Series: The Living Landscapes Collection is easy to explain on a limited level but tougher to really dig deep into. Each disc focuses on a particular landscape, be it exotic Bali, tourist haven Hawaii, New England, the American Southwest, or other spots known for their earthly delights. Having traveled to a few of them over the years, I know first hand how each can take the breath away during their nicer times (just as how lame they are "off season", when the weather or climate isn't exactly as perfect as cinematographer's seem to portray). In any case, my first experience with something like this was years ago with the release of the music CD's that were designed to invoke a feeling or mood when listened to; be it a thunderstorm, a babbling brook, or other audio experience that allows the imagination to transport a listener to another time and place; effectively canceling out the worries of the day. You could also argue that many movies that use sweeping glimpses of the world in a similar manner also work the same dynamic, getting us to want to visit them (like all the other lemmings do to inspire them) but those moments are rare in cinematic history since a plot needs to be told and all the other trappings of telling a story are in play.

No, in the case of these discs, all you get are modest length glimpses into nature without the human element interfering perhaps in an effort to remind the harried viewer that life exists outside the four walls of his cubicle or urban living room setting where most of us are crammed in like sardines in a can. Before I get too far into my descriptions of the material here, it should be pointed out that the nine discs are shortened versions of the individual releases (that can be found in the SD, HD or BR formats) with each lasting about 20 minutes long. The original releases last about an hour each so they are more comprehensive and allow for more lingering shots but I haven't seen any outside of home theatre stores so your mileage may well vary (and Daniel's version was even shorter with about 75 minutes covering the entire series compared to the nearly 180 minutes found in this set). Nature is often something many of us "get" at one point in our lives but soon find all too problematic; resulting in us trying to tame it like we do everything else, using bug spray, littering, bringing our safely prepared foods, and mobile homes or tents with many of the modern conveniences so this type of show allows us to admire the beauty without the necessary pains needed to enjoy them in the wild. My camping days are largely over and my cynicism of such beauty often has me looking "behind the scenes" as it were, to reveal the flaws, but I can honestly say that the discs looked great.

There was no plot, story, or obvious human element in the three hour tour and each disc allowed for them to be played in a loop so you can leave them on at parties, in the office, or merely as background to look up at while hard at work. I was kind of tweaked that they were not placed on a single or maybe double disc set though since they had no extras at all to take up space. IIRC, there was some debate about the discs being shot in 1080i but this shouldn't be an issue given true HD televisions manner of handling the difference seamlessly from what I understand so all you need to do is sit back, relax, and enjoy whichever disc you desire. Here's a look at the specific discs and some notes from the company website:

1) Bali
Wildlife: Butterflies, birds, frogs, and dragonflies adorn the beatiful tropical flowers. High Definition close-ups of exotic wildlife reveal the intricate beauty of nature's living jewels.
Dance: Bring the exotic beauty of this island paradise into your environment to sounds of beautiful Balinese music.
Sacred Sites: Visit the mother temple of Besakih. Absorb the serene beauty of the ocean temple at Tanah Lot. Share in the sacred rituals that make Bali one of the most vibrant spiritual centers on earth.
Water Temples: Experience the magic of 10,000 gallons a minute of spring water as it flows through acres of ancient pools adorned by intricately carved statues and fountains.

2) California Redwoods
Enchanted Forest: Experience the fathomless serenity of the ancient redwood forest as shafts of silver sunlight penetrate the towering canopy.
Timelapse Dancing Mists: Feel and hear the gentle drops of captured cloudwater falling from the treetops to the forest floor, replenishing life in this rainforest world.
Riparian Habitat: Meander down crystal creeks reflecting mossy boulders and trees, while in their shallow depths round pebbles and rock roots lie still beneath the rippling water.
Giant Sequoias: Marvel at thousand year old giants rising from darkness into light, their softly folded bark marked by fire, in hues from brilliant red to chocolate brown.

