The class I hated most in college was Geology. The subject itself wasn’t that bad, but the professor that taught it was just terrible and he managed to wring every last ounce of fun and interest out of the subject. I bring him up because How the Earth was Made is just as good as he was rotten.
The show travels around the world, featuring some of the most famous and fascinating geological formations on Earth: Krakatoa, the Marianas Trench, and the San Andreas Fault. Each episode focuses on one particular subject and goes into the various forces, both terrestrial and extraterrestrial, that went into the formation of these incredible places. While this is fascinating enough in its own right, the show also delves into the history behind our current knowledge, making this not just a chronicle of the planet, but also our understanding of it.
As near as I can tell, the science and the history behind this show are accurate, but I did have a problem with the episode on Loch Ness. Not surprisingly it had to mention the famous mythical creature, and maybe this is due to my recent skepticism kick, but I felt like it spent far too much time on that subject and treated it with more respect than it deserves. But that’s just me, and Loch Ness aside, this is an impressive series that features a lot of quality science and history and presents them in an informative, entertaining manner. What more could I ask for from an History Channel program?
Episode List
Disk One
San Andreas Fault
The Deepest Place on Earth
Krakatoa
Loch Ness
New York
Disk Two
Driest Place on Earth
Great Lakes
Yellowstone
Tsunami
Disk Three
Asteroids
Iceland
Hawaii
The Alps
Each episode is presented Fullscreen in 1080p HD. No audio specifications are given, but English subtitles are available for the hearing impaired. As far as quality goes, this is an excellent transfer that looks great in Blu-ray.
There are no extras on this Blu-ray set.
While I don’t enjoy this program as much as my favorite History Channel show (The Universe) that’s more due to my overall greater interest in in outer space than some commentary on its quality. In fact, How the Earth was Made works in the same tradition as The Universe: it’s an entertaining and highly-informative show that not only celebrates its subject, but science itself. Recommended.
A&E Television Networks presents How the Earth was Made (The Complete Season One). Running time: 10 hours 11 minutes. Rating: PG. Released on Blu-ray: October 26, 2010.
