The Smithsonian Network is no stranger to the documentary-on-DVD game, and most of their efforts fall under the categories of "history" or "nature". Down Under the Sea is no exception: this boxed set pairs two like-minded underwater documentaries from 2006, The Big Blue and Secrets of the Great Barrier Reef. Both focus on life above and below the water's surface near Australia. Both feature plenty of narration by (and interviews with) experienced fisherman and explorers. Both, obviously, are packed with plenty of beautiful blue imagery. Yet, aside from these basic elements, they're really all not that similar.

The Big Blue (93 minutes), despite having plenty of underwater footage at times, is a decidedly more dry affair. This well-meaning but uneven documentar...Read the entire review

THE PROGRAM

"Secrets of the Great Barrier Reef" is a very admirable, workmanlike documentary from The Smithsonian Network that provides a solid overview of the life and landscape of one of the world's most beautiful natural environments. Sticking with a classic format of to-the-point narration backed by appropriate visuals, "Secrets of the Great Barrier Reef" makes for an enjoyable and educational 45-minute experience.

The program never focuses too long on any subject, instead taking a very broad approach to informing viewers about this area of the world. The marine life gets top billing here, and creatures both big and small get their chance in the spotlight. The narration always ensures you'll walk away knowing the common name and provides the scientific name as well; it's quickly obvious that the intended audience for the program are students in classrooms, but I could also eas...Read the entire review

Haphazard and surprisingly uninformative. Smithsonian Networks, along with Infinity, have released White House Revealed, a short 2008 documentary that purports to look closely at the little-publicized White House Residency Staff, the 95-member (at least in 2008) crew of chefs, ushers, electricians, carpenters and household servants (that's the term used in the doc...) who cater to the President, the First Lady and the President's family while they temporarily reside in the People's House. If you're looking for detailed information on the Residency Staff (or for that matter even the most basic facts), go elsewhere, because this poorly designed and constructed doc just checked out.

Narrated by Martin Sheen, White House Revealed runs under 50 minutes, so if ...Read the entire review

America Wild and Wacky: Sturgis:
Here's a rather brief 45-minute DVD ported out from its original cable TV airing - in this case from the Smithsonian Channel - that serves little purpose for your standard DVD consumer. Unless you've a need to package a specialty gift for that motorcycle enthusiast in your family, or feel this profile of the huge annual motorcycle festival in Sturgis, South Dakota might fit the bill for some educational purpose, you're better off waiting to catch the program on TV or search for something of more substance.

It's not that Wild and Wacky: Sturgis isn't entertaining, or diverting, it's just that there's not enough substance here to justify a rental, let alone a purchase. Your standard collection of on-site footage and interviews allows for a decent generalist look at a complex phenomenon, a phenomenon that holds rare fascination for those heavily involved...Read the entire review

THE PROGRAM

Coming from a science background and recently entering the field of education, I often scoff at many science programs aimed at both children and the general population. I still champion the sentiment that Carl Sagan's "Cosmos" is the finest scientific series ever produced. However, that is not to say other series' have not been successful. When it comes to the matter of getting kids of all ages interested in science, Don Herbert's "Mr. Wizard," Bill Nye, and Paul Zaloom's "Beakman's World" standout as being the complete package of science married to entertainment.

Smithsonian Network's "SciQ" series continues with a second volume featuring three new, 25-minute episodes. The trend of focusing on a general subject continues as the hosts Paula, Pemma, and Andrew explore life underwater, the winter outdoors, and the always-enjoyable world of flight. The show remains lar...Read the entire review

THE PROGRAM

Coming from a science background and recently entering the field of education, I often scoff at many science programs aimed at both children and the general population. I still champion the sentiment that Carl Sagan's "Cosmos" is the finest scientific series ever produced. However, that is not to say other series' have not been successful. When it comes to the matter of getting kids of all ages interested in science, Don Herbert's "Mr. Wizard," Bill Nye, and Paul Zaloom's "Beakman's World" standout as being the complete package of science married to entertainment.

The Smithsonian Network has produced their own series aimed at kids titled "SciQ" and in this first volume, they set out to get kids excited about the principals of science by devoting four, 25-minute episodes to specific themes. The first three episodes really go full force at hooking kids through entertai...Read the entire review

THE PROGRAM

"The Big Blue" is billed as an engaging look at the world's largest animal, the Blue Whale. It's a well produced documentary, but ultimately doesn't spend ample time with its main subject, the whales themselves.

