Win Human Planet on DVD *3 winners*

Human Planet is a BBC/Discovery Channel co-production that focuses solely on human behavior. Since premiering in the UK, the series has received overwhelming critical acclaim. It focuses on people and the relationship they have with nature. The DVD includes 80 stories that shows our ability to adapt and live in every corner of the world.

These 80 stories are part of six episodes that are contained on three DVDs. Each episode focuses on a particular habitat and shows how its people have created amazing solutions in the face of adversity. The regions that are included in this DVD journey are oceans, desserts, arctic, jungles, mountains, grasslands, rivers, and cities. There are also extras included that a set of ten behind the scenes bonus features and (exclusive to Blu-ray) a further making of feature called Zanskare that showcases the lives of a group of people who live at the edge of the Himalayas.

This is a truly amazing DVD series.  The footage is spectacular and gives you a chance to see places that you will probably never see.  You see how the people live, their families and children, how they dress and what challenges they face that are fairly unique to their area.

If you have BBC/Discovery Channel, you may have seen this already. However, you still want to pick up the DVD because exclusive to the DVD and Blu-ray is the episode on cities and the extra features. The DVD release date is 4/26/2011 and you can own it on Blu-ray as well.  reCheck out the official site.  Check out the trailer above.  Connect with WB on Facebook & Twitter for all the latest movies.

Three of my lucky readers are going to win their very own DVD set of Human Planet.  Here's what you can do for a chance to win:

To enter you must follow my blog & visit the sponsor’s site.  Leave a comment telling me what you learned there.

For extra entries:

1. Follow me on Twitter @scentednights & tweet about the contest. +1 daily

Win a 3 DVD Set of Human Planet from WB @scentednights #giveaway #win @wb_home_ent http://tinyurl.com/6eadxwf

2. Be my friend on Facebook & post this contest on your wall. +1

3. Follow the sponsor on Twitter +2
4. Like the sponsor on Facebook.  Please tell them I sent you (optional)! +2
5. Blog about this giveaway on your blog AND leave a link back to my site. +5
6. Leave a comment on a non-contest post on this blog. +1

7. Put my button or text link on your blog side bar. +1

8. Enter another of my current contests. +1 for each contest

9. Subscribe to my blog. +1

Remember, to please leave a separate comment for each entry. And please enter only in the ways listed above. I reserve the right to delete comments not adhering to the above entry guidelines.  You must be 18+ years old & live in the USA. The last day to enter is 5/17/2011.

My thanks to the sponsor for allowing me to review this product.

As required by the FTC: I received a product sample in order to write my review.  I received no monetary compensation.  All opinions expressed are mine and mine alone.

Please note that  I am not responsible for sponsors that do not fulfill their prizes. I have represented each sponsor with the expectation they will fulfill their prize and in a timely manner I will contact the sponsor regarding your prize(s). The sponsors, in most cases, are shipping their items to you directly. I will make every effort to assist you obtaining your prize but ultimately I am not responsible if they do not fulfill your prize win.

DVD Review: The Big Uneasy

The Big Uneasy is a film all about Hurricane Katrina, the disaster that hit New Orleans, Louisiana in 2005. The Big Uneasy is directed by comic personality, Harry Shearer and contains guest spotlights from John Goodman. Harry Shearer is probably best known for the voice over work he does for the program The Simpsons.

The Big Uneasy is about more than the horrific damage that occurred during Hurricane Katrina. It's about the reason for the damage that occurred during Hurricane Katrina and its about what the media didn't report about Hurricane Katrina.

Harry Shearer feels that the Hurricane Katrina could have been prevented or minimized if it wasn't for man-made errors and poor judgment. He feels that the media was fed incorrect information which was then reported and led to many of the common misconceptions about Hurricane Katrina like the fact that it primarily affected poor black people.

The documentary interviews many of the investigators who had a part in determining the cause of the widespread damage. He also connects with a whistle blower from the Army Corps of Engineers who shares some of the flawed engineering that went into the design of the levee in New Orleans. He also brings to light that some of the same flawed methods that went into the construction of the original levee are going into the construction of the new levee that is supposed to protect the new New Orleans.

The segments hosted by John Goodman take a look at some of the common questions that people outside of New Orleans seem to have about Hurricane Katrina and the people who live in New Orleans. A few questions addressed are: Why would people choose the live below sea level? Why is it important to rebuild New Orleans?

There is a lot of video footage from the disaster including some that was shot by citizen's themselves and hasn't been seen before. It's also loaded with computer imagery that shows you what happened inside the levee itself during the disaster. The interview with the whistle blower was extremely informative and really brought a lot of information to light about why this happened. There are also several great comparisons to previous hurricanes in New Orleans like Hurricane Betsy in 1965.

If you're looking for a different perspective on Hurricane Katrina than the one seen in the media, you really need to check out this documentary.  It's well done and informative and the clips by John Goodman are both funny and a great match for Harry Shearer's style.

My thanks to the sponsor for allowing me to review this DVD.

As required by the FTC: I received a product sample in order to write my review.  I received no monetary compensation.  All opinions expressed are mine and mine alone.

Article first published as DVD Review: The Big Uneasy on Blogcritics.