Like many of you I'm a sucker for a good documentary and to be quite honest I'm not particularly picky about what I watch. If it's a topic that is even remotely close to something I'd be interested in then chances are good I'll sit down and watch it. The History and Discovery Channels are my go-to mainstays when I'm looking for a good watch to pass the time. How the Earth Was Made is one of the latest DVD releases from History Channel and thankfully it's not quite as droll as its name implies.

Narrated by Edward Herrmann, How the Earth Was Made takes us back 4.5 billion years to the calculated time when the Earth was formed. Prior to viewing the tumultuous history of our planet we are taken through some of the theories about its creation. Throughout much of this documentary Earth's history is tied to humanity in an effort to assert our role in its lifecycle. There's a lot of talk at the beginning about how the age of the Earth was actually calculated by scientists and how they came to their conclusions.

Going back to the point of origin we see a much different Earth. A tiny sphere pounded by cosmic debris, the surface seethed with molten rock and poisonous gasses. Over time the meteor bombardment ceased and the planet was left to stew in its own juices, for lack of a better description. Radiated liquids made up most of the surface and all around Earth was not capable of sustaining life in any form. Eventually as the planet cooled and other celestial bodies brought ice, water formed and oceans were made. Over the course of billions of years the documentary explores how these liquids combined with plate tectonics helped form land masses.

The planet evolved in this manner for quite some time and eventually foliage grew and bacterial life spawned. The cyclical nature of the Earth went through many phases from its molten core spewing out molten rock and gas that killed 95% of life to an ice age that was just as devastating. Through it all life persevered and familiar critters such as dinosaurs and our mammal relatives began to walk its surface and swim its oceans. This documentary even covers a bit of ground in this department which undoubtedly keeps things from becoming too boring.

I'm not going to lie, this documentary can be a bit dry at times. Fortunately its production and narration helps quite a bit thanks to the fast pace and extensive supply of computer generated images and the like. Billions of years of evolution are covered in the span of a few minutes so the content stays brief enough to keep easily distracted kids watching. The connection it creates between us and our planet also serves as a decent way to draw us into the documentary.

With commentary from scientists and geologists How the Earth Was Made takes us back to our own time on several occasions. Towards the end of the documentary there is even talk about our role in the planet and global warming and such. This feature surmises that our existence is merely a blip in the timeline of Earth and we're fortunate enough to have evolved during the planet's warm period between ice ages. It estimates that thousands of years down the road the globe will once again be blanketed by ice and continents will once again shift into another Pangaea.

By all accounts How the Earth Was Made doesn't offer much in the way of new information. There are no startling revelations here and in all honesty you've learned this before in school; if you were paying attention that is. With that being said this documentary is entertaining and it moves along at a very brisk pace which is quite the statement considering the content. I can't see this documentary being long lasting as a single viewing should be enough for most but you'll get more out of it if you have a child who has yet to learn this material.

Normally I would reserve this section for only special boxed sets or dynamic packaging that deserves to be discussed. Unfortunately I'm bringing it up for this release due to the nature of this documentary's presentation. Given the earthy nature of this DVD it's no surprise that History Channel went with a package that was made from 100% post-consumer recycled material. While nice in theory the actual case here is built of flimsy paper and the DVD compartment feels like an egg-carton. In my attempt to pry the DVD out, the packaging ripped at the center which rendered it virtually useless after that. I appreciate where History Channel was going with the recycled package but certainly there must have been a better way to design it.

How the Earth Was Made is presented on DVD with a non-anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio. It's kind of disappointing given the sometimes beautiful nature of the graphics but fortunately the quality of the video is decent enough. With sharp visuals that are marred by only a light amount of grain there is a lot to like about the picture quality of this release. The colors are vibrant, the image is mostly crystal clear, and there is no compression to be found anywhere. This is arguably one of the better looking History Channel documentaries I have watched in a while.

As far as documentaries go the audio in How the Earth Was Made is standard fare. The English 2.0 stereo track is suitable for the material but is far from robust by all accounts. That's not necessarily a bad thing considering a show such as this doesn't need much more than the basics to get its point across. What's here is fine and just what you'd expect an educational feature to sound.

The one nice thing about documentary DVDs is that you're generally going to be treated to more than just one feature. How the Earth Was Made is no different and included on this DVD is a separate 90 minute documentary about volcanoes. While "Inside the Volcano" is somewhat different in tone the material definitely has ties to the main attraction of this release. With an hour and a half to discuss volcanic activity there is quite a large amount of ground covered here from the importance of volcanoes in our lives to their destructive power.

In addition to the volcano documentary there are five additional scenes for How the Earth Was Made. These are "Found? Largest Armored Dinosaur Bones", "Digging for Gold", "How the Grand Canyon Became Grand", "First Life on Earth", and "Disappearing Glaciers". When all is said and done these scenes come out to just over ten minutes worth of material.

How the Earth Was Made was a solid documentary from start to finish and the DVD adds to that with the additional volcano feature and scenes. The show here is entertaining and educational with some fine tidbits of information which are never dragged out. Younger viewers may get the most out of this documentary but History Channel buffs will undoubtedly appreciate it as well. Your mileage may vary with this release but in the end I'm going to recommend it as a rental.

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