3) Costa Rica
Osa Peninsula: This is one of the most bio-diverse locations on Earth. Experience the inhabitants of this diverse lowland rainforest, from the rare Scarlet Macaw to the strange and elusive sloth.
Monte Verde Cloud Forest: Descend into the life giving mist of the Costa Rican cloud forest. Feel the swirling moisture nourishing this lush ecosystem as a symphony of life fills the room.
Tropical Flowers: Feast your eyes on an amazing diversity of brillant, vibrant colors against a backdrop of infinite green. Your senses become intoxicated with the sweet, heady scent of jungle nectar.
Bird and Butterflies: Catch bright strokes of color streaking across tropical skies! Iridescent flashes of hummingbirds fill the air, like flowers with wings.

4) Fall in New England
Maine: Delight in the poignant Eastern autumn, as leaves of summer are touched by frost and strike riotous colors to calico the land.
Massachusetts: Surrender with the falling leaves as they dance to the ground, becoming a crazy quilt of chaos and beauty.
Vermont: Shiver as a morning mist breathes through the forest and lies ghostly on a placid lake where geese float scattered like broken beads.
New Hampshire: Hear the gentle voice of water cascading down layered rock, where surrendered leaves swirl on the surface and are caught trembling on lips of glistening rock.

5) Hawaii
Maui Sunrise: Rejoice with the morning birds at Maui's Emerald Pool. Experience the magic of the sun rising through the clouds from the rim of Haleakala Crater.
Volcanic Coast: Watch the earth itself being formed as fresh lava drips into the sea. Feel warm ocean spray turn to rainbows as it roars from hidden blowholes.
Cascades: From a morning time lapse sequence revealing the beauty of Rainbow Falls to the hundreds of waterfalls along Maui's famous Hana Highway.
Beaches: Red, black, green, brown and white sands merge in this montage of Hawaii's most delightful beaches.

6) Olympic Rainforest
Fern Scapes: Explore the wettest spot in America in all its verdant lushness. Follow the flow of water from the first jeweled drops collecting on the fern fronds, to the freshing mist of cascading waterfalls.
Queets Valley: Watch salmon mating and spawning in the streams that flow through one of the most beautiful temperate rainforest valleys on Earth.
Hoh Valley: Fill your environment with the sounds of native birds, frogs, squirrels and flowing waters. Feel the softness of the mosses and lichens that cover every surface.
Enchanted Forests: Experience the sublime stillness of the mystically lit forest floor to the flowing musical improvisations of Eric Satie's Gymnopedies as interpreted by master musician Raphael.

7) Pacific Coast
Oregon Coast: You can feel the salt mist in the air as the camera explores Oregon's most spectacular beaches and coves.
Washington Coast: Tree covered sea stacks rise precipitately from the jagged shores of Washington's stark and jagged coastline.
Big Sur: Experience the many moods of America's beautiful Pacific Coastline, from the most northerly corner of Washington State to California's famed Big Sur coast.
Mendocino Coast: Sink into a deep relaxed state as you experience the beauty of the sun setting into the vast Pacific Ocean.

8) Rocky Mountains
Grand Tetons: Feel the crisp air as it caresses the towering spires of America's most majestic mountains. Experience the peace and tranquility of Tetons reflected in the pristine lakes.
Sawtooth: With serrated edges rising as if to cut the sky itself, the snow capped Sawtooth Mountains stand as timeless sentinels amidst Idaho's high meadows.
Wildlife: Move unnoticed through undulating fields among deer, elk, moose and wild bison that roam the highland valleys. Wings beat the air at sunset as waterfowl come home to mirrored marshes.
Yellowstone: The power of roaring waterfalls buffets the senses. Smell the tiny spring flowers adorning Yellowstone River. Glide along crystal clear lakes, transparent ponds and shimmering streams.

