MEMBER REVIEW: This is a 2006 National Geographic production, and so you can expect beautiful scenery. And it delivers, but they also often “enhance” it with video production techniques – so the nifty scenery lasts way shorter than you would want. And occasionally it can be vertigo creating. There are no scientists talking about their theories or discoveries, just a narrator with lots of good video and graphics. The first DVD has 2 episodes. The first is Born of Fire, about the origins of the planet and the forces that still shape it. The narration can be a bit over-the-top – lava can either be the lifeblood of the planet spewing onto the surface, or a really bad case of indigestion (really!). There are good graphics which show what we cannot see directly. They run the dance of the continents back and forth several times – which is quite fun. They go into the varieties of volcanoes and how they differ – that is something not seen elsewhere. Then come the mega-earthquakes, mega-tsunamis, and super-volcanoes. The second episode is Ocean Realm. Again we get history of the Earth, but more detailed and in chronological order: formation of the planet, continents, water, life, oxygen, snowball earth and so on. They touch on ancestral continents and the life that lives around them. The global oceanic currents are shown and explained. How these currents were changed by the formation of the isthmus of Panama is interesting. Future plate movements are shown. The second DVD has the third episode Destructive Forces that shape the planet: wind, water, fire and earth itself. It iss a nice overview of geological processes, but it never progresses past the beginner level. Still, it is a good introduction for newbies. There are many good graphic depictions of slow geological processes – watch the Grand Canyon form. The bonus feature is a 1998 program about Iceland which is better than the third episode. Not as technologically sophisticated with post-production, but it is easier to watch. Lots of great archival footage and spelunking under glaciers. This series is well worth watching.