Colors of Christmas Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

Colors of Christmas Blu-ray Movie Review

Poinsettia overload.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman November 29, 2011

It's a simple concept, but not one that can be simply replicated even in this modern 21st century world with easy access to instant music and videos. Digital Environments' Colors of Christmas combines Christmas imagery and Christmas music -- played across a total of six distinctive musical themes -- and creates what might become for some a holiday time staple of background ambience. It does sound like a simple make in this iTunes/iMovie era, but this is a collection of professionally photographed video images of professionally-decorated Christmas backdrops and any number of colorful poinsettia. Oh yes, there will be poinsettia. When the film isn't focused on festive high-end and meticulously-assembled Holiday living room ware, the film lingers on that staple of holiday plant life as the focal visualization in support of each of the film's six Christmas soundtrack stylings, including Christmas Choir; Guitar; Jazz; Harp & Hammered Dulcimer; Piano, Strings, and Saxophone; and Bluegrass. It's a relatively simple concept brought to Blu-ray here with a professional sheen that would be difficult for the casual consumer to create on his or her own time and dime. Digital Environments has done all of the heavy lifting and assembled a pleasing Holiday compilation that's sure to set just the right mood for any Christmas festivity.

The most wonderful time of the year.

For those worried that Colors of Christmas offers just a handful of static stills, fear not. This release features organic video shots of poinsettias and home Christmas decorations that are very much active, albeit subtly. A stoked fire, a twirling ornament, and camera pans all add a sense of activity to an otherwise point-and-shoot Holiday experience. The film does succeed in creating a warm, inviting, and tranquil feel that just oozes Holiday spirit, which makes the release a success considering its meager goal of simply capturing the essence of Christmastime through musical and visual delights. It's very effective at a basic level, but the release does leave a few things to be desired, albeit a few rather nitpick-y things.

For starters, viewers will be disappointed to learn that all six musical selections play over the same fifty-minute video. For as generally pleasing as the video may be, it would be nice if there were at least one or two more visual options if only to shake things up every now and then during different musical selections. Fortunately, this is the sort of video meant to play in the background, and the music is definitely the dominant element; chances are not too many people will sit through an entire fifty-minute "episode," let alone all six without getting up to move about and enjoy the music in the background. Many of the same songs may be heard throughout all six themes, but the variations make for a unique listen every time. The disc also fails to identify the songs, which is perhaps the worst oversight. In the mood for "O Little Town of Bethlehem" in a Jazz style? Want to hear a Bluegrass-themed rendition of "Jingle Bells?" Sorry; there's no easy way to jump to a particular song. The menu also lacks a "play all" feature. Play, say, the Harp & Hammered Dulcimer segment through to the end and the disc repeats the same rather than moving on to Piano, Strings & Saxophone. The option to choose one way or the other would have added value to the release, as would have a simple "play all" option from the menu for half a day's worth of Christmas delights.

Below are the six music style options, accessible through the main menu, and a sampling of the tunes available in each.

• Christmas Choir: This is the most conservative, traditional, church-like collection in the set. Songs include "Angels We Have Heard on High," "O Come, All Ye Faithful," "Away in a Manger," "In the Bleak Midwinter," "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," "Joy to the World," "Silent Night," "O Holy Night," and "What Child is This?"
• Guitar: Relax to the soothing strumming of Holiday staples like "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," "Jingle Bells," "Angels We Have Heard on High," "The First Noel," "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear," "O Little Town of Bethlehem," and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas."
• Holiday Jazz: Enjoy uptempo takes on tunes such as "Jingle Bells," "O Come, All Ye Faithful," "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," "O Holy Night," "O little Town of Bethlehem," "Carol of the Bells," "Away in a Manger," "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," and "O Christmas Tree."
• Harp & Hammered Dulcimer : This style nicely meshes the traditional Christmas flavor with something that's a bit more upbeat than "Christmas Choir," offering a gentle and relaxing style that's not without a little extra character and flair. Songs include "Good King Wenceslas," "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," "Joy to the World," "Angels We Have Heard on High," "What Child is This?," "O Come, All Ye Faithful," and "We Three Kings of the Orient Are."
• Piano, Strings & Saxophone : Move to the lively and unique renditions of Holiday favorites like "O Come, All Ye Faithful," "We Wish You a Merry Christmas," "Auld Lange Syne," "What Child is This?," "O Christmas Tree," and "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring."
• Bluegrass Christmas: A country, down home, yard-stompin', fiddle-playin' good time take on tunes such as "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," "What Child is This?," "Jingle Bells," "Joy to the World," "Silent Night," "Go Tell it on the Mountain," "We Three Kings of the Orient Are," "Up on the House Top," "Silent Night," and "O Holy Night."

Colors of Christmas Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Colors of Christmas comes down the chimney and delivers a decent high definition ambient experience. Fine detail is often very nice, but clearly lacking in spots. Close-ups of poinsettias reveal crisp edges, almost tactile ridges, and well-defined veins. Christmas ornaments are sharp, generally, and close-ups are strong enough to reveal the texturing of glitter and the phoniness of plastic tree limbs. Unfortunately, things get a little soft at times, but not to a level that destroys the image. Camera movement results in occasionally jittery holiday bows, for instance. Colors are mostly well balanced. A few close-ups of the bright red poinsettias border on the garish, but most of the holiday decorations are of the more classy, toned down variety, which translates well to Blu-ray. The image is stable but does look a little HD-video-glossy/flat. Additionally, a few solid colored background, notably a red wall behind a Christmas tree, are sprinkled with compression artifacts that are obvious but at least not the focal point of the screen. Overall, this is a fairly good and stable image that handles its material nicely.

Colors of Christmas Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Easily the biggest drawback to this release, and the one not covered in the body of the review, is Colors of Christmas' lack of a lossless soundtrack. The only track available is an adequate but occasionally underwhelming Dolby Digital 5.1 presentation. That's a real shame, since probably 75% or more of this disc's selling points revolve around its audio. Nevertheless, the lossy track delivers a fair listen but does't really engage the surrounds. The music is spacious across the front and flows freely and naturally, never really feeling cramped or otherwise hindered. It also enjoys a fair low end, most of the time; bass lines on organs and jazz styles are quite good, but the bottom end tends to rattle around with little precision in places. The saxophone plays with a crunchiness and sharpness, but most of the other notes are crisp and often, even, delightful. Choral arrangements are centered up the middle and are well balanced against accompanying music. All told, this is a relatively good, but not without flaw, presentation. The absence of a lossless track is a borderline backbreaker, though.

Colors of Christmas Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Colors of Christmas contains no supplemental content.

Colors of Christmas Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Colors of Christmas is a satisfying ambient Blu-ray release, albeit a release that isn't without some annoying shortcomings. The material itself is fine, and absent the option for a different video segment or two, there's no real room for complaint with either the video or the audio. However, this release does fail to deliver some very basic tools, like a "play all" option, song and artist identification, or the ability to skip to a particular song within any one musical genre. For pure background ambience, however, it's a satisfying release. Digital Environments' Blu-ray release of Colors of Christmas features fair video, lossy audio, and no supplements. This would make a good stocking stuffer or Christmas Eve gift at a cheap price.