Galactic Adventures Double Feature Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		2.5

Galactic Adventures Double Feature Blu-ray Movie Review

Light and Dust 101

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown December 8, 2013

Galactic Adventures offers very little in the way of adventure. Adults will find the Double Feature's documentaries -- the tersely titled 3D Sun and 3D Mars -- to be rudimentary, lacking the depth and detail of a fuller and more fully realized production. Children, meanwhile, will find the documentaries to be dry and uneventful. Even at roughly 22-minutes a pop, Sun and Mars drag, despite serving up plenty of footage and CG renderings of Earth's star, the Mars Rover, satellites, solar flares and other potentially fascinating elements. Somewhere in the middle I'm sure there's a very studious eight-year-old science enthusiast and a... let's just say less-informed forty-year-old casual observer who will enjoy the proceedings. But that child would need to be impervious to boredom, and that adult would have had to watch very few documentaries or television specials on the sun or mars. Where does that leave Galactic Adventures? With a pair of so-so 3D presentations, it's bound for the bottom of the bargain bin.

3D Sun is easily the more interesting and entertaining documentary of the two. Front and center is the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory, a crucial part of NASA's Solar Terrestrial Probes that utilizes two separate unmanned observatories at opposite ends of Earth's orbit to collect data on the Sun. The observatories allow scientists to study the sun's flares, solar winds and ejections, and to gather an astonishing amount of information on aspects of the sun we're only just beginning to understand. Oddly enough, NASA's mission earns the most attention here, meaning the sun is something of a supporting player. A tighter script, a longer runtime and more diverse details would have given 3D Sun more oomph. Narrator Al Roker is pleasant enough to listen to, though, so it helps pass the time.

3D Mars is much slower, partly because the documentary's filmmakers tend to repeat themselves and partly because the Mars landscape grows repetitive after awhile, particularly for those who've already pored over Rover footage. Again, humans take the stage, shoving the poor Red Planet aside now and again to highlight -- and re-highlight -- NASA's efforts in landing a functional man-made vehicle on the surface. It's by no means unwatchable, and "boring" is probably a harsh way to describe the experience, as that will only apply to those who've taken the time to follow the Rover's time on Mars via the internet. There are certainly far worse ways to spend an hour of one's life, but a pair of educational documentaries being released on Blu-ray shouldn't be so handily bested by broadcast episodes of galaxy and universe-centric shows on the Science Network and the Discovery Channel.

Galactic Adventures Double Feature Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

3D Sun is backed by a 1080p/MVC-encoded presentation. However, 3D Mars is presented in 720p, which will come as quite a surprise to those who aren't armed with the necessary information. The differences between the two are quite noticeable, with Mars being rather soft compared to its more impressive disc-mate. Each 3D experience follows suit. Sun offers the crisper, more convincing three-dimensional image of the two, while Mars suffers accordingly. It doesn't help that banding, artifacting and noise are frequent offenders no matter the resolution, and colors are sometimes dull and washed out. Otherwise, these are the documentaries as they were shot, low budget production values, mediocre CG renderings and all. Detail is decent, although ringing and other issues (aliasing especially) are a bit too prevalent. Black levels are deep, even though crush is problematic. And primaries boast a welcome heat and lingering warmth, at least when it comes to Sun. Mars sadly remains the ugly stepchild throughout, making this "Double Feature" more of a single with a supplemental doc for good measure.

Galactic Adventures Double Feature Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Both Sun and Mars are presented with DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround, and each track does a fine job with what little it's given. Narration and voices are clean and clear, effects are precise and well-prioritized, and there are a number of instances where the LFE channel gets the opportunity to do its thing. Still, both films are front-heavy affairs, with only a few standout sequences apiece.

Galactic Adventures Double Feature Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

There's a selection of trailers for other Image releases, but nothing more substantial finds its way onto the disc.

Galactic Adventures Double Feature Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I may have come to 3D Sun and 3D Mars expecting too much. Instead of a riveting double feature, I spent forty-four minutes with a pair of museum documentaries; the sort that play on loop in small dark theaters nestled amongst the exhibits. Frankly, I've learned far more from hour-long specials and series episodes on Science and Discovery, and I've been far more engrossed for the duration. Add to that a middle of the road video presentation (with one documentary, 3D Mars, presented at 720p), decent (but not amazing) 3D, and solid DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround and you have an average bargain-priced double feature... minus the bargain price.