7.3 | / 10 |
Users | 2.5 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 3.2 |
This set brings together every episode of the series Discovery Atlas, a documentary series that showcases how life is lived in various cities around the world through state-of-the-art photography and regular people sharing their life stories.
Documentary | 100% |
Nature | 78% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080i
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: Dolby Digital 5.1
English: Dolby Digital 2.0
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 1.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Armchair travelers have a bounty of options when it comes to trotting the globe via Blu-ray. It seems like just about every week a new travel or nature-related title is released, offering a high definition window into another country, city, or natural wonder. Quality inevitably varies. Among the glut of cheaply produced cash-ins, dull as dirt documentaries, and the ubiquitous “screensaver for your television” releases, only a few programs have managed to stand out and attract real consumer attention. Most of these, however, deal almost strictly with nature. Planet Earth and The Blue Planet have both stunned with almost unbelievable cinematography, capturing the world at its wildest and purest. The Universe dwarfs us with the immensity of the cosmos. But there has yet to be one single travel-centric title that has emerged victoriously as a benchmark by which to judge all others. While it doesn’t quite meet the standards of the previous titles I’ve mentioned, I’d like to nominate Discovery Atlas: Complete Collection. It trumps a lot of travel programs simply because it focuses on the one thing that makes our world truly unique —people.
Life hasn't changed much here in the past 10,000 years...
Image Entertainment and The Discovery Channel have crammed nearly 8 hours of 1080i/AVC- encoded video footage onto two BD-50s. While I was initially worried that the series would be subject to all sorts of compression issues, my fears were largely alleviated when I popped in the first disc. Yes, there are some artifacts, especially in the darker scenes, and yes, there are some occasional instances of blotchy colors and banding—particularly around sunsets and other fine color gradients—but the vast majority of the series looks fantastic. I'm always interested in how various cultures are drawn to certain colors, and this transfer never let me down in that regard, with a globetrotting palette that's bright and vivid. Whether it's pink sakura blossoms in Japan, the orange robes of a guru in India, or the multihued carnival parade in Rio de Janeiro, the colors here are saturated and strong. Black levels are adequately deep, and contrast is usually spot-on, though highlights look occasionally blown-out—a common occurrence in digital video. Aside from the color, the most impressive part of this transfer is the excellent sense of overall clarity. Close-ups show crisp—but never edgy—textures and longer shots are well-defined and never muddled. The image here may not be up to the standards set by, say, Planet Earth, but few will have any real complaints about the look of Discovery Atlas.
On the other hand, I can see some folks getting upset about the fact that this release doesn't include a lossless audio track, opting instead for Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 mixes. To be fair, though, these tracks suffice. Sure, they don't offer brain-melting dynamics or an ultra-pristine soundfield, but they are clear, understandable, and modestly immersive. In the 5.1 mix, rear channel usage is limited—to music and quiet ambience, like city street sounds—but it's enough to make you feel involved with the storytelling. Most importantly, the celebrity voiceovers are clean, never muffled, and positioned right at the top of the mix, making the narration effortless to follow. There's not a lot that immediately impresses here, but there's also nothing to nitpick about—no hisses, crackles, pops, or thinness. The 2.0 stereo mix is also competent, with slightly boosted vocals. It's doubtless that a lossless or uncompressed mix would have added some extra heft and breadth to the proceedings, but it's no big loss, especially considering how the fantastic visuals and the individual stories are really the focus of each episode.
Bonus Vignettes (1080i)
The second disc of the set includes four vignettes, Italy (9:42), Egypt (14:21),
Russia (12:34), and Brazil (6:36). This is more of the same, really, but with less
focus on individuals and a more general emphasis on the locales themselves. While my TV told me
that these clips are indeed in 1080i, they clearly look upscaled from a standard definition source.
I really enjoyed watching Discovery Atlas: Complete Collection. The series mixes standard issue travelogue-style material with personal stories to great effect, giving a brief but solid overview of each culture it sets out to cover. Whether you're a real traveler, a couch potato, or just someone who enjoys learning about other peoples and places, Discovery Atlas is a trip worth taking. Recommended.
2006
2006
2006
2006
1992
2006
2011
2007
The Complete Series
2006
2009
2008
2013
IMAX 3D
2008
2007
2009
2011-2012
IMAX
1985
IMAX
1994
2008
BBC-Discovery | Narrated by Oprah Winfrey
2009
BBC
2011
+ Photo Booklet
2004
1998