Fascination Earth 3D: Our Wonderful Planet Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		1.5
Audio		2.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.0

Fascination Earth 3D: Our Wonderful Planet Blu-ray Movie Review

Move along. Nothing to see here. Literally.

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown May 1, 2014

3D Media has delayed and released, delayed and released... and further delayed a string of 3D nature documentaries this year and last, with several more sitting idly by on the increasingly distant horizon. The reason behind the perpetual delays is unclear -- the latest batch of titles were just pushed back from May to July, with further street date changes inbound -- but titles are slowly creeping and crawling out of the primordial ooze and onto the Blu-ray market; one by one, two by two, here a doc, there a doc, everywhere a doc-doc.

Unfortunately, judging by the five-film Fascination Earth 3D collection, these delays aren't being used to bolster or enhance the quality of the series or individual movies in any way. As natural history productions go, all five are mediocre screensavers first, woefully subpar documentaries second, with sparse, unengaging factoids separated by lengthy silences. The wilderness and wildlife photography is decent enough I suppose, in a handheld home movie sort of way, but only because the shores of Papua New Guinea, the Rocky Mountains, the plains of Africa, the expanses of Europe and the valleys of Yellowstone are already gorgeous. Filming in such stunning locales amounts to point, shoot and impress. If only the discs' 3D and 2D AV presentations delivered anything remotely beautiful. Instead, the Fascination Earth collection offers five unremarkable, underwhelming, laughably narrated bargain bin Blu-rays that aren't even worth the price of admission. I've seen more stunning vacation videos.

The 5-disc Fascination Earth 3D: Our Wonderful Planet natural history documentary set includes five films:

• Papua 3D: The Secret Island of the Cannibals - "Papua New Guinea, the home island of the cannibals in the far Pacific ocean. It contains an array of islands which are significantly diversified. It's also one of the most culturally diverse countries on the Earth, with more than 840 different languages, as well as one of the most rural, as only 18 percent of its people live in urban centers. The country is one of the world's least explored, culturally and geographically, and home to many undiscovered species of plants and animals."
  
  For all the diversity mentioned in the film's synopsis, there isn't much to the documentary itself. The cameras plunge beneath the waves, hover over the coral and... stay beneath the waves and hover over more coral. Undersea creatures are followed and schools of fish dart by, but little else proves eventful. Footage of the island cultures is fleeting -- mere glimpses really -- and little detail is garnered about the people or wildlife of Papua New Guinea. And considering how muddy and dull Secret Island's underwater footage is, there isn't anything here capable of salvaging the chugging, churning hotel-courtesy-channel doc.


• Rocky Mountains 3D: The Impressive Natural Paradise - "The Rocky Mountains are North America's largest, most imposing mountain range. By way of comparison: the Alps would have to be lined up four times in a row to cover the Rockies from north to south. Turquoise lakes, snowcapped peaks, glaciers and endless forests characterize this fantastic wonder of nature, and traces of the legend surrounding this once-mysterious and seemingly unconquerable mountain region, which stretches around 4,500 kilometers from Alaska to New Mexico, can still be sensed today."
  
  Rather than any substantive exploration of the region, Rocky Mountains 3D takes its title too literally, serving up shot after shot of the mountains, a dutiful incorporation of a few select species and... little else. There's only so much breeze-swept grass, mountainous expanses and lumbering creatures one can tolerate, particularly when the documentary struggles to create a compelling natural history narrative or to even draw the viewer into the ecosystem of the Rocky Mountains. Again, the word "screensaver" comes to mind, because that's about all this one is good for. And even that's debatable.


• Wild Africa 3D: An Extraordinary Journey - "Africa, the mother of all the continents. This enormous area is situated along the equator surrounded by oceans at the center of the world. 13% of the world's population call it their home, and nowhere has developed so many different variations of flora and fauna (from lions to elephants to zebras)."
  
  Who knew the mainstays of the African plains could be this dreadfully boring. With nary a long lens on hand, Wild Africa is anything but wild, choosing to focus on sleepy-eyed predators who never give chase, close in on prey, or do the things the beasts of the Serengeti do so well. Cheetahs sit quietly. Lions yawn. Elephants pace. And I found myself following suit. Once again, there isn't much here in the way of education or detail on the animals or the African wilderness, and, once again, there isn't anything to distinguish this sad excuse for a natural history documentary from a free video on YouTube.


• World's Nature 3D: Europe's Most Beautiful Places - "Journey into the wild desert of Middle-Europe and be impressed by the wonderful symbiosis of tradition and natural beauty of the flora and fauna. Be impressed by animals in their real natural environment and experience these unique moments in 3D."
  