9) Sacred Canyons
Canyonlands: Peer through graceful stone arches carved by the wind, your windows on deep blue desert skies and vistas of rounded stone pillars, sunstruck in glowing reds and golds.
Zion: Cool off near the Weeping Cliffs of Zion, where thousands of silver droplets seep through layers of sandstone to feed tiny plants clinging to rocks.
Bryce National Park: Wonder at the bizarre landscape of towering mazes and rose-tinted natural amphitheaters of Bryce Canyon, where piñon pines, the oldest trees on Earth, cling to life on multi-colored stone.
Arches National Park: Witness massive boulders balanced on spired sandstone pinnacles, awaiting the timeless moment when wind and frost will send them crashing to the desert floor.

The Living Landscapes Collection ends up being a nice selection of highlights from the original, full length (well, hour long) discs and it struck me as kind of expensive for truncated versions of the shows since they retail for about $25 each and this one is $150. Even though it is available online at heavily discounted prices, so are the discs that make up the full versions so you're getting a third of the material with no additional extras at only a modest discount. Had this set been comprised of the full versions for each release, I would easily be able to give it a solid rating but given some of the recent titles released and the value factored in, I'd suggest buying a few of the original volumes, some of the higher resolution titles available now (remember, this came out in standard definition first and was shot some time ago), or waiting for the inevitable sales that will knock this one down to something more affordable. The visuals were glorious in almost all cases, capturing the highlights of the material very pleasingly to the eye but either get it all or pass it for now, my rating of Rent It being kind of generous except that I liked the idea of the compilation providing some of each disc for those wanting to dabble; just expecting a better price for the loss of footage.

Picture: The Living Landscapes Collection was presented in a 1.78:1 ratio widescreen color as originally shot by the various directors and cameramen of the series. The coding showed up as MPEG-2 and in 1080p though I tend to rely on my eyes more than the spec's if you know what I mean. In that sense, the entire set of nine discs looked very appealing with a variety of types of footage showcasing the best aspects of each nature scene, national park, ocean or forest view. The composition of the shots was undeniably fetching and the contrast/resolution/colors/all the other key factors that go into making a picture look good were handled very nicely. The level of detail was noticeable compared to some of the previous efforts in the genre that I've watched on standard definition so you really don't have a lot to complain about this time. Could some shots have been more ambitious, lasted longer, or been more visually compelling? Well sure they could have but that might well be a selling point for the full versions of each disc available separately.

Sound: The audio was presented in a 5.1 Dolby Digital+ with a 448 Kbps bitrate. The aural experience was due largely to the compositions of Gary Malkin; an award winning guy that tends to provide new age styled scores. There were guest musicians assisting him but the music was as lightweight as one would expect from this type of project. Personally, I'd prefer something with a hard rock beat and heavy synthesizers but the beauty of the show is that you can turn down the volume and play whatever music you like even if the music provided was perfectly acceptable as the living room equivalent of elevator music. The sound was very front end this time though, something unexpected given the manner in which the visuals surround you (while not quite the Imax experience, the footage was good for a home theatre look at this idea), and the high end of the frequency spectrum was emphasized in almost all cases. From what I could tell, most of the surround sounds were the nature sounds that were often generic to the disc (perhaps added in after the fact from stock audio recordings) and the aural range was nothing special; sounding like a low end atmosphere CD more than a means to showcase your home theatre's audio capabilities.

Extras: There were no extras, a contributing factor to why I rated it this way, the discs stuck on a single hub in the boxed set and no paper inserts.

Final Thoughts: The Living Landscapes Collection was a nice compilation of nine discs sporting visually appealing looks at glorious natural settings that should move many of you into making vacation plans to visit half the locations right away but as a means to showcase your all new HD home theatre, it was not as satisfying as it should have been. The audio aspects were okay but limited, the lack of extras was a slight given the brief running time on the discs, and the fact that each disc had only twenty minutes of material at a fairly high cost, make me think that picking up a few of the original programs lasting a full hour might make more sense for most of you out there. I would recommend that approach unless you simply want a smattering of all nine different landscapes to watch and don't need a full hour. In that sense, The Living Landscapes Collection is a tempting bit of eye candy but as nice as it is, the boxed set should have offered more or been lowered in price to accommodate the consumers reading this (maybe offering it at twenty percent of the cost of the individual discs would elevate their bang for the buck quotient).