3D Magic Forest Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		1.0
Audio		2.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		1.0

3D Magic Forest Blu-ray Movie Review

Caveat Emptor.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman February 20, 2011

This release is terrible. Don't buy it. The 3D is miserable, the audio is bland, and while the movie isn't boring per se, it's nothing but static and slow-panning shots of nature with the occasional less-steady handheld shot thrown in for good measure or when moving through a more densely-wooded area. The film's stated purpose is as a "relaxation" piece; supposedly the natural beauty of the filmed locations in conjunction with the various music inserted into the end product will equal a soothing, relaxed viewing experience, but the technical quality of the video is so atrocious that any potential enjoyment is shattered by an image so messy that even the average Youtube video looks worlds better. Magic Forest 3D looks like it was shot with some shoddy equipment or maybe gear with the wrong settings selected. Who knows, but the end result is an obviously well-meaning and potentially good Blu-ray release that's not up to the standards of even the cheapest of studios. Anywhere but at a micro-independent label and this disc would not have passed quality control.

The mystery girl on the cover does not appear in the film. I thought she was going to be an elf based on the title and all.

Magic Forest 3D features a random assortment of nature footage captured around Hungary's Bükk National Park. Scenery is incredibly random, primarily consisting, it seems, of whatever happened to be available on the day of filming. There's nothing particularly stunning about the locations; there are no world-famous landmarks or unique natural phenomena. Slight waterfalls, pleasant streams, empty fields, wooded areas, walking trails, and the like represent the bulk of the Magic Forest 3D footage. Sure, many of the environments are "pretty," but there's nothing truly remarkable about any of them, and any viewer with access to a country or wooded setting could find something as equally "pretty" in their own backyards. The film does briefly travel down into a series of caves and spends a few moments with some gorgeous horses, but otherwise, this is a point-and-shoot nature video that focuses on anything from pond scum to wide open green landscapes.

So, Magic Forest 3D is 51 minutes of natural Hungarian landscapes. It's more frugal to spend $14 on a Blu-ray than thousands on plane tickets, tour guides, hotels, and the like, but this hardly qualifies as an expertly-produced film, let alone an honest replacement for visiting "exotic" locales. The good intentions are there, and travel videos have in the past proven their worth as decent substitutes for the real thing, but a cinematic stroll through various locations with no rhyme or reason for which shot follows another or even any sort of identification as to what the viewers are looking at and where, exactly, it is located, just doesn't pass the sniff test. Certainly the filmmakers believed subtitles or narration would hinder the film's potential to serve as a "relaxation" device, but considering the built-in limitations of 3D viewing (glasses) and the quality of the video presentation (abysmal), it would seem that at least a hint of what's on-screen beyond "leaf," "tree," "rock," or "horse" would be slightly beneficial. It all comes back to the bottom-feeding video quality; it's amazing how a poor source can almost completely ruin even the most beautiful of God's handiwork.

The other key ingredient in Magic Forest 3D is the music. It fares a little better in terms of sheer quality (though the technical specs are disappointing, more on that in a moment) than the troublesome video source. In a perfect world, it would make for a fine accompaniment to the natural visuals. As a frame of reference, it's sort of like that display of supposedly "relaxing" CDs of various genres that Target has on display, usually by the greeting cards section. The film begins with music that's very Celtic in feel; it is indeed relaxing, so relaxing, in fact, that it might even put audiences to sleep should one choose to close his or her eyes rather than look at the messy video and merely take in the soothing audio. The track also features some heavier tribal-like chants, an Enya-style wannabe piece, and an Arabian-inspired number. Credited artist Szabolcs Kövi's music does its job -- too well, maybe, in conjunction with the epic fail that is the video quality -- and fans of this sort of music might be best served to play this disc with the sound system turned on and the television turned off.

3D Magic Forest Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Magic Forest 3D's 1080p, 1.78:1-framed transfer appears to be in the MPEG-2 format rather than the Blu-ray 3D-typical MPEG-4 MVC. No matter, the results are garbage. It does work, technically, but to actually see a Blu-ray 3D image users may have to dive into their 3DTV's settings and switch the "3D input format" or similar option depending on make/model from "auto," "native," or "side by side" to "top and bottom." Once the system is equipped to handle the material, viewers will find a 3D presentation that does manage to create a fair sense of depth. Trees are nicely offset one from another, the spacing between objects both near and far is evident, and the transfer occasionally manages to find a halfway decent texture on a rock or leaf, but that's about it as far as any "good" is concerned. The fact that the title achieves said depth or even manages to once or twice feature a tree limb that seems to protrude from the screen doesn't matter if the secondary video elements are in shambles. In a nutshell, colors are sloppy, the image fluctuates between appearing soft and sharp even within the same shot, hard banding is evident in every inch of sky, heavy blocking is a regular eyesore, jagged edges line many natural objects, smeared details are commonplace, aliasing is evident on occasion, and the image barely even looks like it's really in high definition. To make matters worse, a "ghosting" effect appears with regularity. It's an epic disaster, down there close to Total Terror as one of the worst-looking discs on the market, and it's far and away the worst Blu-ray 3D disc to date. It would be hard, even, to imagine anything turning out this poorly in the future. Unfortunately, Blu-ray.com's proprietary screenshot capture method will not allow for screen grabs of this title, so still photos of the disc and packaging are serving as a replacement.

3D Magic Forest Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Magic Forest 3D's soundtrack is of the Dolby Digital two-channel variety, and the quality is probably less than what one might expect to get from one of those "relax" Target CDs mentioned above. The audio track is decent and the unquestioned highlight of the disc, but it's limited in range and certainly nowhere near as crisp, clean, spacious, and natural as what superior lossless soundtracks have to offer. Most of the track is of the airy instrumental variety, which is handled well enough across the front. The track occasionally mixes in some chanting vocals that give it a little bit of heft that contrasts nicely with the fluffy New Age/Celtic sort of material. Background ambience is limited primarily to chirping birds and gently flowing water which recreate the sounds one might expect to hear in the real location, but the track, of course, fails to sonically immerse the listener into its varied environments. This track might be fine for low-level background noise but not much more. Faint praise indeed for this disc's best asset.

3D Magic Forest Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Magic Forest 3D features no actual extras, unless an admittedly nifty "3D Glasses Setup" screen and a "Green Magenta" 3D version (not sampled for this review) count. The necessary "Green Magenta" glasses are not included. Sadly, the "Glasses Setup" screen is the best part of this disc in terms of raw quality of Blu-ray 3D material.

3D Magic Forest Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Magic Forest 3D is a disappointing release, sad to say. No doubt the intentions behind it are true, and in a perfect world this would be a standout title, but it just screams "cheap" from every area, whether the downright ugly video quality or the fact that this appears to be a BD-R burned from a PC and plopped into a Blu-ray case. The highlight is the music; it's fine for what it is and needs to be, but even then it's nothing special. The music's perceived quality is probably partially some sort of odd placebo effect when it's taken in against the entirety of the release. This Blu-ray release, courtesy of Ultimate3DHeaven, features one of the worst video transfers on the Blu-ray market, 3D or not; a passable soundtrack; and no supplements. Sail away, sail away, sail away and buy an Enya CD instead.