  Another misleading title. Europe's Most Beautiful Places doesn't venture into greater Europe at all, a product of the low budget the photography, narration and overall production values all point to. Like Wild Africa, the wildlife in World's Nature 3D doesn't really do anything of note, the landscapes are lovely but too much like still-life art, and the whole of the documentary doesn't feel like a documentary in the slightest. There's bargain bin and then there's bargain bin, and this one definitely warrants some italicization.


• Yellowstone 3D: America's Greatest Wonder - "The Yellowstone National Park is the oldest national park in the world. Established in 1872, it protects an idyllic landscape with thick pine forests, lakes and rivers from exploitation by humans. Situated on a high plateau in the Rocky Mountains, the park is the largest national park in the United States and offers shelter for many endangered animal species like bears, elk, cougars, lynx, wolves and bison."
  
  You guessed it. More of the same, just a different locale. Don't come to Yellowstone: America's Greatest Wonder expecting anything in the way of, well, wonder. The park may be a source of awe, but the documentary does its damnedest to make Yellowstone as dry and tiring a subject as possible. (And believe me, I didn't think it was this possible, even for 3D Media.) Fascination Earth 3D goes 0 for 5, without a single showcase piece in the bunch.

Fascination Earth 3D: Our Wonderful Planet Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Where to even begin? 3D Media's 1080p/MVC-encoded 3D experiences and AVC-encoded 2D presentations are a mess from start to finish, no matter the disc. (Films include Papua: The Secret Island of the Cannibals, Rocky Mountains: The Impressive Natural Paradise, Wild Africa: An Extraordinary Journey, World's Nature: Europe's Most Beautiful Places and Yellowstone: America's Greatest Wonder). The documentary palettes bobble between washed out, modestly strong and garishly hot, with at-times undersaturated, poorly contrasted imagery followed (sometimes within the same sequence) by unsightly, hotly contrasted photography. Primaries cross extremes too, from diluted to overbearing, as do black levels, which bounce from horribly muted to oppressive.

The entire five-film presentation, in fact, bears a regrettably striking resemblance to an off-label multi-movie pack you'd pick up on standard DVD a decade ago, and poorly compressed standard DVDs at that. Macroblocking is common. Banding and shimmering are at play. Aliasing and ringing are present throughout. And don't even try to catalogue the pulldown anomalies, crosstalk-prone 3D shots and other random eyesores that litter the already problematic proceedings. It's as close to a lost cause as it comes.

Detail ranges from middling to smeared to downright disheartening as well, all of which makes for an at-times grueling viewing experience, regardless of whether you select each film's 2D or 3D presentation. Worse, 3D depth is a joke (I'd argue non-existent if there weren't a handful of animal close-ups that actually do have a reasonably three-dimensional appearance), dimensionality is completely disappointing, and even the best of the film's 3D scenes may as well be in 2D as flat and uninspiring as they are. The collection's only real selling point -- its 3D -- is designed solely to lure in those still eager to buy every 3D disc on the market, whatever the consequence. And that's a rapidly dwindling subset of 3D adopters, most of whom hopefully are getting wiser to the tricks of the bargain 3D trade. Is there any saving grace to the 5-disc Fascination Earth set's video presentations? Anything at all? Those who've had the misfortune to purchase other 3D Media releases already know the answer: not really. Scratch that: no, not a single thing.

Fascination Earth 3D: Our Wonderful Planet Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

All five films include two DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround tracks: the first with narration and music, the second a music-only mix. Sadly, lossless or no, narration is slightly muffled and flatly implemented, dynamics are average at best, rear speaker activity is inconsequential, and the documentary's generic, barrel-bottom music barely registers. Again, the word DVD springs to mind, even though there are a few moments that exhibit some DTS-HD heft. These moments are the exception rather than the rule, though, and the tracks are serviceable at best, if I'm being generous. Ultimately, like its video encodes, Fascination Earth's lossless audio tracks fail to deliver.

Fascination Earth 3D: Our Wonderful Planet Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Other than the music-only lossless tracks, Fascination Earth 3D doesn't include any special features.

Fascination Earth 3D: Our Wonderful Planet Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

No. No. No. No. Never have such stunning, fascinating places been so tiresome and off-putting. Screensavers at best, the Fascination Earth collection doesn't get much better when it comes to the rest of the discs. It actually gets much, much worse. The video presentations may as well be hitched to DVDs, the 3D experiences falter and fail, the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround tracks are merely passable, and there aren't any special features to speak of. Five 3D natural history documentaries at a bargain price may sound like a bargain, but don't be so easily fooled. Sometimes you get what you pay for. Sometimes you just get ripped off.