Earth From Above: Life Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Earth From Above: Life Blu-ray Movie Review

Welcome to 'Planet Earth' or 'Life,' French style.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 6, 2011

If the British can claim such stellar documentaries as Planet Earth as among their country’s finest television exports, it probably shouldn’t come as much surprise that the French are also making their own forays into nature series, as evidenced by the appealing set of Earth from Above documentaries which have been licensed by American distributor Questar. Based on the best-selling book by hot air balloonist, photographer and ecologist Yann Arthus-Bertrand, this series evidently migrated to British television itself, as this episode features lovely English accented voice work substituting for the original French of Arthus-Bertrand and supposedly an original French narrator. But the series’ French origins are unmistakable, as several French references are scattered throughout this episode. While the Questar packaging labels this episode variously as Life and Biodiversity, the closing credits on the episode itself feature the rather lengthy title Earth From Above: Everything is Living and Everything is Linked. The episode may seem a bit haphazard as one moves through it, especially on the first go-round, but Arthus-Bertrand attempts at least to tie everything together in the final moments, thanking the many people with whom he comes into contact throughout the episode for their efforts in helping to educate the public about the dangers our planet currently faces from any number of ecological threats. If Earth from Above, the picture book, presented our planet in all its glory from a distance, as it were, this series gets down and dirty (so to speak) with a ground level look at several threats we're all facing, whether or not we know about them.

Arthus-Bertrand embarks on a round the world trip which sees him visiting various areas that are undergoing the throes of rather extreme ecological change, and not all of that change can be attributed to that frequent bugaboo, “climate change” and/or “global warming.” In fact, as Arthus-Bertrand rather depressingly demonstrates, the insanity of Man has often led to unexpected devastation in several areas. Some of these are on their face less than wise, as in the wholesale use of napalm to deforest large areas of Tasmania, but others seem perhaps less questionable on their surface despite their ultimate consequences, as in some non-native fish introduced into Lake Victoria, which have now devastated that waterway’s ecosystem.

While parts of this Earth from Above outing are rather disjointed, as one idea after another is pursued with no clear linking segments, in some cases there is clear evidence supplied that decisions in one part of the world have global repercussions. There’s an interesting parallel shown, therefore, between Tasmania’s rampant destruction of its forestland due to burning it with napalm and a Chinese doctor’s efforts to cure malaria with plants. Ancient China will lose “nature’s great pharmacy,” in the words of Arthus-Bertrand, if Tasmania’s example is followed by other nations.

Anyone who has seen a careless pedestrian or even driver toss garbage at your feet knows how thoughtless people can be, and that same ignorant behavior is on display throughout Earth From Above, notably with some horrible poaching in the Congo, where the native population of hippos has shrunk from thirty thousand to an incredible eight hundred. But even the animals themselves exhibit bizarre and self-defeating behaviors at times. One of the most shocking segments in this outing of Earth from Above is the very disturbing footage of thousands of gnus attempting a simultaneous river crossing, where their near-rabid attempts to get to the other side results in mass drownings and tramplings of the poor creatures. The upshot is the sight of literally hundreds of bloated gnu corpses floating down a river, to become food for everything from vultures to crocodiles to hippos.

There’s more than a passing doomsday quality to much of this Earth From Above, as Arthus-Bertrand alleges that within just a few years, one out of every four mammal species will be in danger of becoming extinct, a statistic matched more or less by birds (one in eight) and fish (an entire third). Arthus-Bertrand might be decried by those unwilling to believe the dangers of species eradication as an alarmist, but he seems a rather low key alarmist by any measure. Though voiced here by a Brit, Arthus-Bertrand’s on screen manner is quiet and actually quite elegant. That said, it's inarguable that Arthus-Bertrand's series is less "objective" in tone than most of the BBC outings like Planet Earth or Life. Arthus-Bertrand has an agenda, and that will either endear him to some audiences, or make him an annoying "environmental wacko," depending on your particular point of view.

All of this depressing information is not to say that Earth From Above is without humor, for there is at least a smattering of comic relief sprinkled through the apocalyptic warnings. One of the funniest segments shows Arthus-Bertrand’s friend and colleague, BBC nature series host Jonathan Scott, touring Africa, where a cheetah decides his Range Rover makes for a fantastic perch on which to survey the savannah. Unfortunately this Range Rover comes equipped with a sunroof and the cheetah decides that it wants to “mark” its territory with a fecal deposit which Scott attempts valiantly to capture in a paper towel.

Arthus-Bertrand makes the perhaps pointed if not especially subtle observation that homo sapiens means “wise man,” and that contemporary Man has repeatedly acted in unwise ways. As the documentary moves into its closing moments, he highlights the efforts of several people who have popped up in various segments as among those at the forefront of people attempting to make a difference, hopefully before it’s too late. It’s undeniably Arthus-Bertrand’s hope in this series to convince a lot more people to join those who feel it’s up to Man to reclaim his self-described wisdom and act to help save an endangered planet.

Earth From Above: Life Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

While not quite up to the reference quality standards of documentaries like Planet Earth or Life, if you can overlook some niggling artifacting issues that crop up from time to time, Earth from Above looks nicely sharp and detailed courtesy of an AVC encode, in 1080p and 1.78:1. Colors are gorgeously saturated throughout this episode, and fine detail is often amazing. At times the image tends to be a bit on the soft side, as if different cameras were utilized for different segments, but generally nature documentary lovers should be very pleased with the image quality of this outing. There are some occasional issues with aliasing and shimmer on overhead shots of "busy" topographies like tea fields, but those really are the sum total of any major problems with this otherwise appealing transfer.

Earth From Above: Life Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

It's really a shame that Earth from Above hasn't been granted a lossless audio option, for the series boasts one of the most impressively gorgeous and evocative scores in recent memory, certainly the equal if not clearly the superior to anything the BBC documentaries have offered. Armand Amar's score (perhaps adapted from the feature film Earth from Above—it's not entirely clear) melds a whole series of ethnic sounds into a seamless whole and is truly in every sense of the word "world music." While the standard Dolby Digital 2.0 mix suffices as far as it goes, I kept wishing I could hear Amar's gorgeous score in lossless audio and utilizing all of the surround channels. As noted in the main body of the review, Arthus-Bertrand's on screen French is overdubbed by a British gentleman, and the bulk of the episode is narrated by a British woman, both of whom sound great and quite elegant. Fidelity is excellent, if narrow, and this track, while far from what it could have been, should be fine for less persnickety audiophiles than this reviewer.

Earth From Above: Life Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

A DVD Copy and Digital Copy are included in this Combo Pack.

Earth From Above: Life Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's a reason why the early days of high definition home theater were often populated with fare like Planet Earth. Seeing nature in all of its glory in spectacular high definition can be a thrilling experience. If this outing in the Earth from Above series is a bit more screed-like than Planet Earth, it, too, boasts some spectacular imagery along the way, and it is graced by the thoughtful presence of Yann Arthus-Bertrand. You may not agree with Arthus-Bertrand's thesis that we're on the precipice of a global catastrophe, but few would doubt his own sincerity in believing this, and for wanting to educate the public about various ecological dangers he feels we're facing. Earth from Above would have done better with a lossless audio track, especially considering that really amazingly gorgeous score it contains, but otherwise this release is solid and should be enjoyed by most Planet Earth and Life fans. Recommended.