Arabia 3D Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		4.0

Arabia 3D Blu-ray Movie Review

'Arabia 3D' helps usher in a golden age of Blu-ray 3D excellence.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman December 5, 2011

Just to survive in this desert is an accomplishment.

Surviving anywhere, at any time, through any condition may indeed be both the goal and a laudable accomplishment, but to thrive as well as to survive takes something more, a determination not just to make it to the next day, but to adapt, to understand, to recognize challenges and discover new and innovative ways of tackling them, to discover what it is that people want and that geography, natural resources, and human innovation can provide. It also, maybe, takes a stroke of luck, but success is far more often than not man-made through problem-solving skills rather than it is the mere product of happenstance. Hard work, dedication to a goal, and a keen understanding of the world, people, assets, and one's own physical, emotional, and mental constitutions are what drive success, and all are presented as critical factors in the growth of Saudi Arabia, a nation rich with an impressive history, a nation positioned to succeed in the present, and a nation poised to tackle the future through its tradition of past accomplishments. Director Greg MacGillivray's Arabia 3D takes audiences on a fast-paced but steady and informative journey into the nation's rich past -- including two world-shaping "golden ages" -- and offers a glimpse at its oil-rich present, all of which shape the narrative of a fascinating history guiding a peoples into the 21st century.

Hajj.

Hamzah Jamjoon, a 26-year-old DePaul University film student of Arabian descent; and narrator Helen Mirren; guide viewers on a three-dimensional visual excursion into Saudi Arabia's culturally rich past and its business, religious, and educational dominance of today. The picture studies the contributions of the ancient Bedouin culture, the first and second "golden ages" of the Nabataeans of the Roman era and, centuries later, the nation's explosion of scientific and mathematic knowledge that predated many of the same ideas and concepts that the Western world would later produce. The film also examines the nation's oil explosion of the 1900s and the resultant economic boom that has transformed Saudi Arabia into a modern power on the global stage and ushered in what may believe to be a third "golden age." The film also explores the nation's diverse geography and wildlife population, which parallels the Arabian people's success in adapting to the area's harsh climate. Lastly, the story of the annual hajj towards Mecca and Saudi Arabia's irreplaceable role in Islamic faith is woven into the fabric of the film's presentation of the nation's past, present, and future.

Arabia 3D is sort of like the perfect Documentary. It's educational but at the same time entertaining. It captures the essence of a culture but also serves as a travelogue that journeys into an ultra-modern culture that hasn't -- and will not -- forget its historical roots. The film offers an all-inclusive glimpse into the people, places, and past of Saudi Arabia, which is both its greatest strength and its singular weakness. The movie has so much to share that it sometimes feels as if critical elements are glossed over in favor of pace and moving on to the next admittedly fascinating segment. Of course, Arabia 3D isn't meant to be the end-all, be-all, de facto historical source of all things Saudi Arabia, but a slightly extended runtime would have allowed for more breathing room, for a greater opportunity to expand on the critical people and events that shaped the nation -- and the world -- into what it is today. As it is, the movie is the perfect overview piece, covering all of the basics both past and present and shaping them into a coherent and catchy narrative that does a fine job of assembling the story in conjunction with what seems like an endless string of gorgeous visuals that truly spring to life through the splendor of 3D.

Arabia 3D represents the prototypical IMAX-style Documentary. It's wide-reaching but also very much focused, a balancing act that's become something of a hallmark of the MacGillivray Freeman Films. The film is gorgeously shot, intermixing a few very tasteful CG effects shots for emphasis and demonstration purposes, but the picture smartly leaves the bulk of the visuals to the splendor of the Saudi landscape, both its breathtaking historical and cultural landmarks and its ultramodern city skyline that seems like it belongs even in the desert setting, like it fits right in with the nation's storied past while guiding it towards its future. The picture benefits greatly from guide Hamzah Jamjoon's enthusiasm and breadth of knowledge and Helen Mirren's balanced narrative style. The two weave together a story through historical facts, cultural anecdotes, and visual representations of Saudi Arabia's most treasured religious symbols, ancient histories, and modern peoples, places, and events, assembling a story of how they are all unique but at the same time one and the same at their most basic levels, all born of the nation's traditions and values that have shaped it into a power on the world stage, a power bred from both humble origins and scientific, anthropologic, and cultural breakthroughs that have not only bettered Saudi Arabia, but the world at large.

