine falcon (which by the way is the fastest flying bird in the world) to chase away pigeons has some very awesome camera shots. The falcon however sometimes gets caught up in the game of chasing the pigeons and doesn’t like to come back to its keeper.
Over all this is a great DVD series and I want to thank WB for sending me out a copy to review if you get the chance go buy a copy and see for yourself all of the amazing camera footage. Oh I almost forgot to mention the behind the lens stories after each episode they seem to pick the stories that were the hardest to shoot and show you behind the scenes footage of how they made it happen.
The series is now avalivle on DVD and Blue-ray at www.humanplanetblog.com
Thanks Ben G.
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