Journey of Man Review

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(More customer reviews)I first saw this when it premiered on PBS while I was at the beginning of my world travels in January 2003. One of the reasons I quit my job to go traveling was to satisfy my desire to know the truth about religion and spirituality. I traveled throughout Asia (As far West as India & Nepal), Australia, South America, and parts of Arabia. Africa awaits.
The show on PBS couldn't have been more timely as I watched it in a hotel room while in Arizona. (Started with a cross country USA drive) I have read/studied & watched numerous videos and books on evolution, different religions, etc... at least from a scientific standpoint this video in one stroke puts MANY (Not all) of the claims of various religions / belief systems into the category of "Comfort stories." THAT IS - if you believe in the science.
I found quite interesting the reaction of some of the people when confronted with these new discoveries. Old habits/beliefs die hard as evidenced by world events today and in the past century of rapid scientific thought and change on our world. Granted, the host Spencer Wells could have presented some of his findings in a slightly more "soothing" manner to some of the target groups. But, he recognized this early on I think and modified his approach. His enthusiasm and confidence are infectious and make watching the video fun - even after I watched it again on DVD since I have returned from traveling.
This show is so compelling and complete in its coverage of how we/man evolved and traveled out of Africa. Dr. Wells travels to Namibia, Kazakhstan, Siberia, Arizona, Brazil, North Australia, and South India among other places. He incorporates interviews with other scientists to support his work - such as linguists. While I didn't use DNA analysis in my travels to answer my questions, my insights into human psychology and observation of behavior only complemented what is in the video.
This is one of those videos (BBC's Blue Planet is another one) that I place in a special category of videos that should be mass distributed for free to every household possible around the world.
I also *HIGHLY* recommend the Shape of Life 4-DVD set, the logical prequel to the Journey of Man. For a broader picture of how we fit in our world - I also *HIGHLY* recommend National Geographic's Strange Days on Planet Earth 2-DVD set.

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Studio: PbsRelease Date: 05/05/2009Run time: 120 minutes

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Creation (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)I have a standing rule not to pay more than $23 for any Blu-ray movie (no need to encourage Hollywood marketeers). That said, I broke that rule for this movie after hearing an interview with the writer and producer on NPR (National Public Radio) then discovered that this disc was worth every penny. One thing you will come away with is the fact that there were many similarities between life in 1859 and today. For example, people of both times were split between theism, deism, and atheism. (Contrary to popular belief, Darwin was somewhere between deist and theist). So does "Darwin's Theory do away with God" as Huxley said, or does it "replace the Genesis story with something more pragmatic"? I prefer to believe that later but you should make up your own mind.

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From director Jon Amiel ("The Singing Detective," ENTRAPMENT) and writer John Collee (MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD) comes CREATION. A psychological, heart-wrenching love story starring Paul Bettany (A BEAUTIFUL MIND, MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD) as Charles Darwin, the film is based on 'Annie's Box," a biography penned by Darwin's great-great-grandson Randal Keynes using personal letters and diaries of the Darwin family. We take a unique and inside look at Darwin, his family and his love for his deeply religious wife, played by Jennifer Connelly (A BEAUTIFUL MIND, REQUIEM FOR A DREAM), as, torn between faith and science, Darwin struggles to finish his legendary book 'On the Origin of Species," which goes on to become the foundation for evolutionary biology. The film co-stars Toby Jones (FROST/NIXON, INFAMOUS) and Jeremy Northam (GOSFORD PARK, AMISTAD), and was produced by Jeremy Thomas (THE LAST EMPEROR, SEXY BEAST) at Recorded Picture Company with BBC Films and Ocean Pictures.

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