Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Earthflight: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie Review

“It is a universal dream to fly like a bird, to soar on wings to the heavens...”

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown April 21, 2014

Earthflight is a magnificent series, soaring and majestic, poetic yet entertaining, and above all, engaging and informative. It's a natural history documentary for the entire family, from fledgling biologist to seasoned science geek, and its only limitation is your children's -- or perhaps your own -- attention spans. Divided into six engrossing episodes that span six continents, the series attracts none other than Doctor Who alum David Tennant, who injects equal parts gravitas, wonder and impishness into his role as captain and host. The subjects themselves, the countless species of birds and creatures of the air, are a fascinating, worthy focus too, offering more than enough material to fill each episode (with enough left over that demands further exploration in the future). Together, Tennant and the feathered princes of the sky pull back the curtain on a kingdom all too often overlooked, with an appreciation and awe that justifies every minute spent on the winds. There are a handful of distractions -- chief among them the camera the BBC Natural History Unit situate atop several birds' backs for mid-flight recording, which amounts to inadvertently comical shots reminiscent of an Aflac promo gag -- but, by and large, this is another dazzling, triumphant entry in the BBC Earth catalog.

The 2-disc Blu-ray release of Earthflight: The Complete Series features six episodes, including:

• North America: Become part of a flock of millions of snow geese as they discover what it's like to be on the hit-list of America's national bird: the bald eagle. Glide under San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge with pelicans and experience the sensation of being on the back of a bird as you are flown through Monument Valley, the Grand Canyon and New York. In California, pelicans reveal devil rays that perform astonishing somersaults and find bizarre grunion fish that wriggle ashore to spawn. In Alaska, bald eagles swoop among brown bears fishing for salmon. On the Great Plains, cowbirds duck and dive under the feet of fighting bison. As we see the world through the eyes of birds, egrets show us the extraordinary habits of dolphins that strand themselves to feed; millions of shorebirds rendezvous with prehistoric creatures emerging from the sea; and gulls take us to Mono Lake, where they catch flies by chasing them with open mouths.
• Africa: Fly over Africa on the back of a vulture and see the most animal-packed continent with fresh eyes. Arrow-dive with cape gannets among sharks, dolphins and whales as they join the great sardine run. Soar with fish eagles as they discover an S-shaped living island comprised entirely of flamingos, and join them on a spectacular hunt. Fly with kelp gulls as they study the hunting behavior of the greatest underwater predator of all: the great white shark. On the wings of eagles, fly through the mist-filled Victoria Falls and dive for fish in the mighty Zambezi. Circle with vultures high above the Serengeti as they watch the drama of the wildebeest migration below, and discover what happens when this canny scavenger suddenly becomes prey. Among toxic soda lakes, find out what it is like to be a flamingo, vulnerable to every predator on the continent, including baboons and hyenas. Join these flamingos as they take part in one of the most beautiful dances in the bird world.
• Europe: Among other wonders, cameras soar with cranes and geese over Venice, the white cliffs of Dover and Edinburgh. White storks leave Africa and struggle to reach Istanbul, the gateway to Europe, while cranes take an easier route over the monkey-guarded Rock of Gibraltar. In France, the white horses of the Camargue make a splash around the new arrivals. In Rome, the heat of the city lures 20 million starlings that perform nature's greatest aerial display to outwit peregrines. In Hungary, sand martins grab mayflies from the air; and at Bass Rock, gannets create Britain's greatest natural spectacle as they dive in slow-motion. The story takes an emotional turn as storks and swallows wait for their partners to return and indulge in a spot of DIY to impress. Finally, geese touch down in Svalbard to raise a family. To protect their young, a squadron of birds assemble to see off polar bears.
• South America: As condors soar along the Andes, scarlet macaws explore the heart of the Amazon and hummingbirds and vultures see the continent's greatest sights. It is a journey that includes Machu Picchu, the Nasca Lines and the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Santiago. In Patagonia, giant petrels shadow killer whales as they hunt seals by stranding their huge bodies on the beach. At Iguassu Falls, dusky swifts dive through the cascades to huddle in communal roosts while hummingbirds bathe below. In a secret Andean location, condors soar in flocks over 40-strong and scavenge on casualties from herds of fighting guanacos. Elsewhere, a mother condor gently pushes her youngster to the edge of a 200-metre cliff, as flight school begins. Deep in the Amazon, macaws seek medicinal clay. They are joined by a host of secretive jungle animals, including spider monkeys and tapirs, all after the same remedy. In Peru, condors soar over fighting sea lions waiting for causalities and on a mass exodus north, birds converge on the Panama Canal. In Costa Rica, black vultures descend on turtles as they lay their eggs in the sand.
• Asia and Australia: Demoiselle cranes negotiate a dangerous Himalayan pass on their way to India while high-flying bar-headed geese take the fast track five miles above. In Rajasthan, vultures watch hunting tigers hoping for a meal and pigeons visit a temple dedicated solely to sacred rats. Pigeons are also our guide to the greatest gatherings of camels on Earth and learn to dodge buzzards around the battlements of Jodhpur Fort. 9,000 cranes overwinter in the most unlikely of spots - a barbed wire compound in the center of a desert town. In Australia, rainbow lorikeets drop in on Sydney and patrol Australia's Gold Coast. In the outback, white cockatoos swirl in thousands and budgerigars pass Uluru (Ayers Rock) and gather in the biggest flocks ever recorded. In China, swallows and swifts visit the Great Wall and the Forbidden City of Beijing. In Japan, the country's most revered birds, Japanese cranes, are fed fish by appreciative locals and are joined in strange, momentary harmony by hungry red foxes, white-tailed eagles and Steller's eagles. As peace descends, Japanese cranes dance beautifully in the snow.
• Flying High: For some of the unique flying shots, members of the team became part of the flock. The birds followed wherever they went, even in a microlight over Edinburgh and London. In Africa, paragliders floated alongside wild vultures, while a model vulture carried a camera inside the flock. In South America, wild-living macaws, that were rescued as babies, still come back to visit their 'foster mother' as he travels along a jungle river. In Africa, a radio-controlled 'drone' silently infiltrates masses of pink flamingos without disturbing a feather, and microlights and helicopters capture the dramatic moment white storks arrive over Istanbul. In Africa a tame vulture carried a camera across the African bush and recreated the behavior of his wild relatives. Similarly, in the USA, a flock of hand-reared snow geese followed the migration route of wild flocks and took in the sights and sounds of New York, managing to get lost in Brooklyn.

