Discover Planet Ocean: The World Beneath Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

Discover Planet Ocean: The World Beneath Blu-ray Movie Review

Something fishy is going on.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 20, 2012

A cogent case could be made that the home theater high definition movement got its first significant shot in the consumer arm with releases like Planet Earth. Back when we were still embroiled in a format war, it was next to impossible to walk into any specialty retailer or even any big box establishment that had a Home Electronics Department and not see Planet Earth or one of its kin bursting in high definition splendor from a battery of televisions. The imagery was so crystalline, so incredibly dimensional and gorgeously saturated, that it also wasn’t unusual to see crowds of people circling around various HDTVs to “ooh” and “aah” at the images. Have our high definition palettes become so jaded now with routine wonderment that we can no longer fully appreciate nature releases? The reissue of Planet Earth certainly didn’t set the world on fire like the original version did, which may not augur especially well for other releases which are hoping to follow in its footsteps. Niche label Gaiam (which though perhaps not known to many readers here just closed a huge deal to buy Vivendi from Universal) has entered the high definition nature documentary sweepstakes with Discover Planet Ocean: The World Beneath which doesn’t exactly go where no man has gone before, but which finds its own voice and look within what is becoming a rather crowded field of similar releases.

Of course the team behind Planet Earth did their own exploration of the world’s vast waterways and oceans in Blue Planet, and in some ways that still remains the gold standard of underwater nature documentaries. Discover Planet Ocean: The World Beneath seems to be culled from what was probably a Japanese television outing. This two Blu-ray set offers thirteen episodes that generally focus on the Pacific and indeed hover around the islands of Japan and some of the ocean life surrounding those islands. The host here is Masakazu Nagata, described in the dubbed English narration as a well known marine biologist and journalist, though I was unable to find much online information about him other than listings for various home video releases of Discover Planet Ocean (there are evidently several volumes out).

The sheer volume of water on the planet and its relative inaccessibility means there will probably be plenty of fish in the sea (so to speak) to base nature documentaries around, but the ironic thing is Discover Planet Ocean: The World Beneath is actually often the most interesting when it stays above the briny blue. While the opening episode has some great information about various currents that waft through the Pacific (a subject that, like the currents themselves, the documentary returns to for a bookending sequence near the end of the series’ thirteen episodes), even this episodes’ most consistently interesting information is about Cocos Island near Costa Rica, where the currents change direction. This is the largest uninhabited island in the world and Nagata walks along a rock strewn beach to show how various explorers—including Jacques-Yves Costeau—have carved their names and insignias into various huge boulders. This island evidently also provided some inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island and rumors persist to this day that the island houses some buried booty that has yet to be discovered.

There’s the expected footage here of underwater marvels, species of fish that have never been seen before, or at least only rarely been spotted, as well as some fantastic sequences involving coral reefs and the Giant Kelp Forest off of America’s left coast. But for every nice, agreeable enough segment dealing with the underwater world, Discover Planet Ocean: The World Beneath ventures landward to deal with peoples and traditions of various island nations and there finds its most distinctive attributes. The episode that focuses on the fascinating payao fishing still practiced by the natives of the Palawan Islands is like watching footage recovered from some atavistic time machine, letting us peek into the furthest reaches of Mankind’s experiences as hunter-gatherers.

The series is slightly clunky at times with regard to the translated narration. While Nagata excitedly intones in Japanese in the background, the American narrator speaks in typical stateside “docu-speak”, intoning various facts and figures without much emotional resonance and setting up a sometimes odd dichotomy between the imagery and the voice over. The series has also evidently been edited somewhat, leading to some weird frozen frames and lack of soundtrack as individual episodes come out of what would have been bumpers or commercial breaks. Some of the music is also inartfully edited as episodes come to a close, probably to prevent spillover into what would have been the Japanese credits sequences.

