Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.0

Aircraft Carrier: Guardian of the Seas 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 9, 2019

Even for devoted pacifists who blanch at the thought of another global conflagration erupting and wiping out humanity (a possibility this documentary actually briefly touches on toward its wind up), the sheer virtuosity, even audacity, of technology on display in Aircraft Carrier: Guardian of the Seas may prove to be at least a little mind boggling. This “large format” documentary has both the pluses and minuses of many other similar pieces, with an emphasis on visual (and at times, audio) bombast, but with a kind of oddly fragmented and at times frustrating approach toward delivering actual information. In that regard it shares some of what I perceived to be as deficits with another “large format” documentary also helmed by Stephen Low, which I discussed in our Rocky Mountain Express 4K Blu-ray review. The kind of weird doling out of facts and figures begins almost from the get go in Aircraft Carrier: Guardian of the Seas, when a joint military exercise is briefly described, but which is only overtly identified as RIMPAC well into the documentary’s admittedly pretty brief running time.

There are a number of things that Aircraft Carrier: Guardian of the Seas does quite well, and some others that arguably could have used a bit of improvement. In the former category, there’s some good if brief information on the various “colored shirt” assignments the crew of the aircraft carrier carries out, and, later, there’s quite a bit of information on one of the newest aviation technologies and how various “models” are spread across the various armed services. Some of the best information in the documentary is actually about some of the technologies aboard the aircraft carrier, including the almost insanely old fashioned and yet high tech concept of utilizing steam to help propel the jets off of the runway. It’s here that Aircraft Carrier: Guardian of the Seas really excels, albeit perhaps not helped by some pretty basic looking CGI animations supposedly detailing various technologies.

In other ways, though, Aircraft Carrier: Guardian of the Seas is almost random at times. There is some brief introductory material showing some of the crew aboard the focal carrier the USS Ronald Reagan, but not everyone is actually introduced, leaving little snippets like one of the women crew kind of hilariously talking about what a role model Popeye is (I’m not making this up) seem kind of weird, at best. Brief interstitials start to talk about the history of sea battles, but that element is pretty much dropped almost as soon as it’s brought up, though a later return to it then just as briefly darts off to the wreck of the Bismarck for a few seconds. Another kind of odd sidebar is a whole little sequence on submarines that just kind of shows up willy-nilly for no discernable reason. It's almost as if Low had a bunch of unrelated footage at his disposal and tried to knit together as best he could, to fitful effect.

Aircraft Carrier: Guardian of the Seas 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Screenshots are sourced from the 1080p Blu-ray.

Aircraft Carrier: Guardian of the Seas is presented on both Blu-ray and 4K UHD courtesy of Shout! Factory, in a release that does not seem to be tied to a separate standalone (1080p) Blu-ray release. Both of these (mostly*) 1.78:1 presentations offer sometimes astounding detail levels, especially in some of the wide angle aerial shots, where even fine detail levels are surprisingly high, but there are occasional (typically brief) moments that look like they may have been sourced from lower res material (see screenshots 18 and 19 for two examples). These fleeting instances of the film often look at least relatively degraded and digital in comparison to the bulk of the presentation. There is also some "night vision" material toward the end of the documentary that also looks like at least part of it may have been sourced from a low res capture, and there is minor but noticeable macroblocking in both the 1080p and 2160p presentation. On the whole, though, both presentations here are often very impressive. Textures like what almost looks like "old fashioned" tin printed ceiling in the command center of the USS Ronald Reagan resolve without any problems in both presentations, with an even greater level of precision in patterning noticeable in the 2160p version. Textures on things like pilots' uniforms also look precise and resolve in both presentations without any issues. The CGI in this piece, a lot of which is devoted to animated explanations of various technologies, looks pretty basic, and is arguably a bit more "cartoonish" appearing in the 2160p version. Some archival video is utilized, and some of that is rather badly damaged, with emulsion bubbling, scratches, nicks and other signs of age related wear and tear. The closing credits list several 3D credits, and it's evident that at least some of the CGI was designed with 3D in mind, but Shout! has not included a 3D presentation with this release. HDR does add some noticeable highlights in the 4K UHD presentation, especially with regard to some of the omnipresent blue tones. One of the coolest looking improvements is in the "night vision" sequence where an already kind of spooky shot of a pilot with almost "green" eyes courtesy of instrument panel reflections offers better shadow detail and palette delineation in the 4K UHD version.

*Some of the archival footage hovers closer to Academy Ratio.

Aircraft Carrier: Guardian of the Seas 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Both the 1080p Blu-ray and 2160p 4K UHD discs boast Dolby Atmos tracks, and while there is intermittent and noticeable engagement of the Atmos channels, predictably with regard to effects like roaring jet engines, this is often a somewhat tamped down mix, with narration anchored securely front and center, and surround activity typically supporting the soaring score or occasional ambient sound effects. The best moments from a sound design perspective here are probably with regard to some of the take-offs, which feature whip fast panning effects and considerable low end energy.

Aircraft Carrier: Guardian of the Seas 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Shout! offers the same brief slate of supplements on both discs. For the record, the entries below listed as interlaced are from the 1080p Blu-ray; they show up as progressive on the 4K UHD disc.

• Audience Testimonials (1080p; 4:40) are kind of hilariously included here from screenings at the Fleet Science Center, where it looks like Aircraft Carrier: Guardian of the Seas was "in residence". Amazingly, all of the testimonials are raves, and many contain the word "awesome".


• F-35 vs. Bugatti vs. Human Cannonball (1080i; 1:12) is the first of two patently ridiculous speed comparisons hampered by pretty bad animatics.


• Usain Bolt vs. Giraffe vs. Nuclear Carrier (1080i; 1:07). Hey, inquiring minds and all. . .


• F-35 Navy Selects Real (1080i; 3:20) is a montage of sequences featuring the plane, set to music.


• Aircraft Carrier Trailer (1080p; 1:43)


• Aircraft Carrier TV Spots (1080p; 1:00)

Aircraft Carrier: Guardian of the Seas 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Sometime during my childhood when my father was in charge of the Army Reserve component at Washington State's Fort Lewis, he brought me along on a private tour he had been invited to take aboard an aircraft carrier (I want to say it was the USS Enterprise, but I could easily be mistaken) which was in dry dock in Bremerton for some kind of update and/or repairs at the time. I remember to this day walking almost insanely labyrinthine corridors "below decks" and marveling at the sheer size of the craft, and can also still recall the kind of weird "metallic" echoing the interior of the craft exhibited. For those who haven't experienced the massive scale of a modern day aircraft carrier "up close and personal", Aircraft Carrier: Guardian of the Seas can provide at least a little vicarious experience in that regard, though this is another IMAX offering that could have benefited from some sharper, more focused, writing and perhaps a bit more of a history lesson. One sign of how weirdly structured Aircraft Carrier: Guardian of the Seas is comes at the tail end (aft?) of the documentary, when a bunch of sailors are shown getting ready to return home to waiting family members there at port. Except — absolutely none of the families shown has been introduced before, and so there's no real emotional attachment to anyone aside from the generalist "approval" that a family is about to be reunited. It would have made more sense had this piece singled out maybe three or four crewmen for profile and based the documentary around them, especially since Low starts this piece out by defining the various "categories" of workers aboard an aircraft carrier, and very late in the piece he devotes a few seconds to a bunch of the crew saying "hi" or telling where they're from. Still, Aircraft Carrier: Guardian of the Seas offers some sporadically engaging content, and technical merits are generally strong for those considering a purchase.