NOVA: The Planets

delivery time okay, items okay

I recommend this over the similarly named Blu-ray from National Geographic. The presentation here is much less annoying, more oriented towards adults. Great content, great real images AND great animated images, great explanations.I suppose my only gripe is that when any scientist is featured, explaining their work and their discoveries, that person's face is shown in close-up detail. On a big TV, well...that's a bigger, more well-lighted human head than you're ever gonna see in real life. Each speaker dominates your living room, and stares DIRECTLY at you while they're talking--how do they even film that? It's like they are truly speaking to a camera. And with their huge blazing face right up front. It's a little unnerving. Producers, take heed! You don't have to show the tiny hairs on a person's forehead, just because you have the technology to do so.But don't let that stop you. I've re-watched it a couple times already. This is an excellent Blu-ray--easily the best space program I've seen in the past 10 years. Worth having on disc, for sure.

NASA is doing a great job and help explore what if and makes your mind think about the possibilities about other planets

Arrived today, Monday July 1. New.I had watched one production - about Saturn - at my mother's house in Boulder. Now I have the whole set on DVD. We want to see what they have to say the development of Venus, Earth and Mars.

PBS always has some amazing series, and this one was near the top of the list. It goes through the major planets, including how they were created and the amazing facts that they are even now revealing to us. And the production graphics are exemplary! Also, a great learning series for our grandchildren.

NOVA - The Planets (2019) is a 2-Blu Ray disc set that presents the eight planets of our solar system in stunning detail (including Pluto as well). Narrated by Zachary Quinto, this program's greatest strength is its pacing and tranquil feel. Rather than a program with fast pacing, quick cuts, in-your-face zooming in/out, and a lot of narration, this program in contrast has a slower pace, a tranquil feel, more sparse narration, longer individual clips, and no in-your-face zooming. Also, the comments made by the astronomers and physicists is not overdone or too intrusive. The footage and computer generated images are state-of-the-art. You can truly get lost in this program as you watch it on a cold night.The individual segments are:Inner WorldsMarsJupiterSaturnIce WorldsThis Blu Ray set is highly recommended.

I watched this series on PBS and liked it so well that I decided to buy it so I could watch it again and again. It contains lots of fascinating info about our solar system. Some of it I already knew, but much of it I didn't. It gave me a much better understanding of how our planetary system formed, and why Earth wound up being the only one to have the conditions for our familiar life forms. The other planets might not harbor life as we know it (though that doesn't mean there isn't some type of life there), but each has its own "personality." This would be a great teaching tool for older kids as well as adults.

Not too bad an exposition of the planets. Good graphics and interesting narration.However two quibbles:1) A rather dopey, treacly song at the beginning of each episode. Some guy wailing non-rhyming lyrics that has something to do with the planets.2) The annoying tendency to suddenly switch to "talking heads". You're engrossed in great vistas and animations of planets and their planetscapes. When suddenly you get a full face shot of some scientist emoting. I appreciate the added information that these planetary scientists add to the narration. But do we really need to interrupt the flow of the program to actually see them facing the camera and talking? Maybe it was something that these scientists insisted on for appearing in the documentary. "You've got to SHOW me talking!" I found it distracting and annoying interruption.