Arabia 3D Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Aside from very slight instances of banding and infrequent crosstalk, Arabia 3D's Blu-ray transfer is perfect. The image sparkles in its delivery of the complex textures that appear in most every frame. Whether sandy deserts, ancient rock structures, or modern skyscrapers, the image supports the film's visuals with stunning clarity. The movie is breathtakingly sharp, yielding precision detailing even at a distance; even when the frame is filled with hundreds of pilgrims on hajj, viewers will note the fine details on every single face. Building textures and the country's sandy terrain are impeccably displayed and couldn't look more real inside a theater environment. Colors are also superb; though much of the film is dominated by the region's earthen shades, the transfer handles the vibrant paint on an oil tanker or any other number of hues with great clarity and precision. Black levels are spot-on perfect, and flesh tones are natural in every scene. This is truly like "being there," and things only improve when one factors in the quality of the accompanying 3D content.

The film begins with a gorgeous underwater shot -- not exactly the sort of shot one would expect to open a movie about Saudi Arabia, but one that, soon enough, makes contextual sense -- that's arguably the most stable Blu-ray 3D shot yet. It offers everything: fantastic detail, perfect colors, tremendous natural depth, and fish that seem to swim in front of the screen. It's a 3D demo scene to be sure, but the rest of the movie is no slouch. The title sequence features great natural depth, and various shots that show pages of ancient texts flipping on by reveal some incredible 3D-rich elements as the pages seem to come out of the screen before falling back in. A camel's nose appears to poke through the screen in one early shot, but Arabia 3D is primarily about depth. The image is very shapely and natural; cityscape shots reveal a true sense of space between buildings, and even less complex but no less incredible desert shots reveal a natural sense of distance and space that really hasn't been matched before on Blu-ray 3D. There's nary a scene that doesn't in some way benefit from 3D, and each of them hold steady with that above-referenced detailing and coloring. This is easily one of the standout 3D releases on the market and the perfect title to show off the capabilities of that new 3D set that will hopefully be unwrapped on Christmas morning.

Arabia 3D Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Arabia 3D features a polished, immersive, and dare say even flawless DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Listeners will recognize its superiority form the outset; the film's score plays with a strong body, a seamless sense of space, and plenty of surround support. The latter aids in giving the movie a larger-than-life feel, and for as active as the back channels may be in carrying score, the effect never comes across as forced or phony. This is a big track with great ambitions and the clarity and strength to back them up. The exhilarating soundtrack is the perfect accompaniment to the dazzling visuals, both equally grand in scope and precision. The track makes good use of the entire stage to create various environmental ambience, notably a strong gusty wind that penetrates the soundstage and does everything but create a chill in the listening area. Other sound effects are pronounced, crisp, and accurate. Dialogue is firmly grounded in the center, and never becomes lost underneath the powerful ambient and musical supportive elements. This is a fine-tuned, immersive, and highly satisfying track that serves the material very well.

Arabia 3D Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Arabia 3D contains a few extras, chief amongst them a feature chronicling the making of the movie.

• Making Of (1080p, 24:31): A good overview piece that looks at the process of making the film. It examines the purpose behind the movie, the access in-country, the novelty of shooting in Saudi Arabia, the work of Hamzah Jamjoon, filming in IMAX 3D, the challenges of the shoot, crafting the film's score, constructing some of the computer effects with 3D in mind, and more.
• MFF History (1080p, 7:37): A look back at the legacy of MacGillivray Freeman Films.
• Trailers (1080p, varied runtime): Additional Documentary films.
• BD-Live.

Arabia 3D Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Arabia 3D is a breathtaking film that offers a three-dimensional glimpse into the past and present of one of Earth's most history-rich cultures and, today, one of its most important players on the global scene. The film will best be remembered for its gorgeous 3D photography and unusual access into Saudi Arabia, but it's also valuable as a nice historical overview of a nation that has much to offer for historians, anthropologists, religious scholars, educators, and anyone interested in the growth of a nation. Image Entertainment's Blu-ray release of Arabia 3D features stunning video and audio to go along with a few solid extras. Highly recommended.