7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Earth Days traces the origins of the modern environmental movement through the eyes of nine Americans who propelled the movement from its beginnings in the 1950s to its moment of triumph in 1970 with the original Earth Day and to its status as a major political force in America.
Director: Robert Stone (IV)Documentary | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: Dolby Digital 5.1
English: Dolby Digital 2.0
English
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
On April 22nd of this year, the 40th anniversary of Earth Day was both championed and overshadowed by the Blu-ray/DVD release of James Cameron’s CGI juggernaut Avatar, a film that basically screams its environmental message until it’s as blue in the face as Pandora’s native Na’vi. (As I mentioned in my review of Avatar, what better way to spread an Earth- first, let’s-all-go-green message than to distribute millions of non-biodegradable plastic cases that will inevitably end up in a landfill somewhere? I digress.) Avatar’s record-breaking box-office and home video sales may prove that the green mentality has reached the very pinnacle of pop culture, but popularity doesn’t exactly equal proactiveness, or change. Earth Days, part of PBS’s award-winning American Experience series, takes a good, hard—but often nostalgic— look back at the beginnings of environmentalism, acknowledging the movement’s early legislation- altering triumphs, but not shying away from its failure to sustain real public and political interest into the Reagan era. As director Robert Stone says in his commentary track for Earth Days, “We’ve paid lip service to the problem, but we’ve avoided making the truly necessary changes about how we run our economy and how we live our lives.”
Our pale blue dot...
Since Earth Days is constructed almost entirely from stock footage, PBS's 1080i/AVC-
encoded transfer is really all over the place in terms of picture quality. It's obvious that some, if
not
most of the older material was simply upscaled instead of remastered in high definition, so don't
expect anything like For All Mankind or any of the other stunningly restored
documentaries
that have come out on Blu-ray in the past few years. Still, the footage is perfect for the tone of
the
film, all of it looking appropriately old and nostalgia-inducing, even the grimy, smeary video clips
from the 1970s and 80s. There are some quirks, however, that mar the presentation somewhat.
You'll notice frequent macroblocking, banding, and aliasing, strange motion artifacts, and
flickering
shimmer. Most of this is understandable in the vintage footage, but the defects occasionally creep
into the modern talking head sequences. Still, the stuff that was shot on high definition video
looks
decent, with more than adequate detail and texture, strong black levels, and color that's bright
and
natural. These scenes probably give the Blu-ray an edge over the DVD—I don't have a DVD copy
to
compare—but I can't imagine the difference being too drastic.
Do note that as it was practically impossible to capture usable screenshots in 1080i, all of the
screengrabs in this review were captured at 720p and do not represent the full visual quality of
this title.
Per usual, PBS brings another documentary to Blu-ray without lossless audio, but it really doesn't bother me for these kinds of broadcast-quality releases. The disc includes two Dolby Digital choices, a solid 2.0 mix and a more expansive 5.1 track, both offering exactly what's required—crystal clear, perfectly balanced voices during the interview segments, and a sonic backdrop of quiet, complementary music. Michael Giacchino did the score—he's the musical mind behind the brilliant motifs for ABC's Lost—and the compositions are sweeping and elegant, underscoring the triumphs of the environmental movement with modest grandeur. (An oxymoron, yes, but that's what it sounds like.) The music has a nice presence, with good depth and breadth, and if you choose the 5.1 track, you'll find a surprising amount of output from the rear speakers. There are even a few cross-channel panning effects, like when a jet flies from left to right. There's nothing inherently wowing here in terms of audio design or fidelity, but both of these Dolby Digital tracks do exactly what they need to do.
Commentary by Director Robert Stone
Stone's commentary is practically a second narration for the film. Not only does discuss the details
of how the documentary was made—how licensing rights were procured for stock footage, how he
decided who to interview, etc.—he also goes into more depth about the issues being presented. A
candid, informative commentary track.
First Film: Pollution 1972 (SD, 3:49)
Shot on a single reel of Super-8mm, Robert Stone's first film—made when he was twelve—is a
funny, obviously amateurish but earnest attempt to comment on the pollution that he and his
friends noticed in their home town. Since the original audio has gone missing, Stone reminisces
over the footage.
We've seen a glut of environmentally themed films in recent years—most of them grief-stricken, alarmist diatribes that resort to scare tactics to wake up an environmentally sleepy-eyed populace. Earth Days is a little different, less wide eyed in terror and more of a celebration of the environmental movement's formative years. I happen to find this infinitely more inspiring. Casually recommended.
2010
2011
American Experience: Clinton
2012
American Experience: The Amish
2012
(Still not reliable for this title)
2018
2016
2010
2011
2015
2004
2003
2016
1991
2009
2005
2018
2017
2015
2015
1989
2012
2012
2014
1976