Discover Planet Ocean: The World Beneath does have some spectacular footage to recommend it, both above and below the water. A nighttime diving sequence is incredible, with luminescent plankton floating in a jet black expanse, and there are also several above water sequences on various islands or boats that offer gorgeous vistas, including some literally breathtaking sunsets and sunrises, with the skies aglow in shades of pink, rose and orange. This series frankly probably won’t supplant many nature documentary fans’ love of Blue Planet, but it’s a suitably interesting and scenic companion piece that should delight anyone who hasn’t quite gotten information yet about the wonders lurking below the ocean’s surface.

Discover Planet Ocean: The World Beneath contains the following episodes spread over two discs:

Disc One:

Episode 1: The Pristine Sea of Cocos – Cocos Island, Costa Rica
Episode 2: People of the Atoll – Majura, Marshall Islands
Episode 3: Gifts from the Mangroves – Republic of Palau
Episode 4: Traditional Payao Fishing – Palawan Islands, Philippines
Episode 5: The Hunters of the Sea – Orchid Island (Lanyu), Taiwan
Episode 6: Home of the Humpback Whale – Ogasawara, Japan

Disc Two:

Episode 7: Life in the Deep Sea – Suruga Bay, Japan
Episode 8: Frozen Sea of Fertility – Shiretoko Peninsula, Japan
Episode 9: The Amazing White Sea – Vancouver Island, Canada
Episode 10: The Giant Kelp Forest – West Coast, U.S.A.
Episode 11: From the Forest to the Sea – Costa Rica
Episode 12: People of the North Pacific – North America
Episode 13: Life in the North Pacific – North America and Japan

Discover Planet Ocean: The World Beneath Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Discover Planet Ocean: The World Beneath is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Gaiam with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This is for the most part an incredibly sharp and well detailed looking high definition presentation, one that is incredibly impressive in terms of saturation, contrast and especially depth of field in the above water sequences. As might be expected, some of the underwater sequences are rather murky and soft looking, due at least in part to water conditions. However it also seems likely that some different kinds of cameras were used at times and there are occasional noticeable downticks in sharpness and clarity at various points throughout the series. As with the content itself, some of the most impressive and interesting visual material here comes from the landlocked or at least above water sequences, with gorgeous vistas of islands and beautiful teal water, or close-ups of various wildlife that reveals a wealth of fine detail. As mentioned above in the main body of the review, astute viewers will note that every time the series returns from what would have originally been commercial or bumper breaks, there's just a second or two of freeze frame before things lurch into action again.

Discover Planet Ocean: The World Beneath Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Like a lot of smaller (at least for a while) labels new to the Blu-ray market, Gaiam hasn't quite stepped up to the lossless audio standard that most high definition home theater aficionados prefer, and so Discover Planet Ocean: The World Beneath features only a Dolby Digital 2.0 audio option. This series certainly could have benefited from at the very least a lossy surround mix, as there's some very expressive (if at times overpowering) music and a wealth of ambient environmental noise that could have given a nice aural sense of immersion. The Dolby track is okay, nothing more, nothing less, though the mix is off at times, leaving the dubbed English narrator buried at times beneath the billowing trance like music that populates many episodes (strangely, catalog classical music, like Dvorak's New World Symphony, creeps into other episodes). Fidelity is fine as far it goes, though dynamic range is negligible. As noted above in the main body of the review, and an analog to what happens with the video presentation coming out of what must have been commercial breaks or bumpers, there is a slight lag to the soundtrack coming back on.

Discover Planet Ocean: The World Beneath Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Discover Planet Ocean: The World Beneath may not have quite the sweep or gravitas of Blue Planet, but it's a worthwhile enterprise that has an abundance of gorgeous footage, and some interesting facts and history lessons. The ironic thing about this series is that it tends to really connect with the audience more with its above the water elements than the underwater sequences. Some of the visits to the islands of the Pacific are really fascinating, weaving history together with a look at long standing cultural traditions. This Blu-ray set has no supplements and lossy audio, but overall for those who love nature documentaries, Discover Planet Ocean: The World Beneath comes Recommended.