Ganges

This is a visually amazing visit to see the country of India from above. Beautiful music and interesting history and geography from the Himalayan headwaters to the Bay of Bengal. Worth it!!!

Excellent footage and commentary at times. I do not know who is the author of commentary on religion though. The producers (and the narrator seems to be a person with Indian accent) are dishing out utter non-sense regarding Hinduism (Sanatna Dharma). These producers and / or script writers are the ones who do not understand Hindu religion and/or Sanatana Dharma. At one point the narration is like this (quoting verbatim): "The animist origins of the religion ensures animals a powerful role in Hindu belief"At one point trying to praise Muslim invasion of Bharat varsha by bloody Moguls, the narrator, compares Hindus to Muslims and claims that Moguls had better scientific know how (and praises the Moguls heritage) "Their scientific heritage compelled them to understand and master it". Now, to be fair, Moguls might have had better weapons and the desert culture of "kill or conquer", but certainly not scientific mind or achievement. Here is where the biases of the producer (or script writer) sets a negative tone degrading Hindus. And this is unacceptable, to me, because it not a correct interpretation.It appears to me that these producers or script writers are totally against Hindu beliefs (at least they come across so naive or completely misinformed). To me they are ultra liberals trying to defame Hindu faith. And they (DVD) show this village where the snakes freely roam about and nobody kills it. What is that got to do with Ganga (Ganges)? I feel, the producers are deliberately putting footage to embarrass the average Hindu. If there is any faith / religion (way of life) that values life (not just human life), then it is found in India. Rest of the world is always talking "conquer or kill" And the animals are food objects, for many, almost all Westerners, Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese.There is another set of people (more population that India), the other side of Himalayas, who eat anything that moves - do they value animal life? What about some others who eat dogs? Hindus belief/faith is based on shastra knowledge and that knowledge comes from the wisdom of Sages and is based on observation, inference, logical deduction and verification (darshana shastra)Here are some other counter points (that should educate non-Hindus, so that they do not form negative image of Hindus)1. Arabs took number system from Bharat Varsha (called India now). It is clear and documented2. Arabs took lot of scientific knowledge regarding astronomy to their people (clearly documented)3. Hindu beliefs/faith is based on shastras (knowledge of Sages). Monkey and elephant are really intelligent mammals and they are the only two other mammals (after humans) that use hand to eat food. Others animals directly put their mouth to food. Read Puranas to understand why animals are important and why we Hindus see God's creation in an ant, elephant and humans. And during Ramayana times monkeys played a key role in helping Sri Rama. There are many many reasons why Monkey and Elephants are revered by Hindus in Puranas. Now, whether Hindus treat these animals with respect, in the current time period, in a different question. There are 1000s of people who abuse animals all over - whale hunting for example.4. I can give 100s of examples to prove how science (shastra knowledge) of Hindus are their belief system and both are one at the same. Read Vivekachudamani to even understand the scientific definition of God (Brahman). There is no religion or culture that has gone into so much depth to understand "who am I" , "where do I come from"5. Read Garuda Purana - this is the encyclopedia of Hindu Religion. This is the praise that British professors have said about Hindus. And see the amount of astronomy, science embedded in the Puranas.

We just watched Ganges a few weeks ago and were blown away. We are Indian and the people we invited to see the film were Indian as well, so this was especially relavent to us.The documentary overall was quite good, it not only focused on the physical aspects of the river (how it effects the environment) but its spiritual significance as well. The photography in this film is amazing.The Blu-ray presentation was stunning, and the level of detail and color was really heightened. It really made the documentary come to life. And surprisingly for a documentary, the DTS track was quite good, and the narration and music did a good job enhancing the experience. I don't think we would be as involved in the events if we were watching it on DVD.Anyone interested in India or history in general should check this out!Technical Specs * BD-25 Single-Layer Disc * Region FreeVideo Resolution/Codec * 1080i/VC-1Aspect Ratio(s) * 1.78:1Audio Formats * English DTS 5.1 Surround * Hindi Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo * Bengal Dolby Digital 2.0 StereoSubtitles/Captions * English SDHSupplements * Featurette * Deleted Scenes

This is a wonderful visual and sensory delight that not only entertains but also depicts every facet of Ganges and to some extend the people around it.Documentary is divided into three distinct parts. First part depicts the inception of Ganges, the glaciers that fuel it, the religious believes that surrounds it origins. Second part depicts the 1500 mile run though the Indian plains and the final part explores the delta when Ganges merges into ocean.Throughout the run the documentary also discusses flora and fauna around the Ganges, people who live around it and how they are dependent on it, perils that animals (who are dependent on river) are facing in the wild. All this knowledge is packed with wonderful cinematography, panoramic shots and an equally potent sound track.Only thing that I believe missing in the documentary or perhaps could have been added as an extra feature is the dangers that the river (also the life who lives around it) is being exposed to due to over pollution and over consumption.Nevertheless, this is definitely recommended for all.

