HD Aviation: 100 Years of Flight Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

HD Aviation: 100 Years of Flight Blu-ray Movie Review

Grounded.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman May 14, 2015

Sometimes it's the title way back, deep down in the listings, that obscure little oddity that benefits most from a review, the kind of title that never really gets much, if any, exposure in the news or buzz on the forums. These titles might sporadically go on a deep sale or show up in some search and pique one's interest, particularly specialty titles that are marketed more for a niche rather than mass consumption. One such release is HD Aviation: 100 Years of Flight, a little Blu-ray release from a small label called "Picturebox." This release's title suggests some kind of documentary overview of aviation, but the slogan on the box reads "canvas in motion." Even still, potential buyers might be tempted to check it out blind, rightly assuming it will offer a detailed overview of aviation from Kitty Hawk to classics of the sky, from Lindbergh to luxury airliners, from the Red Baron to remote-controlled drones, but that's not the case. Instead, HD Aviation: 100 Years of Flight offers, as the slogan suggests, a "moving canvas" of slow pan overviews of museum-quality planes and replicas from 1903 to 2003, set to music. No narration, no text beyond a blurb identifying the plane, no story of flight or tales from the sky, just moving pictures of planes on display in a large museum/hangar. With what it is and isn't out of the way, does HD Aviation: 100 Years of Flight soar high or crash and burn?

The one that started it all.

HD Aviation: 100 Years of Flight is, essentially, a museum tour through a selection of aircraft (listed below) that demonstrate the evolution of flight, particularly through design. Since there's no information provided beyond a manufacturer, model number, nickname, and year of production, viewers can really only appreciate the history by sight alone -- looking at how design changed over the years -- or by sourcing a third party for more information. And with that in mind, one might ask "what's the point?" The truth is that there isn't much of a point. This isn't even on the same level as a trading card that would have a picture on the front and relevant statistics on the back. It's a simple slideshow, essentially, set to optional music that helps set a particular mood by playing selections reminiscent of the popular music of the era in which the plane was introduced, including Ragtime, Big Band, miscellaneous militaristic marches, Rock, and Techno. Why there's not at least an optional subtitle track that offers some text overview is a crime, never mind some sort of optional narration that provides basic highlights centered on the planes' history, usage, design, manufacturer, and other basic details. In that regard the program is a failure. It's nothing more than an appetizer that will leave the interested audience wanting more and certainly looking to other sources for the information they crave.

Other basic flaws abound. The selection is strangely limited to small aircraft. It doesn't include larger commercial airliners or even private jets, focusing just about exclusively on one-seaters. There's a selection of World War II classics but nothing in the way of more modern military aircraft: no F-4 Phantoms, no F-16s, no MiGs, no Stealth bombers, no drones. It's an odd omission considering those are the type of aircraft that might interest an audience that's broader than the aviation enthusiast. The photography is fine but the pause button is going to be the viewer's best friend. At about 80 minutes in length and with about 60 subjects, there's just not enough time to admire the design intricacies, the cockpit instrument panels (which aren't shown for every model), or get a closer look at whatever text may be painted on the side. This is just a simple point-and-shoot-and-pan collection of images that do offer a nice little visual overview of small plane history but there's no mistaking that this could have been so much more.

Planes depicted in this presentation include:

