Inside Planet Earth

With stunning visual effects and clear narrative presented by Patrick Stewart, this Discovery Channel production reveals the Earth's hidden interior to be a place of powerful forces, mysterious processes, and extreme temperatures. Although scientific instruments have been able to penetrate down only a few miles, we are discovering more about the bacterial life, monumental structures, and vast riches that lie beneath the planet's crust. The documentary shows how forces of energy break through in the form of geysers and volcanoes, and how continental plates shift and collide, sometimes causing earthquakes or, in earlier geologic ages, forming vast mountain ranges that rearrange the landscape over time. Scientists discuss Earth's similarities and differences compared with other planets, and explain that without the all-important magnetic field at its core and the heat transfers that occur between its layers, our dynamic orb would be a cold, lifeless place, like many other objects in the solar system. Closer to the surface, Inside Planet Earth shows viewers caverns large enough to hold a supersonic jet plane, and the world's deepest mine. DVD extras include the bonus documentary “Amazing Earth,” and deleted scenes. Recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (S. Rees)