I am a great fan of BBC videos and I have a good collection of them. I recently saw GANGES on Amazon and i was very much impressed with the price of this disc. It shipped from MILA TECHNOLOGIES and the order was fulfilled by Amazon. The package containing this bluray reached my address intact. When I opened the packet there was a printed material that said this bluray was made in the recent times and hence the player used for this might need a firmware update. I have the latest version of software on my PS3 and I ran this disc in my PS3. With my first run, it paused at about 30th second after starting. I played it from the beginning again and this time it stopped after a minute. I made a couple of attempts and each time it would start and stop at a different point. When I took out the disc from the player and observed closely, I noticed that there were 4 small semi circular stains on the disc around the edge.Thanks to Amazon! My investment on this disc was not lost. They replaced this item although it was from an external vendor. I highly appreciate amazon customer care for taking care of this on time and at the same time I highly recommend my fellow shoppers wanting to buy this item, to buy it on amazon only if it is NOT SOLD BY MILA TECHNOLOGIES.

This is a three part documentary with the episodes lasting about 50 minutes. The two extra features are a ‘Behind the Scenes’ coverage of the attempt to capture a sunrise sequence over the Himalayas and a tiger sequence. Total running time is 150 minutes. The individual episodes are: Daughter of the Mountains; River of Life and Waterlands. The extras are accessed via the ‘extras’ links. Curiously, the above titles are not mentioned on the case or on the disc. Viewers have to play the episodes to access the titles which appear after some running time.The films themselves are of HD quality throughout and can sustain close viewing distance typical of that quality. The series is copyrighted as 2007 vintage.The narration is provided by Sudha Bhuchar, a Tanzanian-born actress and playwright and co-founder of the UK travelling theatre, Tamasha. Having a narrator who paces the script well and with such evident personal interest as here greatly enhances the enjoyment for viewers.The opening episode, Daughter of the Mountains, traces the various sources of the Ganges by working back up the Himalayas from the beginning of the lowlands. There are four perceived sources which relate to religious beliefs and these sources attract considerable numbers of pilgrims to the appropriate temples in the summer months. Religious beliefs are an integral part of Indian culture and this is a constant point of reference through the series.Returning to the Ganges, there is also a perceived geographical source which lies in a more distant and hard to access place, Gaumukh (The Cow’s Mouth cave), which is only visited by a few. However, travelling over tracks and difficult terrain another 17 miles up the mountains one can reach the real source in the meadows of Tapovan lying at 4,000 feet which is where the intrepid camera team camped overnight to catch the early morning sunrise sequence.Throughout this episode one is shown considerable examples of a wide range of wildlife that is able to survive largely free of human influence. The villages are only occupied in the summer months and are abandoned for the winter. The illustrated wildlife is too numerous to list here but ranges from Himalayan Mahseer fish (up to 1 metre length) to Lammergeiers (3 metre wingspan) with many animals between including Snow Leopards, musk deer and little Pikas. The farmed lower slower slopes question the long-term survival of tigers and elephants in the face of these increasing human activities.The second episode, River of Life, deals with the Gangetic plains down to the Terai marshlands. The Terai Marshlands are the last refuge of the Indian Rhinoceros, now very endangered. It is also a refuge for some tigers and deer. The genetic Plains are a huge area of slow-running water and the focus of considerable agricultural activity and a huge and growing human population. Rice is the main crop and this area is known as The Rice bowl of India. The least disturbed area in this region is the Chambal tributary where the Gharial crocodile lives. This also is an endangered species and is only found in this area.The final episode, Waterlands, focuses on the Delta area of the Ganges. This is an area shared by both India and Bangladesh. It also contains a vast forested area, including mangrove forests, known as the Sundarbans which is a major tiger habitat supported by the Sundarbans Tiger project. This also includes the habitat of honeybees, known as the world’s largest and most aggressive bees. Their honey is harvested by visiting Bangladesh groups of men who ensure a continuing harvest by always leaving sufficient honey to retain the bees. This is a dangerous work as they also have to travel through thick undergrowth, home of tigers, to find the bees. This is also an area that can produce three rice crops annually and where there are rare River Dolphins to be found and where tamed otters are used to help fishermen catch fish in their nets.Throughout the three episodes the threat of human population upon the wildlife is made very clear. Also made very clear is the threat of global warming to the whole of the Ganges system. The delta, for example, is expected to reduce in size by at least a tenth due to rising sea levels. At the same time the final stages of this immense river runs dry as a result of water usage upstream. The footage of villagers digging out huge amounts of sand for the building trade from the dry river bed makes the situation abundantly clear. Everything is on a massive scale – the torrents in the higher reaches, the agriculture and population of the middle reaches and the loss of land to the sea in the lower reaches. The Ganges supports ½ billion people in the middle lowlands alone. That is 1/10th of the entire world’s population.This is an engrossing series which explores the Ganges in the contexts of water, wildlife, human activity and global effects. It is likely to provide constantly illuminating detail to sustain interest for those familiar or new to this area of the world. The above review merely scratches the surface of this superb series of documentaries.

