Miracle Planet: HD

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1 General Information
2 Cover
3 Information
4 Screenshots
5 Technical Specs
6 Links

[edit] General Information

Nature Documentary hosted by Christopher Plummer, published by NFB in 2005 - English narration

[edit] Cover

[edit] Information

Miracle Planet is a five-part series that recounts the profound and gripping story of Earth's mysterious evolution. Narrated by Christopher Plummer, it reveals the surprising role that sheer chance has played in the development of life. Over its more than 4-billion-year history, Earth has been home to repeated violent climatic changes, which have caused mass extinctions. And yet, life has survived. In fact, these same catastrophes that devastated life on Earth also helped bring about its evolution from the simplest microbes to the complexity and diversity that is found on the planet today. Filmed around the world and based upon the most recent scientific findings, Miracle Planet combines location footage and interviews with leading scientists, along with computer animation, to depict the cataclysmic events that have shaped our planet and all of the life-forms within it. The five standard episodes depict the evolution of life on Earth in perspective with our place in the universe. The entire 5-hour series Miracle Planet aired on Discovery Channel in Canada on April 22, 2005 as an Earth Day special. It is a remake of the 1989 series produced by NHK and KCTS. A National Film Board of Canada and NHK Japan co-production with Tele Images International, Telepool International in association with Discovery Channel Canada and The Science Channel

[edit] The Violent Past

The planet Earth was born out of chaos and disaster - and completely by chance.
Episode 1 of Miracle Planet transports us to this breathtaking genesis, The Violent Past that created the fragile conditions for life itself.
Featuring astounding high-definition visuals and interviews with pre-eminent scientists in the field, The Violent Past reveals the startling earliest history of life on Earth - its microscopic manifestations and the unimaginable challenges to its survival.

[edit] Snowball Earth

The last ice age ended only a few thousand years ago, but there were earlier periods when the entire world was frozen, periods now known as Snowball Earth.
Episode 2 of Miracle Planet takes us back more than two billion years, to this first ice age that gripped the Earth for what scientists believe was millions of years. Snowball Earth reveals the startling secrets of how life survived this devastating cold and how this extreme climate shift forever changed the development of life on Earth.

[edit] New Frontiers

For billions of years, life existed only in the Earth's oceans. But about 350 million years ago, some of those earliest life forms began to explore New Frontiers on land. They could breathe oxygen from the air and were able to support their weight on land. And over the next hundred million years, these life forms would spread across the globe.
Episode 3 of Miracle Planet recreates the remarkable adaptation of these animals that first came ashore and reveals the fascinating theories of how and why they did.

[edit] Extinction and Rebirth

There was a moment in Earth's history, about 250 million years ago, when all life nearly disappeared from the planet. Scientists now believe the cause was an eruption of the Earth's molten core that triggered global climate change. The resulting drop in oxygen levels allowed dinosaurs to rise to supremacy because of their respiratory systems. But in the Earth's continuing cycle of Extinction and Rebirth, they too would suffer a catastrophic end some 150 million years later.
Episode 4 of Miracle Planet follows these gargantuan creatures through life and death and chronicles the early rise of the mammal as the dominant creature on the planet.

[edit] Survival of the Fittest

The human race is here today because of its ability to adapt. Our ancestors, the earliest mammals, survived low oxygen levels. Later primates developed sharp eyesight and hands that could clasp for nocturnal life in trees. And about six million years ago, fossil evidence in Africa tells us, some primates may have begun to walk upright, perhaps because they were forced out of the trees and into grasslands. Living on Earth truly was Survival of the Fittest.
Episode 5 of Miracle Planet walks us down the incredible evolutionary pathway that has brought humans to their dominant position on the planet and openly questions our role in the future development of life on earth.

[edit] Life Indestructible (Special Episode)

Earth provides a rich environment, and many factors continue to shape the planet's condition. This episode is a summary of the previous five, condensed into a single hour.

[edit] Screenshots

[edit] Technical Specs

Video Codec: x264 CABAC High@L3.1
Video Bitrate: 3 122 Kbps
Video Resolution: 1280x720
Display Aspect Ratio: 16:9
Frames Per Second: 29.970 fps
Audio Codec: AC3
Audio Bitrate: 384 kb/s CBR 48000 Hz
Audio Streams: 6
Audio Languages: english
RunTime Per Part: 44 min
Number Of Parts: 6
Part Size: 1.09 GB
Source: HDTV
Encoded by: MOMENTUM