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Currentfilm.com Review:
A companion piece of sorts to an earlier IMAX feature "The Dream Is Alive", "Blue Planet" takes a look at man's journey into space, but mainly focuses on our existence here - what the planet has been going through in its evolution up until this point and what has changed since we have become a bigger and bigger part of this world we live in.
Throughout the film, various ways that the world operates such as Hurricanes, glaciers, volcanoes, thunderstorms, asteroid impacts are explored as well as the damage that mankind has done with pollution and chemicals that continues as we become a more dominant force on this planet. The film does discuss what we have done to harm the planet and what we can do to help it, but never becomes too heavily preachy. Written, edited and narrated by Toni Meyers, the narration is the only element that I really didn't care for as much. Although the amount of narration was fine, Meyers' tends to have a rather soft, bland voice that became a bit too soothing as beautiful image after image passed by on-screen. In comparison, the narration for "The Dream Is Alive" by Walter Cronkite provided a bit more energy and emotion.
Either way, "Blue Planet" is another IMAX feast for the eyes and it also manages to deliver a fine message about how we must work together to protect the beauty that is the planet we live on.
The Movie:
(The IMAX film "The Dream is Alive" is included as a bonus.)
The IMAX film format has been almost always used to take viewers on journeys to exotic places where they've never been, or meet creatures that don't exactly hang out in their own backyard. For one of the earlier IMAX features "The Dream Is Alive", the viewer is taken quite a far ride away from their backyard - out into space, to be exact. Remaining one of the most breathtaking uses of the large-format presentation, the film follows a group of astronauts into space, as they look down on the planet below (Cronkite discusses the sights as they drift by below).
During the scenes on the ground, we capture the astronauts going through rough training courses to make sure that they're physically able to withstand the flight. Once in space, we're shown everything from simple tasks like eating dinner to repairing problems that come up in space. Although narrations in some of these IMAX features are a bit much, going over every apparent detail of what's happening, Cronkite's narration is not overused and very intelligent.
I've seen at least 25 IMAX films by now and although several of them have been very good (Dolphins, Everest, Beavers), some of them aren't as interesting and don't really take you anywhere, especially some of the new cartoony 3-D features. "The Dream Is Alive" though is one of the best examples of the format, boldly going into the darkness of space to show us not only more about our planet, but man's journey further into the universe.
The DVD
VIDEO: Both "Blue Planet" and "Dream is Alive" are presented in 1.78:1 (1080p/VC-1) by Warner Brothers Home Entertainment. For two films that have seen their 15th birthday come and go, these films continue to look surprisingly decent for their age. Both show some wear and dirt and while the older "Dream" looks a little more worn than the younger "Blue Planet", both films do exceed expectations for how fresh one expects a film of their age to look.
Sharpness and detail on both presentations remain noticably improved over the DVD editions of both films, although not by leaps and bounds. Both films do use a bit archive footage, which does look understandably mildly weaker in comparison. Overall, definition can vary, but did appear pleasing. The naturalistic color palettes of both films looked accurately presented here, as well. While neither presentation will be considered demo quality, both did get a boost versus the DVD presentations.
SOUND: Both films are presented with Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Digital 5.1 options. Although "Dream is Alive" is one of the older IMAX features (1985), the repurposed 5.1 presentation remains as active, if not more active, than some of the more recent IMAX features that I've had the pleasure of listening to today. For those who have not watched an IMAX feature, the sound use remains an integral part of the experience and, as such, "The Dream Is Alive" does a fine job of putting the viewer into the middle of the experience.
Surrounds are used often throughout the film, making for an enveloping and exciting experience as crew announcers and other voices are often heard from the surrounds as well as other sound effects and ambient sounds. The awe-inspiring images are also added to by the terrific score by Mickey Erbe and Maribeth Solomon, which sounds full and rich. Although the film is 16 years old, audio quality remained terrific as sounds, narration and score sounded rich and natural. The liftoff sequence didn't shake the foundations, but it certainly wasn't without some definite power behind it.
The narration by Walter Cronkite comes through the center speaker as is easily understood, remaining distinct while the other speakers present the audio environments of the film convincingly. This is a terrific presentation that really does a creative job of putting you into the scene.
"Blue Planet" shares many of the same characteristics in terms of audio with its sister film, "The Dream Is Alive". Some audio from ground crews and other announcers makes its way into the surrounds, but as this material doesn't call for as much in the way of voice surround use, this allows for a greater variety of effects making their way into the surrounds, from the score to weather (a couple of storm sequences do impress) to other ambient sounds.
There's a quick glimpse of a baseball game that really provides a good example of how enveloping the IMAX sound presentations usually are - I practically felt like I was at that ballgame for a few seconds, from the crack of the bat to the cheering of the crowds. Most of the film makes very agressive use of the surrounds, similar to many other IMAX features, which always go for a heavily enveloping sound mix. Although not consistently present throughout the entire picture, there are some instances of strong low bass that are appropriate for some of the film's more intense sequences.
An interesting note: the film's sound designer and director is Ben Burtt, who has also done the sound design for "Star Wars" as well as the prequels. He also serves as the voice of the title character in the upcoming "Wall-E".
EXTRAS: "The Dream is Alive" is the extra.
Final Thoughts: While IMAX fare has technically improved over the years since, these two features still remain a couple of excellent examples of what the format has to offer. The Blu-Ray edition offers a mildly stronger presentation of both films, but no extras. Additionally, the combination of the films on one platter is a nice touch.
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