Earthflight: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The biggest hurdle Earthflight's 1080p/AVC-encoded presentation faces is its multitude of video sources, some of which look less than spectacular in high definition. Artifacting, noise, ringing and other predators prowl the skies, and leave many a shot ragged and tattered. That said, each instance is inherent to the series' photography, making it difficult to complain too loudly when so many scenes are sights to behold because the BBC Natural History Unit isn't beholden to the best image, only the best shot; no matter how difficult it is to capture. Colors, though, are vibrant and lifelike, with bold flashes of primary brilliance, beautifully saturated earthtones and deep, cavernous blacks. Detail is quite good too, or at least as good as it can be given how inconsistent it tends to be. Several sequences are stunning, no two ways about it, and everything that doesn't measure up will be easily forgiven by anyone whose expectations align with the norm for natural history documentaries, particularly those filmed so high above the Earth. The encode itself isn't prone to anomalies either, meaning Earthflight fares very well in spite of all the challenges set before the BBC NHU.

Earthflight: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

BBC Home Entertainment's DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo track is less wondrous, although no less proficient and true to its source. Narrator David Tennant's voice is clean and clear at all times, and prioritized nicely above and among the sounds of nature and the calls and cries of the various species of birds. The remaining soundscape certainly isn't enveloping insofar as any soundfield is concerned -- a fuller experience with LFE weight and six channel support would have helped Earthflight come to life that much more -- but it's more than serviceable, without any real issues or pitfalls to speak of. No, it's not very exciting. Don't let that prevent you from adding the series to your must-see list, though.

Earthflight: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The 2-disc Blu-ray edition of Earthflight: The Complete Series doesn't include any special features.

Earthflight: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If you experience rush of excitement every time you see the BBC Earth logo on the cover of a natural history release, Earthflight will prove to be an absolute delight as entertaining and dazzling as it is engaging and educational. David Tennant makes for a wonderful narrator too, and one I hope the BBC utilizes more often as Sir David Attenborough's reign sadly inches nearer to its end. The series' Blu-ray release and AV presentation are excellent too, even though the 2-disc set doesn't offer anything in the way of special features. All told, those who are proud to have Planet Earth and other BBC Earth documentaries on their shelves will be more than thrilled to add Earthflight to their collection. It is a marvel to behold.