The structure and presentation of the subject matter is very polished. The viewer is thrown into the world of the whale through the eyes of a researcher as he utilizes both sea and air methods of following these amazing creatures through the oceans off the coast of Australia. However, just as we are introduced to these creatures and some stunning footage shot high above the waters, the bombastic narrator pulls us on a diversion to the nearby coastline that ultimately eats up the majority of the nearly 45-minute runtime (NOTE: the box lists the runtime at 93 minutes, which accounts for the bonus documentary detailed in the extras section).

Smithsonian dese...Read the entire review

THE PROGRAM

The Smithsonian Network's four part mini-series 'Sky View" is an odd mix of familiar territory. It is equal parts travelogue, history lesson, and visual treat, as each 25-minute episode focuses on a portion of a major European nation. The gimmick however, is the footage of these countries is all aerial and while that may not seem impressive, it quickly becomes apparent, why the creators chose to employ this method of filming.

As the camera soars above the cities, towns and landscapes that make each of these places unique in their own rights, the viewer begins to get a sense of how amazing many of these places are. For instance, in the episode on Britain, the material covered has been done at least a thousand times. We get a brief history lesson of how London came to be and then see major landmarks. However, by never dropping down to a street level (or even river leve...Read the entire review

THE PROGRAM

WADE DAVIS: You know the year that I was born, there were 6000 languages spoken on Earth...Language is a reflection of culture; it's a flash of the human spirit....and of the 6000 language, only half are taught to children.

Dr. Wade Davis is only 55 years old and the point he makes during the opening of "Light at the Edge of the World," is chilling. In a matter of years, half the spoken languages on Earth could be lost forever, and with those languages a wide variety of culture. "Light at the Edge of the World" is a four-part documentary series that examines four very different geographic locations and its inhabitants, who are at risk of fading into the history books. Hosted by Wade Davis (the man who decades prior researched the possible existence in Haiti that was turned into the semi-biographical, but highly fictionalizes horror film, "The Serpent and the Rai...Read the entire review

THE PROGRAM

"America's Hanger" is essentially an extended commercial for the National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC. Running around 45 minutes (the case reads approx. 60 minutes, which I feel is intentionally misleading), it provides the viewer with an extremely abridged history of the museum as well as the different collections featured there. The program begins with a brief history of manned flight and then starts chronologically with major pieces in the collection important to history (i.e. The Wright Flyer, Spirit of St. Louis, etc).

The major problem with this program is the short running time. It never has a chance to spend more than a few brief moments talking about a piece of the collection, nor portions of the museum itself. At the halfway mark, things get very interesting when they move from the actual museum to the Paul Garber Facility, where all of the museum...Read the entire review

The Movie:
The march toward monotheism seems of course a fait accompli to those of us coming into that belief several thousand years after it took hold of several religions and societies, notably the Jews and their brethren, the Christians. The Lost Gods, a sort of perplexing DVD release from Smithsonian in association with Infinity Entertainment Group (more about this in a moment), delves into five other cultures to explore a sometimes bewildering array of deities these peoples worshipped. While the title of the DVD, and the series from which it is culled, is somewhat misleading (the series focuses as much on sociopolitical history as it does on any particular religious content), it nonetheless provides a consistently interesting look into how various peoples interacted with the Divine, although (despite the title) that is certainly not the sole focus of the series.

So why ...Read the entire review

The Movie:
Woe are the many hoax perpetrators in various realms as science one by one debunks their claims. Woe, too, are many people who, like me, left Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull scratching their collective heads in wonder while muttering, "What the hell was that all about?" These two woeful threads are neatly woven together in the most excellent Smithsonian documentary Legend of the Crystal Skulls, which for once, unlike a lot of these "exposes," actually comes right out with definitive proof about the veracity of its subject matter.

This short, yet information-packed, piece centers mostly on the infamous Mitchell-Hedges skull, the one that purportedly was found in the 1920s in Labanntun in Belize by the British explorer and his adopted daughter, Anna. It is the skull, and the mythos which Anna built up around it during her long (100 year) l...Read the entire review