Discovery Atlas: Complete Collection [Blu-ray]

I saw the India episode on TV a few years back and, being an Indian, I really liked it. I later went online and watched the episodes on China and Brazil and part of the one on Japan as well. The China episode was good, the Brazil and Japan ones were okay, but they could have been better. Even so, I wanted to watch more episodes, but there weren't any online, so I looked at Amazon, and to my surprise, I found the Complete Edition Blu-Ray for $22. I thought it was an incredible deal, since I had payed $20 for the India DVD years back. By now, I've watched most of the episodes - everything except Australia (which I'm watching right now). None of them really impressed me as much as the India and China episodes. Also, I've seen quite a few editing flaws. For example, when the screen goes blank and is meant to "cut to commercial" and then continue right afterwards, the video doesn't flow properly. In the Russia episode, at the end of a scene, it will mention an aspiring circus star, and then go to black. Then, right after this, the narrator will go off topic for a bit and talk about St. Petersburg, and then go back to talking about the circus acrobat. These episodes need to be re-edited. Also, I read the synopsis for the South Africa episode online, and I believe it's missing a story about an ambulance driver in Johannesburg. I've seen that a lot of people are complaining about the episodes being cut down to half length from their original versions. If that's the case, then I think it's misleading to market this product as the "Complete Edition."

This is not a review of the content, which is superb, but about the editing of this version release. From the reviews I've read here, it sounds like this is a major disappointment for those who've watched the full versions on TV. But for someone like me who never saw the original, I'm OK w/ the content cut in half, especially when I'm still getting 9 countries and 8 hrs worth of programming at a bargain price.Now here are some comments about the slice and dice: I'd have to assume that the deleted material is the worse half. Ie, I'd have to assume the preserved half would have been the better half. This, I'm OK with. I'm sure the producers hand picked and edited out the worse half, not randomly. This being said, I probably would mind if I had to pay double for 16 hours which I doubt I would have patience sitting thru anyways. Those who absolutely need the full uncut versions can still purchase each country individually. Not the end of the world folks. No pun intended.

This is an excellent series with some great videography. We learned a lot watching each episode. While I don't have children, this would be a terrific educational experience for them. Very pleased.

I used this while teaching 9th grade geography/literacy. Videos are engaging, positive (avoiding stereotypes), and informative. Definitely better than some of the boring or awkward educational videos out there. Absolutely appropriate for middle or high school. Each episode is about 30 minutes, which is a good length to break up a block period or an easy lesson to leave with a sub. (If you google, you will find teacher created worksheets pre made for each episode.) Each episode is structured roughly the same, and I've used these to teach compare/contrast to English Language Learners. I've also used episodes in a Language Arts class when teaching short stories that take place in other countries.Note to teachers of immature children-- there is a scene in the South Africa episode in which women are wearing traditional clothing and you see breasts of various shapes and sizes. Not a big deal at all, but my kiddos had trouble keeping from giggling.

To those complaining that this edition features edited versions of the shows, you're absolutely right! At least four episodes (Italy, Australia, Brazil and China) are heavily edited. I own the original disks for those, and they each clock in at over 100 minutes. But in this new compilation of all the episodes, they are only about 44 minutes long. I'm not sure if the second season episodes (Japan, Mexico, Egypt, etc.) were also edited down to 44 minutes, or if they originally aired at that length.At any rate, it's horrible that Discovery is peddling half-episodes. The beauty of the Discovery Atlas series (beyond its stunning looks) is that it would really explore the lives of the country's inhabitants. You miss a lot of that depth when four or five storylines get truncated into 44 minutes...

Originally I found the video on Youtube. My students loved the documentary on China. I decided to purchased that particular documentary. However, I decided to get the complete set when I saw that other countries it entailed. Beware that the complete set cuts small pieces from the original presentation to fit it all on the DVD's. However they are of excellent quality. It only takes on hour to view each one and my students gathered a great deal of cultural, political, and economics of the individual countries. They do brush on both positive and negative aspects of the culture without being negative. It allowed for many discussions with my high school history class and helped with the "dry reading" part.

We love these video. Which makes it soooo frustrating that they are only selling the edited down version. We have seen the full version of several of these videos but here in this collection they edit about a half hour or so out of each country! I don't even know where we can buy the full version of each country. This frustration aside - these are really good videos. Would be awesome if we could buy the whole version.

Although the program is not so new, this is very great value/price for this collection.

A beautiful celebration of various cultures and locations. Well worth the purchase.

Brand new in packaging, great quality and fast shipping. Amazing watch :)