7.5 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
James Cameron and Bill Paxton, director and actor of the 1997 film Titanic, travel to the final undersea resting place of the fated ship of dreams.
Starring: James Cameron, Bill PaxtonFamily | 100% |
Documentary | 43% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 MVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
English SDH, French
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Three-disc set (2 BDs, 1 DVD)
DVD copy
Blu-ray 3D
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
The RMS Titanic may lie in a watery grave, but it's by no means a ghost ship. Even 100 years after its sinking, it continues to fascinate, intrigue, and warn the modern world of the grim fate that can befall anything tainted by arrogance and hubris. Its story is both a terrible tragedy and a powerful cautionary tale; its call to historians and scientists in the 21st century both an open invitation and a siren song. Come and see what man has accomplished. Come and see at what great cost. It's a call director James Cameron knows all too well. The record-breaking 1997 Best Picture winner, Titanic, earned $2 billion at the worldwide box office and eleven Oscars, and yet Cameron couldn't walk away from the Titanic. Four years later, in August and September of 2001, the filmmaker who launched an unsinkable blockbuster traveled to the North Atlantic, descended into its icy depths, and explored the remains of the once-mighty ship. What he discovered there was haunting, yes. But what happened above the water, on once-unbreachable soil, was even more so...
Ghosts of the Abyss features a 1080p/MVC-encoded video presentation that's technically sound, with only a few minor issues to report. The nature of the documentary opens the image to a variety of inconsistencies and anomalies, particularly when it comes to the film's submersible and robot-mounted camera footage, but none of it is cause for concern or alarm. Slight, intermittent banding is the most alien oddity beneath the sea; most everything else is a product of the source, nothing more. Noise fluctuates, aliasing graces the now-nine-year old CG ship analysis models, and lower resolution shots are unruly. Colors are accurate, though, skintones are well-saturated (barring a few flushed cheeks), black levels are satisfying, contrast is dialed in nicely, and detail, though generally uneven and unreliable, delivers the goods, especially aboard the Akademik Mstislav Keldysh and during the film's dramatic recreations of the events that occurred on the Titanic's maiden voyage. The 3D experience is quite convincing too, and the shipwreck itself boasts excellent dimensionality as the underwater cameras move past. The interiors are less immersive, but only because the murky water reduces visibility. Viewers whose displays are prone to crosstalk will also encounter some problematic background elements, and aliasing is a touch more prevalent (or perhaps noticeable) in the 3D presentation than its 2D counterpart. Still, Ghosts of the Abyss holds its own -- in 2D and 3D -- and makes it that much easier to explore the Titanic with Cameron and his crew.
Note: the 90-minute extended cut is presented in 2D only. The 60-minute theatrical cut is presented in 2D and 3D.
Disney's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track shares a lot in common with its accompanying video presentation. Up top, above the water, it creates an enveloping environment with wide open seas, surging waves, high winds, cramped quarters and plenty of directional prowess. Below the sea it's far more subdued, surrounding the listener with the slow, soothing pulse of the deep and little more. Directional effects are still a factor -- look no further than Jake, Elwood and some of the creatures they find living in the Titanic -- but remarkable they are not. The LFE channel is as passive-aggressive as the rear speakers, not that anyone should expect anything more. Again, the nature of the documentary and the challenges the deep-sea shoot presents are to blame, not Disney's lossless mix. Voices are clean and clear at times, muffled and thin the next. Paxton's narration is perfectly prioritized, his conversations with Russian scientists not so much. It doesn't detract from the experience, of course. If anything, it's authentic, and authenticity goes a long way in Ghosts of the Abyss. Will it fool anyone into believing they've descended to the bottom of the ocean in a small submersible? No. Does it do everything it can with what it has to work with? It does, and I couldn't ask for much more.
Ghosts of the Abyss is more than an expedition to explore the RMS Titanic, and much more than it might first appear. Cameron does a fine job of connecting a hundred-year-old tragedy with the events of our times, asking us to heed the warning of a sunken ship once thought to be unsinkable. Disney's Blu-ray release is quite good too thanks to three versions of the film (including a 90-minute extended cut), a proficiently encoded video presentation, a solid 3D experience, a capable DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track and a small but satisfying assortment of special features.
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