Frozen Planet II 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		4.0

Frozen Planet II 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Just in time for Spring!

Reviewed by Randy Miller III April 10, 2023

I'm only halfway kidding up there, of course, because truth be told my region didn't have much of a winter this year. Then again, that's kinda the point of BBC's Frozen Planet II, a new nature docuseries that follows up the 2012 original with a more decisive focus on climate change during the last several decades. Combining the BBC Natural History Unit's trademark ability to capture dazzling footage with time-tested and clever new camera tricks, viewers of all ages can again be transported around the globe for six more hour-long explorations of life as we've never seen it.

As with more recent BBC efforts such as The Green Planet, Blue Planet II, and Seven Worlds, One Planet -- not to mentioned established classics like Planet Earth and Life -- Frozen Planet II is a feast for the senses, its dazzling sights and sounds serving as more than just icing on a pretty substantial cake. Here, unsurprisingly we travel to a number of snowy landscapes and other remote, inhospitable corners of the world, filmed on location in all seven continents to provide a truly all-encompassing look at life surviving and thriving where humans can only visit temporarily.

Episodes include "Frozen Worlds", "Frozen Ocean", "Frozen Peaks", "Frozen South", "Frozen Lands", and finally "Our Frozen Planet", a wrap-up/victory lap that doubles as slightly more of look behind-the-scenes with an unsurprisingly doubled-down focus on the important of halting or at least slowing the climate change that's inarguably changed the face of countless habitats and once-massive glaciers into a shadow of their former selves. Of course, it goes down easy thanks to the presence of captivating animal footage: all told, we're introduced to dozens of species including obvious candidates like emperor penguins, polar bears, Siberian tigers, leopard seals, and snowy owls, as well as deeper cuts like the grumpy Pallas's cat, skeleton shrimp, snow petrels, and Amur leopards. Riveting chase scenes, unsuccessful hunts, mating rituals and birth, adaptation to changing temperatures: it's all captured in dazzling detail, paired of course with reliably great narration from host Sir David Attenborough, who turns 97 years old next month.

Collectively, Frozen Planet II captures most of the wonder and excitement of the BBC's best, with a handful of scenes going down as instant classics. There's unsurprisingly very little fat here, with each 50-odd minute episode jumping around to various continents while never feeling scattershot or disorganized. Keeping with tradition, its deft combo of visual excitement and crucial education make Frozen Planet II well-suited for family movie night and the classroom, with its focus on activism remaining gentle but steadfast. I'd be lying if I said this six-episode series didn't suffer from sporadic moments of "been there, done that" -- whether that applies to their previous work or other globetrotting films like The Quatsi Trilogy -- but it's still an admirable effort that will please die-hard fans and newcomers alike.

NOTE: Like The Green Planet, this 4K/Blu-ray combo pack features different content on both formats. In short, the 4K versions are slightly shorter, disappointingly cutting out all occasional on-screen appearances of Attenborough (but don't worry, he still narrates!) and transposing a quintet of short behind-the-scenes segments, titled "Out in the Cold", into a bonus featurette rather than just playing them after the first five episodes. I'm assuming this is to uphold the different ways Frozen Planet II originally aired in the US and UK, but it seems like a lot of unnecessary work.

Frozen Planet II 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

NOTE: The screenshots in this review are all sourced from the longer Blu-ray episodes, as explained above.

Despite at least one nagging issue detailed below, BBC's 4K presentation of Frozen Planet II largely reaches the heights of their earlier IMAX and HD/UHD-shot films that have long since made them the studio to beat for stunning footage of our natural world. Its mostly 4K-native material is rendered in razor-sharp detail with strong textures, excellent color reproduction, deep black levels, and an overall commitment to quality that makes almost every shot a pretty solid candidate for desktop wallpaper. Several on-the-fly moments -- unexpected chases, unpredictable moments, and other stray shots -- don't hit with the same impact or occasionally suffer from less-than-optimal lighting or framing; these are not only few and far between but basically expected due to the difficulties of split-second timing and of course tough weather conditions. In short, this is another great-looking series that stands tall among its peers.

So why not an even higher score? Surprisingly, episode #6 ("Our Frozen Planet") features a potential authoring defect in that its gamma levels are slightly out of whack, which affects black levels and overall dynamic range by giving it a somewhat washed-out appearance. This issue does not seem to affect its Blu-ray counterpart, so it's possible that there was some sort of flaw in the HDR conversion or another behind-the-scenes issue that somehow went undetected. If this eventually results in any kind of disc replacement program, I'll be sure and post an update here.

In contrast, then, it's ironic that Frozen Planet II's 1080p transfer is more consistent from start to finish. Of course, it doesn't reach the occasionally dizzying heights achieved by the native 4K source material or UHD's HDR encoding, and the intermittent presence of compression artifacts (slight macro blocking, faint banding on gradients) keeps the "lesser format" from achieving a perfect video rating. Yet this is still a high-quality presentation, and the occasional transition to native 2K material -- behind-the-scenes footage glimpsed during "Out in the Cold", other stray shots -- is more or less seamless. Those who are buying this set strictly for the Blu-rays, then, should rest easy knowing that it's anything but a compromise in most departments and should play quite well on small to medium-sized displays.

Frozen Planet II 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

These BBC series rarely disappoint from a sonic perspective -- even if many moments are artificially sweetened with foley effects and emotional music cues, whether they need them or not -- and Frozen Planet II is no different, with its bold Dolby Atmos presentation offering a thundering experience that, in my opinion, even outpaces its visual ambitions. As with previous BBC documentary films that have made use of the newer format, surround activity and separation are crisply rendered -- including the height channels, which are mostly reserved for overhead fly-bys and intense weather events -- while discrete effects heighten no shortage of tense moments, orchestral cues enjoy a rich dynamic range (including one that sounds an awful lot like Final Fantasy VI's overworld theme, not that I'm complaining), ethereal vocal contributions from Norwegian singer-songwriter Aurora feel like a perfect fit, and David Attenborough's warm, unwavering narration comes through clearly. It's as stunning an experience as you'd expect from a studio with such a consistent record for sonic greatness, so fire up your receivers and prepare to put them to work.

A slightly scaled-back (but still impressive) DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix is also included... and also serves as the default audio mix, so be sure and visit the setup menu or toggle to the Atmos track if you're equipped for it.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during all six episodes and the bonus footage detailed below.

Frozen Planet II 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This four-disc set ships in a hinged keepcase with basic disc contents listed on the back. The lone extra, a collection of bonus footage already included as part of the extended Blu-ray episodes, can be found on one of the 4K discs.

4K DISC TWO

• Out in the Cold - This collection of five segments, sourced from the first five extended Blu-ray episodes and running about 10 minutes apiece, feature brief clips of the BBC Natural History Unit's production team battling the elements and scouting locations to capture the incredible footage of Frozen Planet II. Unsurprisingly, these clips are presented in 1080p/SDR and look more or less identical to their Blu-ray counterparts.

Frozen Planet II 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I've said before that as long as the BBC keeps making nature documentaries, I'll keep watching them. Frozen Planet II largely achieves the same stunning level of quality as their previous efforts, occasionally dipping into "been there, done that" territory but still toeing the line between engaging and educational with the right amount of call to action urgency. How bittersweet, then, that narrator David Attenborough's on-screen presence continues to dwindle (he's even edited out of the shorter 4K episodes), although persistent rumors of his retirement have again been denied. So hey, just like those icebergs, let's enjoy it while it lasts. BBC's 4K/Blu-ray combo pack features another solid A/V presentation (with one exception, detailed above) and minimal extras, but is overall firmly recommended for fans of all ages.