I'm gradually collecting all the BBC 'Earth' and documentary Blu-Rays. Of them all (even Attenborough), I have to say that this is a visual feast and heading towards being my favourite. 95% of the footage is so well executed. Every single image seems to well considered and well composed within the widescreen format. My eyes hurt, there was so much colour and detail to take in.The music is unobtrusive but, if you tune into it, also brilliant. Great, relaxing female voiceover, too.The first part covers the 4 sacred sources of the Ganges river, so there's plenty of slo-mo waterfalls, fast-mo clouds and sunsets, icy blizzards, and a brilliant sequence of candles being floated down the river at night during a festival. And even a 'night vision' mono sequence when leopards prowl among the barred and shuttered sleeping village. That might not quite be hi-def, but it's much better than most night vision footage.All other footage is brilliant - I was too engrossed in the images to analyse whether every single one was hi-def or not (I have a new full HD Tosh TV and Blu-Ray player now), but I can't say I noticed anything untoward, or any 'artefacts', whatever they are. I thought they were things discovered by archaeologists.There is more emphasis on people compared to the 'usual' BBC nature docs (as you'd expect), but not that much in the first part. This is a good thing, rather than bad, I reckon.I need to give my eyes and brain a rest, now, from the vision onslaught, but will update if the next 3 parts are not as good.____________________________________________________________________________________________________UPDATE OCT 2010. Just watched the whole lot in 1 big session.Part 3 runs out of steam slightly, then picks up again with riverbanks (and homes) falling into the river after the monsoon water levels eat into the banks (but creates more banks as a reaction to that - see how much I've learned!).The 'Behind the scenes' extras are boring and of 'home video' shaky quality, but the 'deleted scenes' are brilliant: lots of high-quality BluRay out-takes with atmospheric music and no commentary. (Although the main session commentary is very good anyway.)

The story of a mighty river from source to destination.First a word about HD. There are parts of this presentation that are NOT in HD. While this is disappointing many of the truly great parts of the presentation are and there are plenty of "wow" moments. Maybe I have become spoiled by other 100 percent HD BBC productions.Also to be noted is that this is not always a happy story. The conflict of humans and animals is not always easy viewing. When the needs of humans meet the needs of animals there tends to lead to only one winner. Also sad to see so many animals merely picking up the refuse of humans - rather than living their more natural life.The test of a good disc is "could you watch it over twice" - which it passes with flying colours. The disc is easy to get around and the deleted scenes/extras are watchable at least once. Lots of money has been spent and it is all up on the screen - good price point from Amazon, the original RRP being ludicrous.

This film is excellent for many reasons, not least of which is due to the cultural experience, the breathtaking scenery, and rich tapestry of life shown. The disappointment for me was that much of the film is *not* shot in high definition - making this blu-ray a misnomer. Whilst the footage is awe-inspiring, I bought this on the understanding that I would be getting an entire film in HD, and this is certainly not that.I would recommend for educational and cultural reasons, but avoid if you are looking for an HD natural history film to add to your blu-ray collection.

For anyone interested India - particularly in the Ganges - this is fantastic. Starting in the Himalayas, this documentary follows the course of the river East into the Bay of Bengal. The journey is stunning, and explores the amazing animals, people and scenery on the 1,500 mile journey. The narration is informative and entertaining (available in English, Hindi and Bengali), and the picture quality is excellent despite being 1080i and not the full resolution 1080p. This seems to be typical of BBC Blu-ray, but I'd rate the picture very highly anyway. This documentary is so good that I would not get tired of watching it.