• Wright/EAA "Flyer" (1903) Replica
• Curtiss A-1 Pusher "Sweetheart" (1912)
• Bates "Monoplane" (1912)
• Nieuport/Huntley 11 (1915) Replica
• Fokker/Redfern Dr. I "Triplane" (1917) Replica
• Curtiss JN4D "Jenny" (1918)
• Ryan/EAA "Spirit of St. Louis" (1927) Replica
• Fairchild FC-2 W2 (1927)
• Sikorsky S-38 "Carnauba" (1928) Replica
• Velie Monocoupe 113 (1929)
• Cessna CG-2 Glider (ca. 1930s)
• Spartan C3-225 (1930)
• Pitcairn PCA-2 Autogiro "Miss Champion" (1931)
• Laird "Super Solution" (1931) Replica
• Chester Special Racer "Jeep" (1932)
• Stinson SM-8A "Junior" (1932)
• Wittman D-12 "Bonzo" (1934)
• Bücker BÜ133L "Jüngmeister" (1935)
• Ryan STA "Supersport" (1938)
• Crosby CR-4 (1938)
• Bugatti Model 100 Racer (1938)
• Taylorcraft/Cole BF-50 (1938)
• Curtiss/Rosanik P6-E "Hawk" (ca. 1930s) Replica
• Harlow PJC-2 (1940)
• North American P-64 (1940)
• North American XP-51 "Mustang" (1941)
• Supermarine Mk 1X "Spitfire" (1943)
• North American B-25H "Mitchell" (1943)
• North American F-51D "Mustang" (1944)
• Grumman/Columbia J2F-6 "Duck" (1944)
• Chance-Vought F4U-4 "Corsair" (1944)
• Lockheed P-38L "Lightning" (1945)
• de Havilland D.H. 98-B "Mosquito" (1946)
• Boeing/Hughes "Super Stearman" (1943)
• Piper J3C-65 "Cub" (1946)
• de Havilland DHC-1B-2 "Chipmunk" (1946)
• Hegy R.C.H.I. "El Chuparosa" (1946)
• LeVier W-5 "Cosmic Wind" (1948)
• Wittman DFA "Little Bonzo" (1948)
• Taylor "Aerocar" (1949)
• Loving/Wayne WR-1 Racer "Loving's Love" (1951)
• Stits SA-2A "Sky Baby" (1952)
• Poberezny P-5 "Pober Sport" (1959)
• EAA A-1 (P-2) "Biplane" (1960)
• Roloff/Unger RLU-1 "Breezy" (1964)
• Pitts S-2 "Big Stinker" (1966)
• Van Grunsven RV-3 (1971)
• Rutan 50-160 "VariViggen" (1972)
• Rutan "VariEze" (1975)
• Rutan/Scaled Composites "Voyager" (1984) Replica
• Rutan/Herron "Quickie" (1979)
• Stoddard-Hamilton Ham2 "Glasair" (1979)
• Stits DS-1 "Baby Bird" (1983)
• Neibauer "Lancer/Lancair 200" (1984)
• Miller-Bohannan JM-2 Special "Pushy Galore" (1989)
• Pitts/Friends of Curtis S-1 (1990) Replica
• Cirrus VK-30 (1991)
• Herron/Keech LW-5 "Little Wing Autogyro" (2003)
• Rutan/Scaled Composites/EAA "SpaceShipOne" (2003) Replica

HD Aviation: 100 Years of Flight Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

HD Aviation: 100 Years of Flight features a nuts-and-bolts basic 1080i, MPEG-2 encoded, 1.78:1-framed transfer. And the results aren't bad. The image is glossy and flat to be sure, but raw details and colors are strong and borderline exciting. Viewers will enjoy the transfer's ability to finely showcase the planes, revealing rivets, graphics (pictures and text) and cockpit instrument clusters with pinpoint, nearly tactile detail. The general image is sharp and even the warehouse/hangar background shows solid definition on beams and other basic structure details. Colors are cheery and robust, with a wide assortment to enjoy but silvers, blues, and reds in particular dominate the aircraft paint schemes. Background black levels satisfy in terms of depth and evenness. Very light aliasing, noise, and banding are visible in spots but are never overtly intrusive. Despite its meager specs, this is a solid presentation.

HD Aviation: 100 Years of Flight Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

HD Aviation: 100 Years of Flight's bottom-line basic Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack has only one area of concern: music. The various instrumental-only samplings enjoy surprisingly healthy vitality and front end spacing, with a center focus but also a nice bit of drift out to the sides. Basic instrument definition impresses and the music plays with commendable clarity. It's odd that there would be a "no music" option when simply turning down the volume accomplishes the same thing, but choosing that option simply plays the content with no accompanying sound.

HD Aviation: 100 Years of Flight Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of HD Aviation: 100 Years of Flight contains no bonus content. The main menu is limited to selections for "play" and "credits." Selecting "play" allows users to choose if they want to hear music during playback.

HD Aviation: 100 Years of Flight Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

HD Aviation: 100 Years of Flight might satisfy hardcore aviation enthusiasts, but with no commentary -- voice or text -- to support the images outside of a basic names and years of manufacture, it probably won't prove a very welcoming experience for casual observers. Chances are most will be better off buying a ticket to a real museum instead. Pictuerbox's Blu-ray release of HD Aviation: 100 Years of Flight offers good video and audio, particularly considering the limitations. No extras are included. Sad to say, but skip it. There's just not enough here. This could have been a much better release with even a little more effort.